Liars' League NYC

POW! CRACK! BAMF! SNIK!

Holy Blog Post, Batman! Have we got someawesome news for you this week!

Heroes & Villains Show!

Suddenly... First up, we’re excited to announce the line-up for our Heroes & Villains Show, on Wednesday, 1^st May – five stories, featuring sullen sidekicks, lovelorn gods, heroic canines, poisonous friendships, and silver-screen villains:

EL BANDITO by Michael G. McLaughlin
read by Jim Ford

SIDEKICK by E.P. Henderson
read by Seth James

HEART OF A GOD by Sam Carter
read by Alex Gray

FRIENDS WITHOUT BENEFITS by Vito Racanelli
read by Jim Ford

WILHELM DAVID by Jerry Sticker
read by Everett Goldner

And of course, on the night you’ll also have the chance to compete for awesome prizes in our monthly themed literary quiz! Clue for this month: the questions will be based on graphic novels, comics, and cartoon strips. Nerds, assemble!

Forthcoming deadline!

Meanwhile… we’re currently accepting submissions for our Invention & Discovery theme – for stories of exploration, epiphany, and creation of all shapes and sizes. The deadline is Midnight EST on Tuesday, April 30^th - full details and submissions guidelines are on the submissions page of our website. Selected stories are published on our website, performed by actors before a live audience at KGB, and podcast via the iTunes Store…

Brooklyn Lit Crawl!

Back in Brooklyn... On Saturday, May 18^th we’ll be appearing once again as part of the awesome Brooklyn Lit Crawl – at 6.15pm in The People’s Republic of Brooklyn on Smith Street! For those of you who didn’t catch us at the Manhattan LitCrawl back in September, Lit Crawl is an evening of readings, storytelling, and literary events spread across a series of bars, pubs and cafes – in other words, a bar crawl, with books! We’ll be bringing you a special selection of stories – more details to come, but check out the Lit Crawl event page and get the date in your diaries now – there’ll be lots to check out!

To be continued!

That’s all for now, true believers – we’re looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday, 1^st May at KGB for Heroes & Villains. Anyone wearing a cape gets a free drink!

Excelsior!

Age & Beauty Stories are up!

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

We're pleased to say the stories, recordings and photos from our Age & Beauty Show are now online - both here on our website and in the iTunes Store!

We'll be back at KGB on Wednesday, 1st May with the Heroes & Villains Show - in the meantime, if you'd like to submit a story, our next deadline is Tuesday, 30th April for our Invention & Discovery theme. Full details and submissions guidelines are on our submissions page.

Thanks again to Jesse Chan-Norris for the photos, our writers for the words, and our actors for bringing them to life.

Losing Allen by Nate Beyer

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

Losing Allen read by Waltrudis Buck

I hear my daughter on the line from California, and she's talking, telling me something about the job she has, or might have soon, or could have, if conditions are right.  It would be a boon that would allow her to augment what she brings in from her “artistic pursuits.”  A sculptress! A nice girl from Queens has apparently given birth to a sculptress.

 

Closer to Norway by Emma Jane Unsworth

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

Closer to Norway read by Denise Poirier

I saw her before she saw me. She was standing at the gate, hesitating, a finger on her lip, her eyes boring into the gravel. Like the figure I’d seen so many times. I blinked and blinked again. She was buttoned up in her navy pea coat, gripping a small bag, her hair scraped back into a bun. I knew she was deciding whether or not to bolt; whether to just get back in her car and drive back to Lerwick and wait for the six o’clock ferry back to the mainland. Message me when she got home and say she’d come down with something. Terribly sorry. Next year, perhaps.

If by Susan Buttenwieser

 

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

If read by Alex C Ferrill

Ass got Sonny out of bed every morning.  He thought about it all day long.  And if he never laid eyes on the crack of Denise’s peeking out from the top of her jeans as she bent down to get some Spackle in Carr’s Hardware on a drizzling April morning, things might have turned out differently.

 

Patsy Says by Melissa McDaniel

 

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

Patsy Says read by Elizabeth Murray

Now some old birds in Cornville would just about lay down and die when it came time for their husbands to join Lord Jesus up in Heav'n, praise his holy name. But Betty Pitts was not some bird. No sir. She had plenty of life left in her, and she was determined to use every last bit of it to win Miss Cornville Senior Beauty Pageant the third year in a row.

You Can Be The Boss by Kristin Kelley

 

Photography by Jesse Chan-Norris

You Can Be the Boss read by Kristen Calgaro

The first time I heard Joe DiVolto’s name it was clouded in an air of dread and disgust. Their eyes said that they didn’t envy me at all.

 

You're all beautiful!

Thanks to everyone who came along to last night’s Age & Beauty Show!

We were treated to some amazing stories – and I think we gained some valuable insights – competition tactics in beauty pageants, for example, not to mention the pleasures (and perils) of the posterior. We also learned that our audience resents the implication that they’re more comfortable with Stephenie Meyer than John Keats, which is fair enough. Also, that my Hemingway impersonation needs a little work. Good to know!

So thanks to everyone at KGB, to chef Patricia Clarke for her delicious snacks, and to photographer Jesse Chan-Norris, whose photos we’ll have for you shortly, and to our friends at Vintage/Anchor Books for providing this month’s quiz prizes – which included Jennifer Egan’s short story collection Emerald City and Rajesh Parameswaran’s collection I Am An Executioner.

But above all, thanks to our stunningly talented writers - Emma Jane Unsworth, Nate Beyer, Susan Buttenwieser, Melissa McDaniel, and Kristin Kelley; and our beautifully polished actors - Denise Poirier, Waltrudis Buck, Alex C. Ferrill, Elizabeth Murray and Kristen Calgaro! We’ll have the stories up on the site later today, with photos, recordings, and podcast up by the weekend. In the meantime – why not have a browse through our archive from past months – or subscribe to our monthly podcast over in the iTunes Store?

We’ll see you back at KGB on Wednesday, 1st May for our next show – and our next deadline, for those of you who’d like to submit a story to be read by one of our fine actors, is midnight Tuesday, April 30th – the theme is Invention and Discovery. Full details and submissions guidelines are on our submissions page.

Thanks again – and we’ll see you soon!

Liars' League NYC presents Age & Beauty - tonight!

We’re preening ourselves for our Age & Beauty Show at KGB tonight – that’s Wednesday, 3rd April - five stories featuring senior beauty pageants, vengeful friends, fading families, office chemistry, and Sir Mix-A-Lot's favorite part of the body! The catwalk of talent starts at 7pm - entry is free!

This month’s frankly stunning stories include:

CLOSER TO NORWAY
by Emma Jane Unsworth
read by Denise Poirier

LOSING ALLEN
by Nathaniel Beyer
read by Waltrudis Buck

IF
by Susan Buttenwieser
read by Alex C. Ferrill

PATSY SAYS
by Melissa McDaniel
read by Elizabeth Murray

YOU CAN BE THE BOSS
by Kristin Kelley
read by Kristen Calgaro

In the meantime, you might want to brush up on your literary trivia for our theme-related quiz round at the intermission – and we're delighted to say this month's quiz prizes are brought to you by our good friends at America's foremost literary paperback publisher, Vintage/Anchor Books – whose facebook page is well worth liking.

We’re also excited to be able to offer, for possibly the first time at KGB, bar food! Chef Patricia Clark of All Five Senses will be offering gourmet grilled cheese, sliders, cupcakes, cookies, and a few other tasty treats, before, during, and after the show.

So that’s 7pm, this Wednesday, April 3rd at KGB Bar in the East Village, 85 East 4th Street, between Bowery and 2nd. Nearest subways are 2nd Avenue F, Bleeker Street 4,6, and Broadway/Lafayette B,D,F,M. Entry is free - but make sure you get there early if you want a seat!

Even geeks need love!

We're picking out our outfits and brushing up on our trivia for this Monday's LitCrawl fundraising mixer, Geek Love at the PowerHouse Arena, hosted by Emma Straub and Teddy Wayne!

It's your chance to rub shoulders not only with New York's sexiest, and most literary nerds, geeks, and dorks, but also some of this town's most talented writers, editors, and publishers, all of whom are pretty sexily nerdy themselves.

In addition to mingling activities, the evening features a trivia contest hosted by the horribly witty George Flanagan, host of Spit Take Fridays and co-founder of Fort Useless, with prizes provided by Brooklyn Winery, the Angelika Film Center, Kings County Distillery, OR Books, and Out of Print. Plus, insanely, potentially ruinously inexpensive cocktails sponsored by Drambuie - featuring Drambuie's signature cocktail, The Rusty Nail, and two drinks named especially for Geek Love: The Nom de Plume and The Naughty Librarian. I defy you to drink more than three without winding up under one of the hosts.

So that's Monday, April 1st, 7pm at the PowerHouse Arena in DUMBO. Tickets are just $15, which includes one drink AND $5 credit at the Arena, with proceeds benefiting the awesome Lit Crawl NYC, which we’re taking part in again this coming May. Make sure you buy your tickets in advance - we're expecting them to sell out!

In the meantime, you'll be able to listen to the official Geek Love Spotify Playlist soon, and you can t your favorite geeky book titles using #geekierbooktitles for a chance of a prize on the night - The Wind-Up Nerd Chronicle, anyone? Head over to @litcrawlnyc for more details!

More information over on the facebook event page - but remember to buy tickets via the link! Singles, takens, and everyone in between welcome – we'll be there, most likely fondling a Naughty Librarian. And having a drink as well. Hope to see you there too!