What would happen if you crossed a literary festival with a pub crawl? No need to imagine, Lit Crawl Chicago is a real event happening this Thursday in Andersonville.
Brought to you by LitQuake, a non-profit organization that hosts literary festivals in the bay area and Lit Crawls in cities from San Francisco, Austin, Iowa City, London, L.A., NYC, Seattle, and now Chicago too! Sponsored by Women and Children First Bookstore and the Neo-Futurists, events start at 7 p.m. and take place at various bars, restaurants, and venues in the Andersonville neighborhood.
The event is completely free and open to the public. Most events are limited to a 21+ age group. I’ve attached the full schedule below. Check out the Facebook event and the LitCrawl website for more info.
7-8 p.m.
Cassandra
Hopleaf (upstairs) - 5148 N Clark St
Starring improv, live-It, sketch, theater and musical comedy veterans, this smart, sharply-written comedy collection will make you laugh AND think about anything from current events and modernity, to characters so ridiculous, they'd almost have to be real! Join Cassandra on an epic comedic journey through the human soul.
Featuring: Josh Zagoren, Ben Kass, Amy Thompson, Brian Heath, Erika Price, Dan Krall, Kim Boler, Kevin Alves, Jamie Brew, Jennifer Santanello and Bill Larkin
Curbside Splendor Showcase
Simon's - 5210 N Clark St
Curbside Splendor authors will be reading 7-10 minute selections from their books.
Featuring: Catherine Eves, Naomi Huffman, Halle Butler (author of Jillian), Sooze Lanier (author of The Game We Play), Toni Nealie (author of The Miles Between Me), and T. Sean Steele (author of Tacky Goblin).
Adventure Library! by pH Productions
The pH Comedy Theater - 1515 W Berwyn Ave
The audience votes on their favorite book, and then with their help we slowly start re-writing the story using imagination and a whole lot of laughter.
Featuring: the pH ensemble
That Book Changed My Life
Women & Children First - 5233 N Clark St
7 local authors have 7 minutes each to pitch the audience the one book that changed everything--the one that made them want to write or the one that forever changed the way they saw the world.
Featuring: Megan Stielstra (essayist, storyteller, author of Once I Was Cool and the forthcoming collection Come Here, Fear), Eric Charles May (novelist, professor, author of Bedrock Faith), Parneshia Jones (poet, author of Vessel, an Oprah magazine pick for "12 books to savor"), Christine Rice (author of the critically acclaimed novel Swarm Theory), Vu Tran (author of the literary thriller Dragonfish), and Patricia McNair (author of The Temple of Air), and Dasha Kelly, (poet and author of the novel After Crimson). Curated by Sarah Hollenbeck
Wit Rabbit
Cantina 1910 (upstairs) - 5025 N Clark St
Long-running intergenre reading series goes bar-hopping.
Featuring: Rusty Cook, Matthew Corey, Hannah Gamble, Brittany Julious, Jacob Saenz, Erika L. Sanchez, C. Russell Price, Rosamund Lannin
8:15-9:15
Selections from The Arrow Blooms Late
The pH Comedy Theater - 1515 W Berwyn Ave
The Arrow is a Neo-Futurist storytelling show that subjects written essays to spontaneous interventions. In each performance, an ensemble of writer-performers question, interrupt, and add to each other’s work, pushing beyond their first creations in search of a truly live and honest event. The Arrow has occurred in entirely unique iterations, titled The Arrow Quits Smoking, The Arrow Drops Anchor, and The Arrow Cracks. A sampling of content from the latest show, The Arrow Blooms Late, will be presented here. Writer-performers in The Arrow come from multiple artistic disciplines, including theater, improv, comedy, live-lit, and dance.
Featuring: Liz Baron, Kurt Chiang, Lily Mooney, MJ Wrobel
dir. Brian Whitney, created by Kurt Chiang & Lily Mooney
Tuesday Funk
Hopleaf (upstairs) - 5148 N Clark St
Tuesday Funk, Chicago’s eclectic live-lit series, is normally the first Tuesday of every month, but it's breaking from its usual schedule for a special Lit Crawl episode.
Featuring: Essayist Jasmine Davila, storyteller James Gordon, author Steve Bellinger, and writer Rosamund Lannin; hosted by Andrew Huff
The Stoop: Momma Said Knock You Out
Simon's - 5210 N Clark St
Raw, off-book, Stoop style storytelling.
Featuring: Lily Be, Clarence, Onicia Muller, and Erica Nicole Clark
Sappho's Salon
Women & Children First - 5233 N Clark St
A slightly abridged version of our monthly show, featuring some of our favorite female-identifying and non-binary performers exploring gender, feminism, and sexuality through stand-up comedy, storytelling, poetry, song, and performance art/dance.
Featuring: Eileen Tull, Liz Baudler, Elizabeth Gomez, Kate Hawbaker-Krohn, Nire Nah
Over the Transom - A Selection of Ian Belknap's Best Recent Stuff
Cantina 1910 (upstairs) - 5025 N Clark St
Ian Belknap has been making work as a live lit performer for over a decade. In among all those stories and essays are a handful of pieces that he considers to be real standouts that deserve a second listen. He will present these by turns harrowing and hilarious pieces all at once.
Featuring: Ian Belknap
9:30-10:30
Miss Spoken: Festivals
The pH Comedy Theater - 1515 W Berwyn Ave
Miss Spoken is a monthly female-identified live lit show featuring writers, comedians, and performers telling stories centered around a theme. More information can be found at miss-spoken.com.
Featuring: Carly Oishi, Rosamund Lannin, Tori Szekeres, Stefania Rudd, Ines Bellina
Quit it! Ma, They’re Looking at Me!
Hopleaf (upstairs) - 5148 N Clark St
Join Lisa Buscani (Neo-Futurists, National Poetry Slam Champion, Redletter), Mary Fons (Neo-Futurists, Performing Tonight! Liza Minnelli';s Daughter), Dave Awl (Neo-Futurists, Pansy Kings) and Josh Zagoren (Paper Machete’s Chad the Bird) as they verbally sketch the people that people their lives. Hardcore humor, righteous ranting and poignant, tender, pathos expected.
Featuring: Dave Awl, Lisa Buscani, Mary Fons, Josh Zagoren
Storytime with Drag Queens!
Women & Children First - 5233 N Clark St
We'll be welcoming Chicago's greatest Queens, Muffy Fishbasket, Coco Sho-Nell, and Ashley Morgan, as they take a short break from performing at The Call Bar just down the street to read us their favorite bedtime stories, such as Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown and classics by Dr. Seuss.
Featuring: Muffy Fishbasket, Coco Sho-Nell, and Ashley Morgan
So Funny It Hurts... stories of pain and humor
Cantina 1910 (upstairs) - 5025 N Clark St
Some of the best tellers from across the city share their stories of painful moments in life and trying to find the silver lining.
Featuring: Sam Bailey, Brittany Julious, Aimy Tien, Gwynn Fulcher, Allison Torem, Cher Vincent
InHERitance
Simon's - 5210 N. Clark
Featuring Heather ‘Byrd’ Roberts
A show that explores the presence of an uncontrollable lingering and longing for freedom.