Pregnant communist Amanda Palmer leads Illuminati takeover of the Vogue

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      One of the best surprises that came with TED’s inaugural Vancouver event last year was a breakaway party dubbed #NinjaVan.

      With barely 72 hours’ notice, American punk-cabaret performer turned national treasure Amanda Palmer kidnapped more than a half-dozen fellow TED speakers—who people had just paid $7,500 to see—and put them on stage at the Vogue for the slightly more reasonable price of a donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

      The four-hour evening that ensued was beautifully structured chaos.

      A little more planning went into this year’s show, which took place last night (March 18) again at the Vogue. Somebody was actually manning the lights, for example. And there was slightly less throwing of furniture compared to the previous year.

      “I’m sorry for being so organized,” Palmer said upon taking the stage.

      She also commented on a bit of a surprise revealed on Twitter and Instagram just a few hours earlier: “It’s Neil’s baby!” Palmer exclaimed with a big smile and a thank you to her husband and the soon-to-be father, author and creative genius Neil Gaiman.

      https://instagram.com/p/0YdmSpQW69/?taken-by=amandapalmer

      The evening was thus double-billed as an unofficial but sort-of official announcement of the couple’s pending arrival, which, though Palmer is only 13 weeks pregnant, was already very much showing.

      From there things began with Palmer singing a lovely rendition of the cozy self-esteem booster “In My Mind”.

      Jason Webley, an old friend of Palmer’s and conjoined twin from Evelyn Evelyn, was up next and back on stage several times throughout the evening. He wanted to do something with a guitar but the audience requested he grab an accordion to talk about giraffes and, with a little encouragement from Palmer, that’s what he ended up doing.

      The selection of speakers poached from TED this year was a little less diverse than 2014, with more of a focus on music and the arts.

      Sri Lankan opera singer Tharanga Goonetilleke received one of the loudest rounds of applause of the night early on with two beautifully haunting songs. She was accompanied by a local pianist whose name I didn’t catch but if somebody provides it in the comments, I’ll add it here. (Update: That didn't take long. The Vancouver pianist who accompanied Goonetilleke was Kerry O'Donovan. Thanks to Jessie for the info.)

      Next, TED2013 alumni Dan Pallotta performed a couple of protest songs. He was followed by Usman Riaz from TED2012, who did that incredible thing he does with a guitar before sitting down at a piano, which, the audience learned with a bit of a laugh, is the instrument on which he was actually trained. (Riaz taught himself how to play guitar like that by watching YouTube videos.)

      Returning from Palmer’s 2014 TED sideshow and numerous TED conventions, Sarah K once again proved herself a master of spoken word. Amy Cuddy, another TED and #NinjaVan veteran, didn’t spend as much time on stage as last year. She performed an old Dresden Dolls tune as a duet with Palmer, and also revealed a couple of secrets from the masked orgies that go on at a TED Brain Trust getaway.

      Leading the home stretch of TED alumni appearances was New York Times crossword writer David Kwong. Not everybody in the audience was enthralled by his quick creation of a puzzle but I was very impressed.

      https://instagram.com/p/0ZpyCSvPkO/?taken-by=vanweloveyou

      Finally, there was the evening’s two surprise guests, the first of which wasn’t actually much of a surprise.

      Soon-to-be daddy Neil Gaiman was greeted with a predictably very warm welcome. He read a short story about a genie finding happiness in October, which everybody seemed to love, and then a never-before-shared piece titled “Poem for an Unborn Child”, which everybody seemed to love even more.

      Ending the evening, retired Canadian Space Agency commander Chris Hadfield returned to #NinjaVan to go meta-astronaut. He sang David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and then had Palmer perform 2008's “Astronaut” for him.

      Hadfield noted he never received applause while floating through space at eight kilometres a second, and thanked the crowd for the attention. And I walked home wondering if maybe there was a little bit more I could be doing with my life.

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      Comments

      20 Comments

      JessieVR

      Mar 19, 2015 at 1:56pm

      The pianist was Kerry O'Donovan.

      Travis Lupick

      Mar 19, 2015 at 1:59pm

      That didn't take long. Updated. Thank you JessieVR.

      mnelson

      Mar 19, 2015 at 3:26pm

      You forgot to mention the two songs by Teitur, which were also lovely.

      Krill

      Mar 19, 2015 at 3:29pm

      Sounds like an amazing celebration of herself!

      Stella Starlight

      Mar 19, 2015 at 3:49pm

      Communist? Um, no. Amanda Palmer is a cutthroat capitalist who won't pay her supporting act, if she can get away with it ....by encouraging an image of herself as a "communist". And this writer bought it!!! Sadly but perhaps inevitably, that poor child-to-be is already Part of the Show.

      Loved it

      Mar 19, 2015 at 5:02pm

      Fantastic show for a very good cause. Totally an evening to remember.

      Brian Weingartner

      Mar 19, 2015 at 8:31pm

      Also forgot to mention Orkestar Slivovica. The band that played outside, and opened the show, or how we got people up and dancing during our set on stage... but cool story bro.

      Mary Defeo

      Mar 19, 2015 at 10:14pm

      Hey Vancouver - be proud of your locally grown Orkestar Slivovica, who not only entertained the around the block line up of concert goers down Granville Street, but also played a 40 minute set to start off the whole show! This 12 plus member band plays Balkan music that knocked our socks off and had people dancing in the aisles! Please don't forget their excellent contribution to this wonderful night!

      Penny

      Mar 19, 2015 at 10:18pm

      You didn't mention the stellar opener. Can anyone give me the name of that band?

      eastvanhalen

      Mar 19, 2015 at 11:29pm

      Faux indie cred for a gathering of the self-congratulatory super-rich? Sounds about right for her.