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June 29, 2019 by tomdalzell

Ira Marlowe’s Monkey House

 

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

This is one of the pieces of monkey art displayed outside the Monkey House.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

This is the sign in the door.  Sorry about the glare.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

There is a stylized monkey silhouette above the door.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

And a knocker – singular – to die for.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Behind glass (sorry about the glare) is monkey art.  A couple pieces up close:

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Wow.  These monkeys rock a quirky vibe, no?

The Monkey House is a big room in the home of Ira Marlowe.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

A few times a month, Marlowe invites people into his home and they watch a performance – music, magic. juggling, comedy, storytelling, or theater.

He spent the first ten years of his life in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia and then his family moved to Richmond, Virginia.  He has had bands, he has performed solo, he has worked as a songwriter – he has paid his dues. He is recognized for his work as a a composer and lyricist for the San Francisco Mime Troupe and as a songwriter for children on account of his record label Brainy Tunes.

And the Monkey House is his home.  Literally.

Screen Shot 2019-06-02 at 6.22.03 PM

Gene & Kathleen Fetter, owners of the Owl & Monkey since it opened in 1979. Photo: http://www.outsidelands.org/

When he came to California in 1988, he discovered a scene for musicians and songwriters at San Francisco’s “Owl & Monkey Cafe”

Photo by untouchedtcphoto

Photo by untouchedtcphoto

When it closed, the vacuum was filled by the Bazaar Cafe in SF’s Richmond District.

When Marlowe opened the Monkey House in June of 2012, he followed in those footsteps. Marlowe mentions a couple of other venues that inspired his in-home performance space.  One is Harold Adler’s Art House, which I wrote about recently.

Photo: Lostchurch.com

Photo: Lostchurch.com

The other inspiration is San Francisco’s Lost Church.  The Lost Church describes its goal: “To create a network of Performance Parlors that can host and nurture local and touring artists in a way that the larger spaces never can..”

Why the monkeys?

The Monkey symbolizes cleverness in Chinese culture.  The monkey spirit animal is a powerful symbol of good luck. To the American Indians, the monkey is the personification of cleverness and trickery.  For Marlowe, the monkey is a symbol of unbridled creativity.  He lives a ice of unbridled creativity and works to share it.

Stop tell, now show!

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

This is POTUS.  POTUS is a very good dog.  POTUS likes performances and likes the friends who come to hear the music or see the performances.

The performances happen in the front room, closest to the street.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

This once again stylized monkey is on the western wall of the room.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

A few dozen seats face south.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

The stage is on the southern end of the room.

What am I forgetting?

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

What else? Monkey Art of course.  Great monkey art.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

And – what monkey collection would be complete without at least one sock monkey – here two sock monkeys?

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

A monkey holds candles on the table just inside the front door.

Behind the stage there is a green room that is only green in the figurative sense of the word, meaning that it is used as a waiting room and lounge for performers.  The specific origin of the term is undetermined, lost to history,  I now have photos of two green rooms in my posts, this one and the one at Harold Adler’s Art House. Both are quirky phenomenons.  One or two more and we can have a Green Room post!

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Guitars!

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

More!

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Photos of celebrity musicians.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

There are several monkeys in the room – of course – including this one.

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

There is an upright piano.  Ira played for us.  It was a perfect moment.

A hall hugging the eastern wall of the place leads back to Ira’s living quarters.

To state what is becoming the obvious, there is monkey art in the hallway.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Ira found this Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes.  Zaius was a statesman who lived in Ape City during the latter half of the 40th century. He was a leading member of the Ape National Assembly, and served a dual role in ape society as Minister of Science in charge of advancing ape knowledge and also as Chief Defender of the Faith.

Ira added the guitar – ape art!

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Sock monkeys and stuffed monkeys wait at the end of the hall.

There is one artifact in the hall that is not monkey-themed.

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

This is the prototype for a board game about putting a band together.  Bright!  Colorful!  Clever!

There is a bathroom at the end of the hall. Surely, you say, the bathroom is sacrosanct and there is no monkey art there.  WRONG.  There is:

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.

 

Quirky Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif. on May 14th, 2019.Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

Quirky Berkeley 5-14-2019

What a kick-ass way to end the post – I’d die for this see no/hear no/ speak no evil.  You remember, perhaps,my post about Gabby’s see-no/hear-no/speak no evil postcards?

When I shoed the draft post to my friend, he chuckled.  He reached into the shopping bag that serves as his briefcase and pulled out three books.

51y5j3NxwuL._SX298_BO1,204,203,200_“The edition we all read in the sixties.”

140055

“The first edition.”

WLCMTTHMNK1972

 

“And the weirdest one.   They were all for sale at a garage sale last weekend.”

I handed them back.  “I sense another one of our continuing Vonnegut conversations coming on.  What do you think of the post?”

Quirky Berkeley 05-12-16

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