Remember those 1950s era advert posters? Colorful, graphic, with a touch of childlike glee. They’re back with a little help from artist Nishant Choksi. This London based illustrator uses a whole array of what can now be qualified now as kitsch marketing. But instead of implementing a simple interpretation of this legendary imagery, Choksi plays with the ultimate weapon of the 21st century artist: irony. Times have changed, and companies working with Choksi like Vodafone, The L.A. Times and The Guardian are eager for playful characters, stories that can be understood in one glance. That’s definitely the power of humor - quick, effective and hilarious.

http://www.nishantchoksi.com/

Thursday, February 21 at 7:00pm
KGB Bar (85 E. 4th Street, NYC)
Drunken! Careening! Writers! Saints and Sinners in New York City

I don’t know why I haven’t mentioned readings at KGB Bar before. There’s beer, there’s readings, and there’s people, some of whom wear glasses and/or sport beards. It’s really my kind of place. Drunken! Careening! Writers! is a monthly reading series, and this time around it’s gathering writers who were featured in the annual Saints & Sinners LGBT conference in New Orleans to Manhattan for a reading. There will be beads, and the writers Maureen Brady, Aaron Hamburger, and Rich Merritt will all read from their work. Kathleen Warnock hosts. Go here for more information.

Friday, February 22 at 7:00pm
Bookcourt (163 Court Street in Brooklyn)
Samantha Hunt, The Invention of Everything Else

Named one of the 5 Under 35 writers to watch by the National Book Foundation in 2006, Samantha Hunt’s last book, The Seas, was a sort of retelling of “The Little Mermaid.” This new work revolves around the inventor Nikola Tesla. (Water, Electricity, is Earth or Fire next?) I dig it. Go see if you do too, if you actually want to go to a reading at 7:00pm on a Friday. I’ll probably be napping. More on the novel here.