Inhuman Swill

It was certainly a Super Tuesday last night at Hopleaf—a Super Tuesday Funk, that is! Your humble co-host brought you election updates throughout the evening (see the video below), but the real excitement was in seeing what surprises our five candidates for literary greatness would bring us next!

The program kicked off with Joe Weintraub, who related the hilarious and sad portrait of marriage whose fortunes founder along with the Cubs'. Former Tuesday Funk host Hallie Palladino walked us delicately through the joys and perils of intimacy after childbirth. And Maggie Kast transported us back to the Jazz Age with a stirring excerpt from her novel-in-progress.

After a halftime break for beer and a Poem by Bill, Sunday Night Sex Show impresaria Robyn Pennacchia explained in no uncertain terms the risks involved in swimming with dolphins. (We can't wait to bring you video of that one!) And horror maester John Everson wrapped things up in a bloody bow with two tales of unspeakable evil.

But if you weren't there, don't eat your heart out! We'll be posting video from the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks so you can catch up on everything you missed. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back on April 3rd with our guests Mary Anne Mohanraj, J.H. Palmer, Charlotte Hart, Mare Swallow, and Richard Chwedyk. Be sure to join us!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

If you were part of our standing-room crowd at Tuesday Funk this past January 3rd, you probably had not just your socks but your shoes blown off too. It was as strong an evening of readers as we've had at Hopleaf, and we've had some strong ones. (We've also ordered a few strong ones from Johnny at the bar, but that's a different, if simultaneous, story.)

The night started out with a bang as Christopher Sweet took us back to his college days and painted us a funny and discomfiting portrait of "El Amor Brujo." Holly McDowell explored the frustrations of being an ambitious girl in the France of yesteryear, with an excerpt from her novel Farah Minor. And co-host William Shunn showed that he's a "Stand Up" guy with a story about a most unusual comedy performance.

After a break for beer and a poem about Bill's cousin the burglar, we welcomed Lawrence Santoro to the microphone to lead us through a most unsettling recipe for "Root Soup, Winter Soup." Then Stephen Markley finished out the evening by attempting to explain to us (and to his idiot friends) what goes into a book about the process of publishing that book.

But don't worry if you weren't there! We'll be posting video of the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks, so watch this space. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back February 7th with work from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins. Be sure to be there, and strap your shoes on tight.


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Greetings from standby jury duty. Yes, your humble co-host is doing his civic duty in Rolling Meadows, but it seems unlikely he'll be empaneled owing to that felony conviction way back when that we've sort of hinted around about before. But I digress...

The reviews are in! This week's Tuesday Funk has been called "the best Funk yet," by at least one recurring audience member. Were you there? What did you think? Don't remember much of the evening? Let me refresh your memory.

Returning Funker Cesar Torres started us off with a transcription of a Dia de los Muertos vlog post from Lady Death herself, and more dark, seasonal fiction. Matt Wood brought us a timely public service announcement, in setting forth the proper method for ordering a corned beef sandwich from the men with mustaches at Manny's Deli. And to finish out the first half, Funk veteran Suzanne Clores tantalized us with a section of her memoir about young women abroad in France without much money and without a plan.

After a break for beer and a poem about dogs (or was it? see below), Laura Stark favored us with a funny and painful memoir about breaking up during the Thanksgiving season. And to bring a widely varied show to a moody close, Funk mainstay J.D. Adamski brought us a dark and stylish tale from the brink of Chicago noir.

But don't worry if you weren't there. We'll be posting video of everyone's performances over the coming days and weeks, so watch this space. And of course Tuesday Funk will be breaking on through again on December 6th with great work from Jody Lynn Nye, Patricia Ann McNair, Hanna Martine, Emile Ferris, and John Klima, and yet another Poem By Bill.  It's our holiday present from us to you, so mark your calendar now!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Hey, if you weren't at Hopleaf this week for Tuesday Funk, you missed a good 'un, a real good 'un. 12-point buck good, in fact.

We had Carissa DiGiovanni reading us poems, Noreen Natale telling us amusing stories, and Naomi Buck Palagi on a return visit to read us more poems. After a break for beer and a downer of a 9/11 poem from co-host William Shunn, we had a rip-snorter of an excerpt from Edison A. Blake's recent novel, and a wild selection of prose from A D Jameson (not to mention plenty of audible gasps from the audience). And the elk? The elk was present only in our hearts.

In fine, it was a spirited and challenging kickoff to our fall season, which will continue on October 4th with the work of Erin Shea Smith, Liz Baudler, CP Chang, zombie fiction by Matthew Darst, and a sci-fi baseball story from William Shunn. It's a veritable Oktoberfest of good stuff, so next time take careful aim because you won't want to miss your shot.


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

If you missed our Science Fiction Sextuple Feature this past Tuesday night, you missed a brisk, funny, and exciting evening with some of today's upcoming and best writers of speculative fiction. That's right, we were joined upstairs at Hopleaf by the members of the Wellspring Workshop, who took a break from an intense week of critiquing novels to read for us and our excellent audience.

Kelly Swails kicked things off with a tantalizing excerpt from her time-travel story "A Portrait in Time." Gregory A. Wilson thrilled us with the creatures in his novel-in-progress Icarus (featured in the video below). Vincent Jorgensen showed us a near future dominated by internet search giant Pood!e. And Holly McDowell moved us with an excerpt from her novel-in-progress, Farah Minor.



After a break to let our audience visit John at the bar, co-host William Shunn read his poem "The Lunar Night, Chicago." Sarah K. Castle brought us terrifyingly face-to-face with "The Mutant Stag at Horn Creek." And Brenda Cooper—after giving away a copy of Year's Best SF 16 to one of the non-SF readers in our audience—showed us what happens when a young girl in a post-apocalypse Pacific Northwest no longer wants to remain "In Their Garden."

In short, it was the kind of quality evening you've come to expect from Tuesday Funk. We're taking the month of July off, but please join us next on August 2nd for an evening with Tegan Jones, Sondra Morin, Eden M. Robins, Julie Rosenthal, Jerry Schwartz and Karen Skalitzky. You won't want to miss it!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

I know we say this every month, but if you missed Tuesday Funk #33 last night, you may have missed our strongest evening of readings yet. The rapt audience last night was treated to Lisa Chalem's hilarious and touching reminiscence of how two newlyweds learned to cook, J.H. Palmer's hilarious and sweet recounting of a relationship with an old boyfriend's family that went on a little too long, and Ian Belknap's hilarious and wrenching defense of the proposition that he was, in fact, once an attractive man. And that was only the first half!

After a break to let our audience visit John the Bartender, we heard a hilarious and whimsical squirrel haiku. (Are you sensing a pattern yet?) Robert K. Elder brought us hilarious and shocking stories of love gone wrong from his brand-new book It Was Over When..., then shared even more hilarious and sad anonymous offerings from our Tuesday Funk audience. And William Shunn—well, we don't feel qualified to call the chapter he read from his Mormon missionary memoir hilarious, necessarily, but people did laugh. And some lady at a table up front cried a little. We think.

Okay, so maybe we will say this was the strongest Tuesday Funk yet. But that only means you won't want to miss a single one of our upcoming events, starting with our reading on May 3rd, which will feature Paul McComas, Tim W. Brown, Brooke Wonders, Scott Smith, and Bradley P. Beaulieu.

Savor the Funk. It gets better with age.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

We at Tuesday Funk were delighted last week, delighted, to see our wonderful audience rebound after February's blizzard, once again giving us a standing-room-only event in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf. What's all the fuss about? Let us fill you in on the sorts of things you're missing out on if you're not coming out to our readings on the first Tuesday of every month.

Maggie Kast took us back to Roaring '20s Chicago with an excerpt from her in-progress novel. Jenny Seay, continuing an unofficial Tuesday Funk leitmotif, invited us inside the world of professional female wrestling in an excerpt from her novel. And anchoring the first half, Essay Fiesta's Keith Ecker shared a poweful personal account of family and acceptance.

After a break to let everyone grab a beer, co-host William Shunn read his poem "Passing." Steven H Silver regaled us with a hilarious example of what we can only call "hard-boiled Cthulhu noir." And the extraordinary Joe Weintraub dazzled us with an extract from his performance piece "An Investigation into the Life of the Screenwriter, Henry Frank."

And there was also beer, plenty of it, brought to you by our friendly bartender Johnny.

So that's what you missed at the last Tuesday Funk. The good news is, we'll be back at Hopleaf on Tuesday, April 5 with an all-new evening of readings from Ian Belknap, J.H. Palmer, Lisa Chalem, and Tegan Jones, plus an all-new memoir excerpt from William Shunn. Mark your calendars now, and we'll see you when spring has sprung.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

We're slobberingly grateful to everyone who helped make January's episode of Tuesday Funk such a rousing success—readers and audience alike. Another attentive, engaged, standing-room-only crowd turned out to be entertained and mesmerized by our savory six. If you were among the unfortunate few unable to make it out, here's a recap of the highlights you missed.

Mare Swallow kicked off the festivities in fine fashion with a funny and poignant account of her days as a party-circuit insult comic for hire. Valerie Jupe delighted us with a dozen poems, some of which you'll find in her collection Shattered Fragments of My Soul. Christopher Sweet made us gasp with his touching account of his father's adventures in World War II and the social mores of wartime Britain.

After a break to let everyone visit our talented bartender John, co-host William Shunn read his poem "Under Their Skirts." Suzanne Clores waxed both sacred and scatological, taking us along on a vision quest for her totem animal and extolling the virtues of the high-tech Japanese toilet. Return Funker Cesar Torres whisked us from a mouse's-eye view of a minaret to a near-future Chicago rife with state-sponsored cannibalism. And to cap things off in fine style, Essay Fiesta's Alyson Lyon demonstrated that fame and success aren't all they're cracked up to be with her laugh-till-you-cry account of a night on the town with Gallagher. (Yes, that Gallagher.)

So that's what you missed at the last Tuesday Funk. The good news is that we'll be back at Hopleaf on Tuesday, February 1 with an evening we're calling "New Year, New Voices," including debut readings from Eden Robins, Julie Rosenthal, Jerry Schwartz, Karen Skalitzky and Brooke Wonders, and another patented Poem By Bill. Mark your calendars now!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

If you missed our Tuesday Funk reading for November—which you probably didn't, because we had about our best turnout of all time—but if you were among the unfortunate few who missed out, here are some of the amazing things you didn't see:

Sondra Morin knocked our socks off with poems from her new chapbook Inviting the Expanse (which we were able to buy direct from her, but which you can pick up at Quimby's, The Boring Store, or Transistor for a mere five bones).

Kristin Lueke melted our faces with her poetry, some of which you can read here.

Lauryn Allison Lewis froze our blood with her short story "Bear vs. Snake," which only means you should not miss her when she debuts her mixed-media-performance-art-reading this coming Sunday, November 14, at Come Home Chicago at Underground Wonder Bar.

Dave Snyder rattled our bones and our brains with his erudite poems, which you probably won't read in his rooftop farming blog at the Huffington Post.

And Lori Ann Stephens, our special guest from Texas, brought the house down with excerpts from her novel Song of the Orange Moons, excerpts we can't ... er ... really describe to you without saying that you had to be there. But you can lay hands on her novel (which comes out November 16) at Amazon or Barnes & Noble and fill yourself in.

So that's what you missed at the last Tuesday Funk. The good news is that we'll be back at Hopleaf on Tuesday, December 7 with an all-new slate of readers, including Johanna Stein, Fraser Coffeen, Naomi Buck Palagi and more. We'll have further announcements about the December lineup soon, but mark your calendars now. You won't want to be left out in the cold next month!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk