Photos courtesy of artist

Andrew Hendrixson at work

Like some kind of old-timey speaker on the town-hall lecture circuit, Andrew Hendrixson wants to hear and be heard by everyday Americans. And seen, too—the Ohio artist and teacher comes to the Duke City on Friday, July 25, with paintings and handmade books in tow and a plan to share his vision of meaningful inefficiency.

When it comes to purposeful engagement with art, Hendrixson distinguishes between habit and ritual; “the frivolity of the former,” he notes in his artist’s statement, is “countered by the intentionality of the latter.” With canvases bearing everything from an axe to a cairn to an enigmatic message spelled out in crimson thread, the artist plans to practice his own ritual of positive art evangelism by traveling the country, visiting houses and small venues, erecting one-day galleries of his work and interacting with the public. He’s been to San Diego and Los Angeles and soon heads to cities like Chicago, Nashville, Yukon, Okla., and New York City. The House Shows comes to the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center (202 Harvard SE) from 6 to 9pm and includes a short lecture at 6:30pm. Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice • Fri Jul 25 • 6-9pm • FREE • View on Alibi calendar

"Cairn" detail; original is 68 in. long.

It's Wednesday, July 23

and a teenager says he looked into the mirror after beating two homeless men to death and "saw the devil,"

APD cornered a fugitive and shot at him for the second time in six months. This time, they killed him.

A boy exploring an abandoned house in Ohio discovered a mummified corpse hanging in the closet.

Archaeologists have found the remains of a huge, 7-foot-long dog buried near the site where a demonic hound was said to have murdered church-goers in the 16th century.

A mysterious, yawning crater has opened up in the Yarnal region of Siberia and nobody knows why. Please note that "Yarnal" translates to "End of the world."

And some women are rejecting feminism because they need help opening jars.

courtesy of the artist

A healthy, if not entirely sanitary, marriage

When beginning a career in comedy the question most often asked is, “How do you write a joke?” It varies of course. There are comics who tell stories, there are comics who use one-liners, and then there are comics who are more abstract. But jokes, no matter what form, usually consist of a premise and a punchline. For Teresa and Doug Wyckoff of The He & She Show, the premise is the two of them and the punchline is marriage. The Wyckoffs will be performing their new show at The Cell (700 First Street NW) on Friday, July 25.

“We were dating, as comedians, in Maui, and we found that over time a lot of our jokes were about each other, our relationship and relationships in general,” says Teresa. “So we decided to combine our comedic superish powers and do a relationship-themed show.” The Wyckoffs got hitched recently, and so their new show explores the shift between dating and marriage. During the show they solicit marriage advice from the audience. Thus, part of the show is stand-up and the other half is improv.

“We take marriage advice from the audience. It's interesting, because every city ends up having their own 'theme' of common streams of marriage advice. Sometimes one town is naughtier than another,” says Teresa. Some advice is crazy, some is incredibly dirty, and some is just a desperate question on how to make it all work. They never know what they’ll get and that’s part of the fun of it, but “even the worst advice can be funny and we reserve the right to make fun of any advice we receive,” says Teresa.

Having only been married for a year, the Wyckoffs are calling this their Newlywed Tour. The tour marks a huge change in their lives—marriage and moving from one coast to the other. Originally from Oregon, “We [sold] all our belongings—well, what doesn't fit into a small Toyota—and got rid of our house and most of our trappings. After we hit all 50 states we will then move to NYC to pursue comedy there,” says Teresa.

But besides delving into their life changes the Wyckoffs have nobler goals. “If [the audience] relates to our struggles in marriage and relationships, and sees us laugh at those issues,” says Teresa, “maybe that can help them laugh at theirs also and realize we're all in this together.” Local comedian, husband and father to three children, Eddie Stephens, will join the Wyckoffs as they joke about the difficulties and joys of marriage. As we all know, relationships are hard. Like anything in life that’s worth it, relationships take a lot of effort and sometimes they become tense but, as Teresa says, “Laughter tends to suck all of the tension out of any situation.”

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Genevieve Mueller is a writer and comedian. She performs all over the country and runs two monthly shows in Albuquerque: Comedians Power Hour and the Bad Penguin Comedy Show at The Box. More at genevievemuellercomedy.com or on Twitter: @fromthefloorup.

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