Inhuman Swill

If it was a bittersweet affair earlier this week at Tuesday Funk, it was also a raucous one. We might have said goodbye to a longtime co-host, but we certainly didn't say goodbye to the eclectic and irreverent spirit of the series!

We kicked things off in fine fashion with plagiarized tweets and a madcap tale of elder care from a very animated Davis Schneiderman. Jocelyn Geboy followed that up with the funny and painful tale of her week in a psych ward. Our regular feature Haiku by Andrew delighted us with topical verse. And J. Michael Grey closed out the first half of our program leading four players in a staged reading of his short play about fathers and fortune and homophobia and more, all set in an Irish pub.

After a break for beer from Mark at the bar, we were treated to a brief history of Poems by Bill (including return visits to "Dogwalker's Algorithm" and "Under Their Skirts"), along with one last new poem for the occasion. G.P.A. arrived just in the nick of time to bring us the stirring and heartbreaking tale of the bully who stole his chocolate milk. And finally, in his final appearance as a co-host, William Shunn delivered a new short story about Mormon missionaries, mouse murder, and an elderly Russian Jew in northern Idaho.

So that's what you missed out on if you missed out on Tuesday Funk, but never fear! We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll be back on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014, for an evening with Ryan Bartelmay, Kelly Swails, Christa Desir, Jasmine Davila, and Christopher Sweet. Please don't miss it!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

It was a superpacked house for last night's Glitter & Mayhem Edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, made all the more crowded by the teetering tower of audiovisual equipment piled at the front of the room. If you weren't able to be there, here's what our overheated but amply rewarded audience saw.

We started off strong with a funny and affecting tale of marriage and mutual amnesia from Noël Jones. Next came Holly McDowell, who brought us a powerful story of a young girl oppressed by her religious community. After our topical Haiku by Andrew, demented genius James Kennedy delivered a madcap story of a crazy race through the Martian atmosphere, synchronized with motion picture accompaniment!

After a break for beer, we opened the second half of the program with a Poem by Bill about sports and politics (see below). Then it was all Glitter & Mayhem, as anthology co-editor John Klima told us a little about the inception of this collection of nightclub and rollerdisco stories. Maurice Broaddus and Kyle S. Johnson brought helped us get funked up with their George Clinton–influenced tale "The Electric Spanking of the War Babies." And Laura Chavoen provided a surreal slideshow of images to bring William Shunn's reading of their Chicago-set body-swapping tale "Subterraneans" to kaleidoscopic life.



All in all, it was an delightful night, but if you couldn't be there, don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll be back on Tuesday, November 5th, 2013, for an evening with Paul McComas & Greg Starrett, Vojislav Pejović, J.H. Palmer, John Rich, and Rosamund Lannin. Please come out and see us!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

It was a packed house for this week's edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf. If you weren't able to be there, here's what our terrific, attentive audience saw.

We kicked things off with Dmitry Samarov, who walked us through his travails the night the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. Steven H Silver then took us back to Sodom and Gomorrah for an adventure narrated by a decidedly undiabolical demon. Co-host Andrew Huff followed up his monthly haiku with a charmingly dirty tongue-twister he attempted to teach to the crowd. And Maggie Jenkins hilariously replayed for us her summer selling children's study guides door-to-door.

After a break for beer and a Poem by Bill called "Beware of Dog," novelist Jac Jemc read us an evocative story of small-town girls sliding slowly into juvenile delinquency. And finally, epic fantasy writer Bradley P. Beaulieu transported us to Imperial Japan for a tale of funeral rites and surprising intrigue.



All in all, it was an delightful night, but if you couldn't be there, don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll be back on Tuesday, September 3, 2013, with a program featuring Aleksandar Hemon, William Shunn, Virginia Konchan, Lania Knight, and Norman Doucet. Don't miss it!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

It was another packed room for this past Tuesday night's edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, and the standing-room crowd seemed to think it was a great show all around. If you couldn't be there, let's recap what you missed.

We kicked off the fun with Suzanne Clores, who brought us the true tale of a limo ride through lower Manhattan with a Brooklyn mobster. Our former co-host Sara Ross Witt followed that up with an excerpt from a story of a dysfunctional family of possible psychics. Co-host Andrew Huff continued his new monthly feature with a handful of Haiku by Andrew ripped from recent headlines. And Robert McDonald treated us to a selection of his poetry, including the greatest poem about the might rhinoceros that you'll ever hear.

After a break for beer, our Poem by Bill, "What Changed?," was entirely unlike his short story of the same name from last month. Next, returning reader Dion Walton told the heartfelt story of his battle with HIV and his attempts to escape the morgue door. And finally, Mary Beth Hoerner closed out our program with a delightful and powerful short story about pride and childhood secrets.

All in all, it was an amazing night, but if you couldn't be there, don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll try to top ourselves yet again on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, with a program featuring Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Don't miss it!

Now let's take a ten-minute break, people. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

It was a small but hardy crowd that braved the roaring snow to make it out to this week's edition of Tuesday Funk. The thirty-odd folks in attendance were treated to a strong program featuring some returning readers, some first-timers, a whole lot of laughs, and maybe a sniffle or two. (Hey, it's cold out, okay?)

We kicked off the festivities with Dana Norris, who brought us a painfully funny reminiscence of her quest to lose her fear of hell. Mairead Case followed that up with a tantalizing excerpt from her novel-in-progress about teenagers in a small midwestern town. And Zoe Zolbrod took us through the Thai countryside on a quest for sex and opium in her essay "Pai Foot," from The Beautiful Anthology.

After a break for beer, our Poem by Bill was "Time Is Not on My Side." Bill followed that up (subbing in for a travel-stranded Lania Knight) with a chapter from his recently completed young-adult science fiction novel, Root, which is set right here in Tuesday Funk's very own Chicago neighborhood. (Or is it?) And CP Chang brought the scripted portion of the show to a lovely, contemplative close with his meditation on race and belonging, "Tribes," from the 2nd Story anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious by a Low-Flying Duck.

It was then that we bid a fond and slightly choked-up farewell to our departing co-host Sara Ross Witt, who will now be focusing more on her own writing (and who will next be appearing on our program as a reader on May 7th!). Thanks for all the great work, Sara, and we look forward to what you'll produce in the months to come.

All in all, it was a program that seemed to delight our (unusually polite) audience, but if you couldn't be there don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll be back Tuesday, April 2, 2013, with a program featuring Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeremy Jasper, Wesley Chu, Regan Keeter, and Tuesday Funk co-founder Reinhardt Suarez, not to mention the debut appearance of our new co-host, Gapers Block's Andrew Huff. Don't miss it!

And like Bill exhorted us Tuesday night, don't procrastinate.




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

If you weren't at Tuesday Funk's New Year's Day edition last night, then you missed out on a most convivial evening that took unexpected turns down fantastic byways both light and dark.

We kicked things off with a hilarious and blasphemous excerpt from Christopher Sweet's science fiction novel-in-progress. Sondra Morin, mere days from moving to Massachusetts, read us several powerful poems. And Julie Ganey recounted her delightful tale of children's susceptibility to fantasy, "When the Fairies Came," featured in the 2nd Story anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious by a Low-Flying Duck



After a break for beer, our Poem by Bill was "Smoke," an ode to writing and whiskey. Gapers Block editor Andrew Huff took us on an evocative odyssey as he gave us "Directions Home." And finally, co-host William Shunn took us on a guided tour through the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, in his essay "The Fanatic in the Street."

It was a great evening, but don't fret if you couldn't be there. We'll be bringing you video of our readings over the weeks to come, and we'll be back February 5th with our Not Your Parents' Valentine's Day Edition. The program will feature Mary Pat Bohan, John Everson, Gina Frangello, Hanna Martine, and Patricia Ann McNair. Don't miss it!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Last night was Election Night, and we know you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what happened. So without further ado, here's a recap of last night's events ... from the Election Night Edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf Bar!

We started things off with a delightfully bloody tale of young were-beasts from repeat reader Kelly Swails. Next, B. E. Pinkham took us through the emotional process of coming to terms with a child's autism. And then our write-in candidate, host William Shunn, brought us some "Strong Medicine" from the environs of Washington, D.C., in the year 2037.

After a break for beer, we enjoyed some "Tasting Notes," this month's Poem by Bill. Then followed a second half that we cheekily called "The Jesus and Mary Chain," in which Mary Lorenz brought us a heartfelt and hilarious tale of her teenage flirtation with Christianity, followed by Mary Zemaitis's heartfelt and hilarious tale of her teenage flirtation with Christianity. I mean, what are the chances?

Oh, right, and then some guy named Barry won some election.

But if you weren't present last night to hear from your favorite candidate, don't despair. We'll be bringing you video clips from the evening over the days to come, after which we'll be back December 4th with a great lineup featuring Julia Borcherts, CP Chang, Maggie Kast, Stephen Markley, and Derek Silver. Don't miss it!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Tuesday Funk, in association with the wildly successful new Chicago Writers Conference, put on a terrific reading event this past Friday night at Open Books in Chicago's River North. If you've come to expect the unexpected from Tuesday Funk, then you probably weren't surprised about being surprised about some of the surprises that were sprung upon that evening.

After some introductory remarks about the great work that Open Books does and about our sponsorship partner the Chicago Writers Association, Patricia Skalka kicked things off for us with a noirish, engrossing scene from her Wisconsin-set mystery novel, Death in Door County. Host William Shunn followed that up with the stream-of-consciousness narrative of an old woman awakening in a new robotic body, "Find the Gray Triangle." And Rachel Wilson brought us a poignant chapter from her forthcoming debut young adult novel, Don't Touch.

Our Poem by Bill, "Telegraph," was composed on a topic provided by CWC backer Tina Woelke—"reading." M. Salahuddin Khan followed that up with a powerful excerpt from his novel Sikander, about a young Afghani mujahid who must live with the reality of his first killing. And Mary Robinette Kowal, after an emotional epistolary story about resurrection from the dead, startled and delighted our audience with a shadow puppet play from the 17th century.

People, this is the sort of thing you miss when you miss Tuesday Funk! But don't despair. We'll be bringing you videos from the evening over the next couple of weeks, and then we'll be back on October 2nd with our United States of Horror Edition featuring John Everson, Cynthia (cina) Pelayo, and The Colin & Ishmael Players. Be sure to join us!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Every episode of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf seems to feature some emergent, unintended theme, and Tuesday night's show was no exception. The major theme seemed to be old men, with subthemes of brown liquor and Martian exploration. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Jesse Jordan kicked things off for us with an intriguing and somewhat painful excerpt from his new novel Gospel Hollow. Chicago Magazine's Scott Smith followed that up with a wonderful meditation on growing old, setting the evening's themes in motion (see video below), after which Holly McDowell brought us a poignant and thrilling chapter from her serial novel King Solomon's Wives.

After a break for beer, co-host William Shunn broke with tradition by reading not a poem but instead a brief essay about Curiosity Rover. Next, co-host Sara Ross Witt delivered a powerful short story about a factory town in decline. And Stacy Bierlein brought the old man theme full circle with a wonderfully steamy story from her new collection A Vacation on the Island of Ex-Boyfriends.

But if you missed out, don't despair. We'll be bringing you more video from the evening over the next few weeks, and then we'll be back on September 4th with our Chicago Post-Worldcon Science Fiction Spectacular featuring Daryl Gregory, Rae Carson, Rajan Khanna, Gregory A. Wilson, and Adam Rakunas. Be sure to join us!




Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

Good morning, Funkers! Your humble co-host regrets the tardiness of this debriefing, but (as you know if you were there) he very regrettably was unable to attend our 45th edition this past Tuesday evening. However, by all reports we hear that co-host Sara Ross Witt and substitute co-host Mare Swallow had the evening well in hand, and the readers were as fine as you have come to expect.

In lieu of the usual play-by-play, let us present instead a gallery of photographs from the evening provided by local artist Kevin Swallow. Please enjoy this pictorial recap (click the photo to the right to get started), and then plan to join us again on Tuesday, June 5th for a terrific evening with Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and Alex Shakar!


Crossposted from Tuesday Funk