Daily distraction: Drawing lessons, karaoke parties, comedy
Drawings of man and woman kissing. Image by JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty Images
By PJ Grisar March 23, 2020
Welcome to your daily distraction, our recommendations for ways to stay engaged and entertained while we socially distance ourselves to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak. You can find our past recommendations here; many of the opportunities we’ve highlighted are ongoing.
Hope you had a restful weekend. The week is kicking off anew, and even though we’re staying inside, there’s much to look forward to.
1) Give art a try — with some professional guidance
Learn how to draw a hyper-realistic rhino or get a grasp on the basics on color theory and mixing with artist Matt Fussell’s select free drawing lessons, which range from one-hour to 10-hour courses. If you want to be the next Stan Lee, comic book pro Paul Allor, scribe of “GI Joe” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” is offering “Free [Comic] Script Critiques During Social Distancing.”. And if you have little ones hyped for Pesach, why not check out these easy Seder plate crafts and matzo covers?
2) Watch a comedy special
One thing Netflix doesn’t get enough credit for is reviving the Borscht Belt — virtually. Specials by funny Jews Marc Maron, Iliza Shlesinger, Todd Glass, Amy Schumer, Ari Shaffir and Joe Mande are all on the platform. Maron’s recently-released latest special highlights the Jewish propensity for prophecy and comic book-creativity under threat of pogrom. Schumer talks about pregnancy while pregnant (we know, Ali Wong did it first) and Joe Mande recalls a time he nearly ruined Hanukkah. These picks are all fairly R-rated, but if you’re into the clean stuff, there’s always Jerry Seinfeld.
3) Have a dance or karaoke party on Zoom
Just because you’re cooped up doesn’t mean you should miss a chance to sing, dance and make a fool of yourself in front of friends. Over Zoom, you can connect with pals and get down with a group-curated Spotify playlist. If you’re more in the mood for singing, you can always host a karaoke party through the use of YouTube’s many instrumental tracks. (Credit to Vulture’s Madison Malone Kircher, who helpfully outlined the logistics of her own friend group’s karaoke bash here.) Just make sure you don’t overuse “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture fellow. He can be reached at [email protected].
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Dive In
-
Theater ‘Operation Mincemeat’ is a musical farce about fooling Hitler — with nothing much to say about Nazis
-
Culture How one man discovered his Jewish identity through sweating
-
Theater Abby Stein shows us the Hasidic Williamsburg she left behind
-
Culture Why this was the worst week in antisemitism — until maybe next week
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Politics Meet America’s potential first Jewish second family: Josh Shapiro, Lori, and their 4 kids
- 4
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Jewish students, alumni decry ‘weaponization of antisemitism’ across country
-
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history
-
Opinion Why can Harvard stand up to Trump? Because it didn’t give in to pro-Palestinian student protests
-
Culture How an Israeli dance company shaped a Catholic school boy’s life
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.