The Cabinet of Wonders

(Eugene Mirman and his theremin.)

I've had the good fortune to perform some live drawing a few times with John Wesley Harding and Eugene Mirman's Cabinet of Wonders, late of La Poisson Rouge and more recently appearing at City Winery. The show is a combination of Wes and Eugene's music and comedy respectively (and sometimes combined) with an array of remarkable musicians and writers. The level of talent and celebrity that appears at a typical Cabinet show is a testament to Wes's ability to gather greatness around him and let the players play. That said, this last weekend's show was exceptional even by the exceptional standards Wes and Eugene have established. Josh Ritter, Tift Merritt, Kristin Hersh, Andrew Bird, David Wax Museum, Paul Muldoon and Jonathan Coe performed individually, together and with Wes's backing band, The English UK. (Updated video: David Wax Museum w/ Andrew Bird from the show.)

You can read about the show here and here and you can watch an iPhone video of Josh's Cabinet performance of Galahad here (and, of course, the animated video I made for Galahad here).

I got to hang out during sound-check and backstage before the show and managed to catch a few drawings. If I can't be at SXSW this year, this was a nice way to socialize and enjoy a bunch of great music all in one place . . .

(Josh Ritter at sound-check.)

(Robert Lloyd, in the green-room.)

(Andrew Bird at Sound-check.)