FLIPPIN’ OUT
Greenpoint laundromat hosts pinball finals
Bumper battle: Francesco La Rocca looks on as Mike Pantino shoots for the high score
inside Sunshine Laundromat, which will host this year’s statewide pinball championship
on Jan. 19. Photo by Caroline Ourso
COURIER L 46 IFE, JAN. 11-17, 2019 24-7
It’s highly
entertaining
Cannabis Film Festival
is lighting up Bushwick
CBy Julianne Cuba all it a smoke screening!
A one-day festival
of films about marijuana
will light up Bushwick’s
House of Yes on Jan. 13. The
New York City Cannabis
Film Festival , now in its fifth
year, could attract its biggest
crowd yet now that Gov.
Cuomo has announced plans
to legalize pot later this year
— and now that it is in a bigger
venue, said the founder
of the fest.
“There’s just more interest
and more demand for these
kind of experiences. I think
that’s only going to continue
to be the trend,” said Michael
Zaytsev, who lives in Ditmas
Park, and runs HighNY , a
cannabis legalization group.
“We weren’t anticipating the
governor’s change in stance
when we were planning. The
biggest difference is it’s in a
venue that has about double
the capacity as last year.”
The film festival started in
2015 as a way to combat the
negative stereotypes that surround
the stoner-American
community, Zaytsev said.
“I think media has played
such a big role over the
years in stigmatizing cannabis
and spreading propaganda
about the plant, like
‘Reefer Madness,’ ” he said.
“So part of the intention is
to use media to undo that
stigma and normalize cannabis
culture.”
And smoking a joint often
helps artists unleash their
creativity, said Zaytsev.
“Part of the intention
behind the festival originally
was, let’s very blatantly
point to the fact that cannabis
helps certain people
become more creative and
find their creativity — it
inspires people to create and
make art, it’s not just, ‘Hey,
a bunch of stoners getting
high,’ ” he said.
This year’s festival will
feature an anthology of eight
short films, including documentaries,
music videos,
and short comedies, along
with two feature-length
films. Zaytsev said a panel
of judges smoked some weed
and watched films submitted
from all over the world, and
finally selected 10 to screen
at the festival. The lineup
includes the award-winning
feature “One Bedroom” — a
story by a Brooklyn filmmaker
Darien Sills-Evans,
about a black, pot-smoking
couple who break up and
must give up their apartment
in gentrifying Bedford-
Stuyvesant.
“It’s kind of a romantic
comedy,” said Zaytsev.
“There’s definitely a strong
Brooklyn element.”
And because audience
members are likely to have
the munchies, everyone at
the festival will get a bucket
of free popcorn, said
Zaytsev.
New York City Cannabis
Film Festival at House of
Yes (2 Wyckoff Ave. between
Jefferson and Troutman
streets in Bushwick, nyccff.
eventbrite.com). Jan. 13 at
noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, and 9
pm. $30.
By Colin Mixson They sure play a mean pinball!
An international cadre of
elite pinball wizards hailing
from such exotic locales as Texas and
Canada will gather in Greenpoint for
the Empire State’s premier flipper
showdown on Jan. 19 — the New
York State Pinball Championship.
“This is the best players in New
York — and other states — playing
against each other for a chance to
become New York State Champion,”
said Windsor Terrace resident and
championship director Francesco La
Rocca.
The epic battle of the bumpers
— now in its sixth year — will play
out at the legendary pinball haunt
Sunshine Laundromat, where contenders
will step through a hidden
door into a beer bar featuring 30
multi-ball-spewing fun boxes. There
the players will vie for high scores on
machines the celebrate bands including
AC/DC and the Beatles, and
the shows “Ghostbusters,” “Game
of Thrones,” “Walking Dead,” and
“Star Wars,” among others.
Most of the event’s 24 contenders
hail from New York City, but the
night’s ladder will also include several
upstate wizards and some out-ofstate
competitors, including storied
Texan champ Steven Bowden, who
is ranked the 13th-best player in the
world by the International Flipper
Pinball Association. The out-of-state
interloper will be the man to beat at
the New York showdown, according
to the championship’s director.
“He’s one of the best players in the
world,” said La Rocca. “He’s one of
the best players ever!”
The two dozen entrants were chosen
from more than 670 registered
pinball players who performed well
in some 150 tournaments throughout
New York State, and will battle each
other in best-of-seven matches, each
round of which will play out on a different
machine, said La Rocca.
The key to success, according
to La Rocca, is not merely skill at
the game, but knowledge of each
machine — knowing the tricks of
how to coax multi-balls, point-multipliers,
and end-of-ball bonuses out
of the table.
The winner will take home the largest
share of a $2,500 prize pool, along
with the chance to compete at the US
National Pinball Championship in
Las Vegas on March 28.
Check out the elite pinball
action at the New York State
Pinball Championship at Sunshine
Laundromat 860 Manhattan Ave.
between Milton and Noble streets in
Greenpoint, (718) 475–2055, www.
sunshinelaundromat.com. Jan. 19 at
noon. Free.
TBy Julianne McShane his smooth show has stood the
test of time.
A pair of Kings County
comedians recently celebrated the
two-year anniversary of their free
stand-up comedy show, happening
every other Thursday at Greene
Grape Annex in Fort Greene. The
founders say that a focus on top-shelf
entertainers has kept Butterscotch
Comedy alive over the years.
“What’s consistent about our
show is us and that we book comics
of quality — we won’t just book anyone,”
said Park Slope resident Maria
Heinegg, who co-hosts the show
with Fort Greene dweller Courtney
Fearrington.
The duo created Butterscotch
in December 2016, when Heinegg
mistakenly wandered into Grape
Greene Annex while trying to meet
Fearrington at a different venue.
When she saw that the eatery had
a raised platform that could work
as a stage, the comedienne immediately
pitched the show to the café’s
manager.
Since then, Heinegg and
Fearrington have hosted plenty of
well-known funny folk at the coffee
house, including Jo Firestone, Seaton
Smith, Dulcé Sloan, and Sasheer
Zamata, among others. Fearrington
said he and Heinegg try to constantly
source a variety of comics to ensure
that no two shows are the same.
“Maria and I make it a point to
make it just as well-rounded as you
possibly can,” he said. “If you came
to a show a year ago, you’re going
to see a totally different show if you
come again.”
The humorists have managed to
repeatedly persuade laptop-wielding
café goers — who usually wind up
being half of the overall audience —
to turn off their screens and tune into
the show, according to Fearrington.
“Throughout the show you can
watch them glance up at you — the
best is when someone closes their
laptop and doesn’t leave and stays
for the show,” he said. “It’s not like a
challenge, but it’s a trophy.”
Butterscotch’s next show will
take place on Jan. 17, featuring Hari
Kondabolu, Seaton Smith, and Leah
Bonnema, among others, along with
a coat drive.
“We’re really excited about the
line-up,” Heinegg said.
Butterscotch at Greene Grape
Annex (753 Fulton St. at S. Portland
Avenue in Fort Greene, www.greenegrape.
com). Jan. 17 at 7:30 pm. Free.
No smoking in bed: The feature “One Bedroom” will screen as part of
the Cannabis Film Festival in Bushwick on Jan. 13.
Standing two-gether: Maria Heinegg and
Courtney Fearrington’s bi-weekly comedy
show Butterscotch celebrated its two-year
anniversary at the Greene Grape Annex in
Fort Greene. Photo by Mindy Tucker
A sweet scene
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