Photos of Wet Hot Brooklyn Summer, the night Camp Firewood came to Bushwick

You can't have a Wet Hot American Summer night without a performance of "Day By Day." Photos by Mary Dorn — You can’t have a Wet Hot American Summer night without a performance of “Day By Day.” Photos by Mary Dorn

On Tuesday night, a triangular lot on Knickerbocker Avenue and Harrison Place ceased to be just a lot and instead became Wet Hot American Summer‘s Camp Firewood. It was an evening for short shorts and high socks and camp t-shirts and you know as we write this we realize you might be asking how that’s different from any other Brooklyn summer night. Rest assured it was though.

As befitting Bushwick and the fact that it didn’t cost $40 to get into, the Camp Firewood immersion at The JunXion felt like a charmingly janky version of a BBQ Films immersion. We should clarify that we say that with love, because a homemade feel fits the vibe of the cult appeal of Wet Hot American Summer more than an expensively-produced version of the same thing ever could.

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Wherever you looked, you got a reminder of the summer camp you wish you went to. There was Gene working the grill. McKinley and Ben got married. There was Keith Stack of Milburne, New Jersey, state bird the mosquito. Oh and also Kecia Stack. Was there a talent show hosted by Kutcher’s Country Club’s Alan Shemper, featuring a performance of the hit song “Day By Day” from Godspell? Yes, of course there was. While there was a Katie wandering around and asking if anyone had seen Andy, sadly, there was no one actually playing him. But what volunteer could possibly match the raw sexuality and pure dickishness that Paul Rudd brought to the role?