Iris Smyles And 'The Droll Ball'

Around Midsummer — when the veil between the spirit world and ours is at its thinnest, The Church will host its first summer benefit, “The Droll Ball,” in honor of Iris Smyles’s new book, “Droll Tales” (Turtle Point Press; July 5, 2022).

On Saturday, June 25, The Church will welcome Smyles, famed psychic medium Monte Farber, and even Marcel Proust will make an appearance on an evening of high style and worldly wit amid the magic and mysteries of Midsummer night.

Beginning at 8 p.m., as the sun approaches the horizon and begins to smolder, guests of “The Droll Ball” will sip specialty cocktails made from the world’s most nefarious nectars, dine on forbidden finger foods, and lose themselves in hypnotic rapture, induced by the sultry sounds of the Hoodoo Loungers. Guests will nibble, swill and sway, as their fortunes are told by roaming palmists or potentially lost to charming charlatans (The Church cannot vouch for the character of its valued and highly esteemed patrons).

At the stroke of 9 p.m., echoing Dante’s 9th circle, guests will be ushered up to the second floor, as the moon in Taurus shines through The Church’s windows, illuminating Eric Fischl’s portraits of The Church’s non-denominational artists/saints. Hallowed and hushed, the 130 Droll denizens will find their seats among the concentric summoning circles.

There, author Iris Smyles will lead the cultish congregants through a séance and, with the aid of psychic medium Monte Farber who will harness the psychic power of the guests in “droll attire,” attempt to “pierce the veil.” When the crossover is complete, the immortal spirit of Marcel Proust will be invited to sit down with Smyles for a wide-ranging discussion of life, love, art, her new book “Droll Tales,” and the future of literary immortality.

As Smyles, herself, puts it: “All Happy Meals resemble one another. Each unhappy meal is unhappy in its own way.”

Tiered tickets for the ball start at $333 with proceeds benefiting The Church’s ongoing programs. “Droll Tales” inspired works will be available for purchase.

Smyles is the author of “Iris Has Free Time” (Soft Skull Press 2013), which Forbes called, “an instant classic … a smart, funny, wise, and sometimes heartbreaking book about a slowly fizzling love affair with youth,” and “Dating Tips for the Unemployed” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016), a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Her essays and stories have appeared in numerous publications.

The Church is at 48 Madison Street, Sag Harbor. Visit thechurchsagharbor.org for tickets and details.