Tuesday Funk

Video: William Shunn DEMANDS to know "What Changed?"

2013-05-17T14:02:41Z

At the May 7th edition of Tuesday Funk, our almost monthly Poem by Bill repeated a question we've heard before, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive)!

Video: Andrew Huff delivers haiku from the news

2013-05-14T14:36:44Z

At our May 7th edition last week, co-host Andrew Huff brought us a fistful of fine haiku ripped bleeding from current headlines:

Bombs, explosions, floods:
this April found our heartstrings
and pulled them hard.

April's heavy showers
brought destruction, but green too.
Just in time for May.

Three found in Cleveland:
Amanda, Michelle, Gina.
Three devils found too.

Ernest Hemingway
was known for daiquiries and
extreme brevity.

If you enjoyed that, we'll have more video from the evening coming up in the next few weeks. And please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Don't miss it!

Tuesday Funk #58: June 4, 2013

2013-05-10T13:53:57Z

We've put together a brilliant lineup for our next Tuesday Funk! The roster will feature Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Throw in a handful of our patented Haiku by Andrew, not to mention your pick of cold beers from around the world, and you've got all the ingredients for an evening that will glow in your memory for weeks to follow.

The evening gets underway with your host Andrew Huff on Tuesday, June 4th, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. (Bill will be on vacation.) Arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar (where credit cards are now accepted!). We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!

May debriefing

2013-05-09T14:24:48Z

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.

Reminder: Tuesday Funk #57 is tonight!

2013-05-07T14:25:39Z

Don't forget—tonight is Tuesday Funk's 57th episode, featuring Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and Sara Ross Witt. Don't miss it!

Our readings take place at Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. We get started promptly at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. Arrive early if you want a seat—but no earlier than 7:00 pm. Our readings are free, but only those 21 and over will be admitted. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

Video: Jeremy Jasper revisits a terrified inner child

2013-05-06T14:12:55Z

Last month at our April 2nd edition, Jeremy Jasper dropped by to relate a powerful and terrifying tale from childhood, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and former co-host Sara Ross Witt. Don't miss it!

Video: Time is not on William Shunn's side

2013-05-03T14:03:51Z

At the March 5th edition of Tuesday Funk, our monthly Poem by Bill raged against the ticking clock, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and former co-host Sara Ross Witt!

Meet Our Readers: Mary Beth Hoerner

2013-05-01T14:29:35Z

Mary Beth Hoerner is a Chicago playwright and fiction writer. Her play Atomic Honeymoon was performed at the CORNservatory, she is a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists, and she was the recipient of a Ragdale residency in playwriting. Her short fiction has appeared in Hair Trigger and Hypertext, and her memoir "Night Games" appears in the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. She co-hosts The Chicago Way literary reading series and is a board member of 2nd Story. Her education includes an M.A. in English from the University of Illinois and an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Columbia College Chicago.

Please join Mary Beth and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, May 7th, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older-only event is free.

Video: Reinhardt Suarez sings the house down

2013-04-30T13:47:25Z

At our April 2nd edition, Tuesday Funk co-founder Reinhardt Suarez returned to our mike to read from his new novel, The Green Ray of the Sun, and he brought some musical friends to back him up...

Meet Our Readers: Dion Walton

2013-04-29T14:19:32Z

Originally a theater performer for 25 years, Dion Walton has been writing for the past ten. He's a published writer (Our Legacies: Writings from Chicago's Older Gay Men), a singer, and an artist who has presented work in galleries in the Chicago area.

At present he is writing his autobiography, The Happening, and also writing and performing with The Goodman Theater. Follow him on Facebook at his page "Where is Dion Now?"

Please join Dion and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, May 7th, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older-only event is free.

Video: Mary Robinette Kowal brings us the glamour

2013-04-26T14:16:38Z

At our April 2nd edition, Mary Robinette Kowal brought us this magical excerpt from her new novel Without a Summer. And you'll want to watch all the way to the end because she brought shadow puppets too!

Meet Our Readers: Sara Ross Witt

2013-04-24T14:09:31Z

Sara Ross Witt is the former co-producer and co-host of Tuesday Funk and a graduate of The New School MFA in Creative Writing program. She was raised in Ohio as a psychic by her biological mother, a detail she writes about in some of her short stories. Since leaving Ohio she has lived in New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis and has pursued a very non-psychic career as a technical writer for the United States Government, which included writing for the Office of the President.

Her writing has appeared in Arch City Chronicle and Parent to Parent. For more information on Sara's thoughts on pregnancy, motherhood, and the movie Aliens, visit her site Pregphobic and Pregnant.

Sara lives with her husband, their 18-month old son, and two cats in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.

Please join Sara and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, May 7th, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older-only event is free.

Video: William Shunn wants to know "What Changed?"

2013-04-23T13:46:36Z

At our April 2nd edition, co-host William Shunn gave his short-short story "What Changed?" (originally written for 20x2 in Austin) its Chicago debut, and it went a little like this...

If you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and former co-host Sara Ross Witt. Don't miss it!

Meet Our Readers: Robert McDonald

2013-04-22T14:29:34Z

Robert McDonald's prose and poetry have appeared in a wide variety of print and online journals, including Sentence, The New York Quarterly, Columbia Poetry Review, and The Prose-Poem Project. He lives in Andersonville, works at in independent bookstore, and blogs about poetry and other things at Lives of the Spiders. With Kathie Bergquist, he is the author of A Field Guide to Gay & Lesbian Chicago.

Please join Robert and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, May 7th, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older-only event is free.

Meet Our Readers: Suzanne Clores

2013-04-19T13:58:25Z

Suzanne Clores is an author of narrative nonfiction, and is working on her second book, titled Invisible: How I Came to Accept the Extraordinary. She has written for The Huffington Post, Smith, The Nervous Breakdown, Next Avenue, Natural Health, Martha Stewart Living, and Shambhala Sun, among other publications. She was once hired to write and produce a documentary for MSNBC on the neo-pagan movement, which, strangely, never aired. Her essays have run on Chicago Public Radio. She learned to take storytelling seriously both from her Italian grandfather and while working with David Isay a million years ago on several pieces for All Things Considered.

Suzanne's work often revolves around the American psycho-spiritual movement, a category into which her piece for May 7th also falls. Please join her and all our outstanding readers upstairs at Hopleaf that night at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older-only event is free.