mcsweeney's vs. they might be giants
10-19-02, 11:44 AM
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mcsweeney's vs. they might be giants
ok, i posted on this a while back but it's archived now. i originally asked if anyone had seen the show b/ i had just gotten tix. now i've seen it and someone wanted to hear about it.
saw it last night and all i can say is "phenomenal"!!!!! it was brilliant. dave eggers hosted it and mcsweeny's sponsored it. it was their first performance but i don't think its traveling. if it is i suggest you all run out IMMEDIATELY and buy tickets!
i can't really describe it and i can't recount what happened b/c words fail me but i can say who was there and the basic formula.
it started with "the trachenburg family slide show" which was very funny, they show slides that they've found in estate sales and put music to them!
dave hosted/introduced everyone who spoke and they have all been contributors to mcsweeny's in the past: sarah vowell (recommend her books, she so hysterical), an 18-yr old poet who was amazing but i can't remember her name, arthur cunningham (i think, he read a story called 'rosalyn's dog'--a must read IMO, funny, funny, funny and very very bizarre!), a gent named eddie joe cotton (created an amazing mood during his reading), and dave himself (if you haven't read anything by him, i suggest you do, he's definitely making a mark in the literary world)
all these readings were accompanied by TMBG. i never really knew much about them other than they were a little odd and for this extremely odd event they fit in beautifully! they were so much fun. what they were asked to do was to put music to mcsweeny's literature and it worked so well. after it was all over they then held a mini concert and the crowd went nuts!
i'm telling you all, this was sooooo much fun! bizarre, odd, brilliant, and it all came together fabulously! go see this if it comes near you and i hope it does b/c prople need to see this.
they held it on my college campus and sitting next to me were 3 freshmen who got interviewed by a journalist before the show. he asked why they came, they said for TMBG, and he told them he would come back after the show to see if they were inspired to read eggers or mcsweeny's. they totally were! and i think this is what was the point, eggers is really trying (with his non-profit associations w/ USpeak, etc.) to get young people to read again. i think this worked well, and it has wonderful potential to reach the non-literary public.
sorry it's a little wordy but i was really impressed.
saw it last night and all i can say is "phenomenal"!!!!! it was brilliant. dave eggers hosted it and mcsweeny's sponsored it. it was their first performance but i don't think its traveling. if it is i suggest you all run out IMMEDIATELY and buy tickets!
i can't really describe it and i can't recount what happened b/c words fail me but i can say who was there and the basic formula.
it started with "the trachenburg family slide show" which was very funny, they show slides that they've found in estate sales and put music to them!
dave hosted/introduced everyone who spoke and they have all been contributors to mcsweeny's in the past: sarah vowell (recommend her books, she so hysterical), an 18-yr old poet who was amazing but i can't remember her name, arthur cunningham (i think, he read a story called 'rosalyn's dog'--a must read IMO, funny, funny, funny and very very bizarre!), a gent named eddie joe cotton (created an amazing mood during his reading), and dave himself (if you haven't read anything by him, i suggest you do, he's definitely making a mark in the literary world)all these readings were accompanied by TMBG. i never really knew much about them other than they were a little odd and for this extremely odd event they fit in beautifully! they were so much fun. what they were asked to do was to put music to mcsweeny's literature and it worked so well. after it was all over they then held a mini concert and the crowd went nuts!
i'm telling you all, this was sooooo much fun! bizarre, odd, brilliant, and it all came together fabulously! go see this if it comes near you and i hope it does b/c prople need to see this.
they held it on my college campus and sitting next to me were 3 freshmen who got interviewed by a journalist before the show. he asked why they came, they said for TMBG, and he told them he would come back after the show to see if they were inspired to read eggers or mcsweeny's. they totally were! and i think this is what was the point, eggers is really trying (with his non-profit associations w/ USpeak, etc.) to get young people to read again. i think this worked well, and it has wonderful potential to reach the non-literary public.
sorry it's a little wordy but i was really impressed.
10-30-02, 02:03 AM
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The second person you mentioned's name is Arthur Bradford. He has a great short story collection named 'Dogwalker'. If you liked 'Rosalyn's Dog', you'll love the entire collection. Here's another review of the show http://pitchforkmedia.com/watw/02-10/mcsweeneys.shtml .
