Tag: Alphonse Allais

In the wings, some special things (fifth edition)…

 

jt_smlThe Derangement of Jules Torquemal
by Robert Wexelblatt

“The best thing would be for me to go away. Everyone says so: Geneviève, Emmanuelle, Dr. Strouville; no doubt the milkman, the President of the Republic, and the Pope in Rome agree. The Minister might allow me a couple of weeks, but he’s been looking at me strangely of late, furtively but with intensity, as if trying to peer inside my skull and make a proper survey of the bleak thoughts to be found there…”

A daunting philosophical puzzle.

Black Scat Classic Interim Edition – No. 07
Publication:  April  9

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Mud Bath
by Allan Bealy

“At last, an album of Bealy’s edgy, layered, elegant collages. Incisive, in both senses.”
– Michael Kasper

“Allan Bealy is a collagist with a profound knowledge of the form’s history, as well as art history—period. With a vision that’s wide-ranging but cohesive, he’s one of those artists who can serve up a banquet of images in seemingly disparate styles, yet you’ll always know who cooked them up. Dig in to this delectable feast for the eyes, but take the time to savor each course.”
– Peter Cherches, author of Lift Your Right Arm

Black Scat Classic Interim Edition – No. 08
Publication:  May 14

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Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais
Translated from the French by Doug Skinner

Rare theatrical works by the great French humorist.

Absurdist Texts & Documents  –  No. 28
Publication:  July  9

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And more to come.

Poem for the Holidays

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If you missed the gala Captain Cap launch party last month at The Jalopy Theatre in Brooklyn, you’re in luck. We’ve prepared two video excerpts featuring Doug Skinner reading from his translation of Alphonse Allais’s masterpiece.

In the first video,  Doug reads “The Chameleon Child“—one of the good Captain’s rare poems.

In the video below, Captain Cap gives a masterful lesson in savoir-faire to an ignorant, European, and dimwitted bartender.

Finally, if Santa in his dotage neglected to leave a copy of CAPTAIN CAP under the tree, you can treat yourself to one here.

In the wings, some special things (fourth edition)…

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2014
 Listen closely and you shall hear…  the melodious sounds of a Scat-filled New Year.

  • Surrealist Texts by Gisèle Prassinos
    Transformative texts by one of Surrealism’s most gifted voices. Translated from the French by Ellen Nations. Includes eight original watercolor paintings by Bruce Hutchinson.
  • The Unknown Adjective & Other Stories by Doug Skinner
    A collection of cryptic comics and picture stories.
  • The Straw That Broke by Tom Whalen
    A  “baffling and wonderfully funny” novel, featuring the legendary     Encyclopedia Mouse.
  • Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais
    Rare theatrical works by the great French humorist, compiled and translated by Doug Skinner.
  • Merde à La Belle Époque
    Scatological texts by period luminaries, including Alphonse Allais, George Auriol, Georges Courteline, Edmond Haraucourt, Vincent Hyspa, Maurice MacNab, & Erik Satie. Compiled and translated by Doug Skinner. “Sparkling sewage!”
  • The Sugar Numbers by Judson Hamilton
    A kaleidoscopic novella in which two servants—Morel and Valentine—attempt to usurp their respective masters.
  • Selected Poems of Edward D. Wood, Jr.
    Lost poems by the enigmatic creator of Plan 9 from Outer Space.
  • Crocodile Smiles by Yuriy Tarnawsy
    Stories by the author of The Placebo Effect Trilogy.
  • Desiring Specimens by Norman Conquest.
    A collection of imaginary book titles hidden in typography specimen sheets.

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drawing at top of post  by Léonce Burret

 

A Gala Reading of CAPTAIN CAP

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Doug Skinner read from (and signed copies of) his sparkling translation of Alphonse Allais’s Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn tonight. By all accounts it was a delightful performance and Alphonse would have been proud—not to mention inebriated, as Captain Cap cocktails were on the house.

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If you missed the performance, don’t miss the book which is available on Amazon here.

<< Photographs by Farewell Debut. >>

Five is Alive!

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Cover: collage by Nile Southern


BLACK SCAT REVIEW #5 is alive and screaming.

FEATURING a selection of poems by one of Italy’s most highly-regarded poets, Patrizia Valduga; a portfolio of controversial images by artist Brett Stout; an illuminating take on Harold Jaffe‘s Paris 60 by Andy O’Clancy; Mark Axelrod on the secret origins of jai alai; Shane Roeschlein navigates the Void OST; Captain Cap plays a trick on Alphonse Allais (or vice versa); and Samy Sfoggia treats us to a very strange wedding indeed. Plus a kick-ass cover by the great Nile Southern.

Available in print and digital editions.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

The Ten-Percent Solution

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Get 10% off our huge, Cap-sized edition of Alphonse Allais‘s CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS. This is the complete and unabridged translation of the original 1902 French classic, plus eight uncollected “Captain Cap” stories and a “Cappendix” of rare historical pictures. The book is illustrated throughout with witty drawings by Doug Skinner, in addition to his extensive notes and lively introduction.

ORDER IT HERE

Words for Today via Alphonse Allais

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Allais was going to Breuil with Gandillot, who had a trunk. Allais only had a shirt. “You can put it in my trunk,” says Gandillot. “What?” says Allais. “And I, do I ask you to put your trunk in my shirt?

—Jules Renard

You’ll find more wit and wisdom in CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS by Alphonse Allais, translated from the French with an introduction & illustrations by Doug Skinner.

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ORDER ON AMAZON

The Grand Madcap Edition of CAPTAIN CAP has Launched!

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We’ve jumped the gun and released our mammoth deluxe trade paperback edition of Alphonse Allais’s  CAPTAIN CAP: HIS ADVENTURES, HIS IDEAS, HIS DRINKS—translated by Doug Skinner. This is the complete & unabridged edition of the original 1902 French classic. 370 pages, including  eight uncollected “Captain Cap” stories, plus a “Cappendix” of rare historical pictures.

The book is profusely illustrated with witty drawings by Doug Skinner, in addition to his extensive notes on the translation and swashbuckling  introduction.

If you missed any of the limited edition capsized Captain Cap chapbooks in our Absurdist Texts & Documents series, you can get the whole kit and caboodle now, plus oodles more.

ORDER YOUR COPY ON AMAZON

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ALPHONSE ALLAIS (1854-1905) was a peerless French humorist, celebrated posthumously by the Surrealists for his elegant style and disturbing imagination. In addition to composing absurdist texts for newspapers such as Le Chat Noir and Le Journal, he experimented with holorhymes, invented conceptual art, and created the earliest known example of a silent musical composition: Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1884). Truly ahead of his time (as well as ours), Allais is needed now more than ever. His mischievous work remains fresh, funny, and always surprising.

DOUG SKINNER has written numerous scores for theater and dance, particularly for actor/clown Bill Irwin (The Regard of Flight). His articles, cartoons, and translations have appeared in The Fortean Times, Fate, The Anomalist, Nickelodeon, Weirdo, Black Scat Review, and other periodicals. His translation of Isidore Isou’s Considerations on the Death and Burial of Tristan Tzara was published by Black Scat Books.

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ARE YOU IN THE UK? CLICK HERE TO ORDER

ARE YOU IN FRANCE? CLICK HERE TO ORDER

ARE YOU IN GERMANY?  CLICK HERE TO ORDER

In the wings, some special things (third edition)…

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Scat addicts (of which I’m one) will get their fix and kicks in the coming months. What would winter be without a stack of Scat on the bedside table? Bleak indeed. So cheer up & gear up… good reading is on the way.

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On October 15th we’re releasing a limited edition of the play that may have influenced Samuel Beckett’s WAITING FOR GODOT. This deluxe edition of Balzac‘s 3-act comedy WAITING FOR GODEAU (Original title Mercodet) is translated from the French by Mark Axelrod. This launch is bound to make waves so circle the date in red.

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In November, we’re publishing two Black Scat Classic Interim Editions.
First,  a portfolio of cool nudes by the Austrian painter Monika Mori (known internationally as “Moo”). These dazzling abstract forms are at once playful, moody & seductive. Don’t miss MOO NUDES—a lush, erotic celebration of the female body.

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Also in November, the legendary Opal Nations returns with some wicked (and we do mean wicked) visual black humor:  EMBRYO WORLD.  It’s sure to piss off the Right-to-Lifers and thrill the rest of us.

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December, we raise the curtain on the Théâtre de l’Absurde—a  limited edition of a hilarious little Patchenesque drama: ‘S A BIRD by Eckhard Gerdes. No spitting in the balcony.

Finally, for fans of Alphonse Allais, our sublime trade edition is AVAILABLE HERE.

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