HOW TO HOST pt 2

Hi! 

This is a little extra newsletter to 1) share the other pieces of advice my friends gave me about organizing events and 2) talk about the things that have been swirling in my head!!! I will start with the things swirling in my head.

What a weird, kind of devastating couple of weeks interspersed with some of the hardest laughs of my life

Just a day after the beautiful July 4th I spent lounging in the sun on Hollywood Beach with my friends, Derek got cut off biking down Milwaukee by some old guy in a Subaru. He flipped over the front of his bike and—this is a medical term—absolutely fucked up his elbows. The ER doctor said he would need surgery on his left arm with accompanying casts on both of his arms for the foreseeable future. As far as bike injuries go, just broken arms feel wildly lucky. For the next few days we started to come to terms with him being completely unable to do anything, but at his surgery consultation, the doctor said his right arm (while still pretty fucked up) wouldn’t need a cast. Hugeeee slay.

Derek has slowly been able to start doing more stuff since getting a sexy new metal plate in his left elbow, which is also a huge slay. And no the guy didn’t stop, but it’s a whole thing so lmk if you want me to show you the security footage. It will piss you off. I feel lucky that so many people checked in, made us meals, and sent us beer money (I used the money for beer, Molly).

THEN, on the bus ride to go see a play last week, I found out Andrea Gibson died. A few months ago Brigid and I were talking about the first celebrity death that would absolutely gut us. I think I said Dolly Parton, but I was wrong. 

If you hopped on the YouTube poetry train in high school or college, you probably heard Gibson’s work. I saw them perform for the first time in an Omaha, NE dive bar when I was 17. My mom had to come with me because it was a 21+ show. If you haven't listened to/read their work, you should, but I don’t want to even link my favorites because your journey through the Gibson discography should be untainted.

Just a mere 3ish hours after reading a heartbreaking message from Andrea Gibson’s loved ones on Instagram, I was throwing white roses at the genius cast of Split Lip Theater’s Merry We: An Elite Comedy. I am so glad I snuck into their final show. I was supposed to go opening weekend, but, well. My boyfriend broke his arms. 

My completely unbiased review of the show that you can no longer see

Merry We was the funniest performance I’ve seen this year for sure, and maybe even since I’ve moved to Chicago. I watched it crammed in a living room next to my dear friend Joey with a can of rosé in my hand. My ideal theater going experience. Split Lip is a new DIY theater company in the city that is full of geniuses who are also freaks. Merry We was an absurdist comedy that Christopher Durang wishes he wrote about luck; capitalism; sex; magic; and losing your kids, but making do. I was squealing watching Ambrose Cappuccio portray the delusional Johnny Babcock. Hannah Cruz as Curtis Flagg and Caleb Roitz as Magnus Fader (also the director and one of the writers) were cracking me up, but also acted their asses off in their perfectly placed serious moments that were always bookended by a well-timed physical gag. Zoe Thibault’s character Fred Hump is one of my favorite characters of all time with a final monologue about him and his deceased wife’s sex parties.

This is now the second time I’ve seen Moriah Martel embody the role of an evil demon sent from the underworld to make a man ruin his own life and she has mastered it down to the rapid blinking.

This is def biased, but Annaleigh Stone (my friend who I have performed many disturbing/messy bits with) as Bianca Babcock was genius. Annaleigh is the most exciting and perverted performer I’ve ever seen on stage. I could watch her pretend to have sex on a fake dinner table forever.

Merry We was brilliant, weird, and made me feel lucky to be living in Chicago. It’s so different than anything I’ve seen and I feel pissed the hell off that it’s over so that I can’t force more of you to go see it.

Advice About Hosting Part 2

Enough about my epic life, here’s some more great advice about hosting events from two of my favorite producers in the city. The first is a story from Darien about getting too high in the midst of a crisis <3

These comments have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

I can confirm that Darien is great producer/organzier now and takes very good care of his artists!! Next, Derek (different Derek) Bish gets into trusting yourself! Don’t let people trick you into making a podcast!

Recommendations

• On Saturday, we are going to Audrey’s art show in Logan, Hot Reads at LSI, and then Bookclub to shake our asses. Both the art show and the DJ set are free (LSI is only $5) so It’s a night that could literally cost you less than $20 WITH bus fare and a canned cocktail at Bookclub. 

• A gorgeous little song about acne summer

• Monday, July 28, Aspen and I will be at The Getaway in Lincoln Square on Derek Bish’s Welcome to the Show (callback) to talk about self defense class

• Guys, I bought these gorgeous/hideous Keens on sale

• Chicago field day August 9

• My fav recent read: The cruel scam that is Hims from Alex Kesin

• Clue: A Drag Parody at Steppenwolf August 28-30

Next Issue: I’m so excited for y’all to read my interview with poet, horse photoshopper, and insta icon behind horses_and_memories.

Thanks for reading and, as always, don’t tell me about any typos unless they are really bad.