Friday, October 30th, 2009
Thank you to everyone who came out on Wednesday for the last How I Learned before we head into holiday territory. David Carr, Elna Baker, Sarah D. Bunting and Betsy Housten totally rocked it. Candy corn k-holes, whore tights, Russian bathhouses and Warren Beatty--I mean, what more could you ask for?
So, we will see one another again on January 27th, 2010 at Happy Ending for a new season of How I Learned. Mark your cals! Next year our topics will include: How I Learned It's Basically All My Parents' Fault, How I Learned I am Totally in Love with You, How I Learned to Lie, Cheat and Steal, How I Learned Music Could Save My Life, and How I Learned to Keep a Secret, among others. Best year ever! I will miss you in November and December, but it really only means that when we come back in 2010 I will shower you with so much super-fun-magic-time that you won't even know what to do about it. Thank you for making How I Learned's first season such a smashing adventure.
Stay tuned for updates, keep in touch, and enjoy yourselves.
xoxo Blaise
How I Learned What Everyone Else Already Knew
I may be drunk right now on northern New England sorcery and 100% pure maple syrup, but I'm pretty sure this show is going to be magical.
How I Learned presents:
HOW I LEARNED WHAT EVERYONE ELSE ALREADY KNEW
Featuring:
ELNA BAKER
(The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance)
SARAH D. BUNTING
(Television Without Pity, Tomato Nation)
DAVID CARR
(The Night of The Gun, New York Times)
BETSY HOUSTEN
(You Know Better, Bluestockings series)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, October 28th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
(212) 334-9676
J, M, Z, F to Delancey
B, D to Grand
Get directions
***
ELNA BAKER is a writer, comedic storyteller and monologist. Her stories have appeared on This American Life, BBC Radio 4, The Moth, Studio 360, and at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She’s written for ELLE, Glamour and Five Dials Literary Journal. As a solo-performer she created the shows If You See Something, Say Something, A Mexican-Mormon, and A Book of Over-Dramatic Confessions. In 2007 and 2008 she was awarded residencies at both the MacDowell and Yaddo Artist Colonies. Her first book, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, will be published by Penguin on October 15th. To see a live performance and read Elna’s comics please visit: elnabaker.com
SARAH D. BUNTING's work has appeared in New York Magazine, Seventeen, the US Airways in-flight magazine, and on numerous websites -- including Television Without Pity.com, which she co-founded. She's the editor and publisher of Tomato Nation.com, and lives in Brooklyn -- right above a bookstore, which is a problem, and a coffee shop, which isn't.
DAVID CARR is a reporter and columnist for a Large National Newspaper, which means he spends his waking hours talking to people about What They Know and Others May Wish to Find Out. His life is a model of convention, with a nice house in the suburbs, a troubled lawn and a clunker in the driveway, which, as a matter of both sentiment and practicality, he did not turn in for cash. He wrote a book for Simon & Schuster last year, The Night of the Gun, in which he discovered that others knew many things he had forgotten. The list of things he does not know anything about exceeds the capacity of most hard drives, although he does know a thing or two about a thing or two.
BETSY HOUSTEN is a writer, drummer and massage therapy student. Her writing has been featured at several readings at Bluestockings Radical Bookstore, as well as the Cup & Pen series at Think Coffee. She is currently at work on the fourth issue of her zine You Know Better. When she's not messing about with words, Betsy can be found playing snare drum with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, creating her own clothing, and watching endless episodes of Buffy with her girlfriend and her cat.
How I Learned presents:
HOW I LEARNED WHAT EVERYONE ELSE ALREADY KNEW
Featuring:
ELNA BAKER
(The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance)
SARAH D. BUNTING
(Television Without Pity, Tomato Nation)
DAVID CARR
(The Night of The Gun, New York Times)
BETSY HOUSTEN
(You Know Better, Bluestockings series)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, October 28th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
(212) 334-9676
J, M, Z, F to Delancey
B, D to Grand
Get directions
***
ELNA BAKER is a writer, comedic storyteller and monologist. Her stories have appeared on This American Life, BBC Radio 4, The Moth, Studio 360, and at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. She’s written for ELLE, Glamour and Five Dials Literary Journal. As a solo-performer she created the shows If You See Something, Say Something, A Mexican-Mormon, and A Book of Over-Dramatic Confessions. In 2007 and 2008 she was awarded residencies at both the MacDowell and Yaddo Artist Colonies. Her first book, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, will be published by Penguin on October 15th. To see a live performance and read Elna’s comics please visit: elnabaker.com
SARAH D. BUNTING's work has appeared in New York Magazine, Seventeen, the US Airways in-flight magazine, and on numerous websites -- including Television Without Pity.com, which she co-founded. She's the editor and publisher of Tomato Nation.com, and lives in Brooklyn -- right above a bookstore, which is a problem, and a coffee shop, which isn't.
DAVID CARR is a reporter and columnist for a Large National Newspaper, which means he spends his waking hours talking to people about What They Know and Others May Wish to Find Out. His life is a model of convention, with a nice house in the suburbs, a troubled lawn and a clunker in the driveway, which, as a matter of both sentiment and practicality, he did not turn in for cash. He wrote a book for Simon & Schuster last year, The Night of the Gun, in which he discovered that others knew many things he had forgotten. The list of things he does not know anything about exceeds the capacity of most hard drives, although he does know a thing or two about a thing or two. 
BETSY HOUSTEN is a writer, drummer and massage therapy student. Her writing has been featured at several readings at Bluestockings Radical Bookstore, as well as the Cup & Pen series at Think Coffee. She is currently at work on the fourth issue of her zine You Know Better. When she's not messing about with words, Betsy can be found playing snare drum with the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, creating her own clothing, and watching endless episodes of Buffy with her girlfriend and her cat.
I Am Not Here
Sunday, October 5, 2009
I am (somewhere near) here:
I'm up north this month for a writing residency at the Vermont Studio Center. It's pretty freaking heavenly and I may very well never want to come back except for the fact that it would mean I'd miss the next How I Learned on October 28th, which, by the way, is going to be awesome.
Meanwhile, here are photos from last month's show How I Learned to Live in New York. Look at how much fun we had. The amount of fun we will have this month is probably going to be the same if not greater. So come out.
xoxo Blaise
PS. These photos are mostly without captions because I am very busy doing lots of things here in northern New England--writing, communing with artists, and just basically making autumnal magic to the max. Try not to miss the captions too much.
Photos: M. Sharkey
I am (somewhere near) here:
I'm up north this month for a writing residency at the Vermont Studio Center. It's pretty freaking heavenly and I may very well never want to come back except for the fact that it would mean I'd miss the next How I Learned on October 28th, which, by the way, is going to be awesome.
Meanwhile, here are photos from last month's show How I Learned to Live in New York. Look at how much fun we had. The amount of fun we will have this month is probably going to be the same if not greater. So come out.
xoxo Blaise
PS. These photos are mostly without captions because I am very busy doing lots of things here in northern New England--writing, communing with artists, and just basically making autumnal magic to the max. Try not to miss the captions too much.
Me with Moth StorySLAM winner Brad Lawrence
Photos: M. Sharkey
This is New York
Friday, September 25, 2009
The afternoon of the show, I happened to be on the phone with a friend of mine while she witnessed a dude on the streets of New York City slip on a banana peel. That's when I knew it was going to be a good night. Standing outside of Happy Ending later that night while waiting for the doors to open, a nice young girl told me she loves coming to How I Learned. "It's laugh therapy!" she said. I am telling you this because she told me I could. Then she started banging on the door to be let in because her high heels were killing her. I love my people!
If you missed Wednesday's show, How I Learned to Live in New York, you are sad. Pretty lady in red and Chicago transplant Brooke Van Poppelen talked about waiting on Owen Wilson at an Upper East Side vegan restaurant and how hard it is just to get to the fucking post office. The dashing Brad Lawrence, master storyteller, did the best impression of an NYC crackhead I have ever heard. His Rastaman was not too shabby either. The charming and insanely talented writer Paul Ford read excerpts from a new secret project he's working on, which may or may not have to do with a "shirt of chocolate" and "pastrami pants," but you didn't hear that from me. And Seth Herzog, everyone's favorite veteran downtown NYC comic who also sometimes wears a Wonder Woman costume if he feels like it, rounded out the night with a true bit about trying to score drugs in NYC with perhaps the last person you would ever want to be scoring drugs with.
Photographic documentation of How I Learned to Live in New York coming soon. [UPDATE: Photos here!] Meanwhile, mark your calendars for our amazing October 28th lineup. The topic is How I Learned What Everyone Else Already Knew and the show features both David Carr (The Night of The Gun) and Jeff Simmermon (This American Life, The Moth). That's, like, worth way more than the zero dollars we charge for the whole thing. [UPDATE: Jeff had to postpone unfortunately, but we now have the lovely Elna Baker, so still worth a pricey ticket were we to charge one, obviously!]
We are taking November and December off so be sure to get your HIL fix next month because you won't see us again until 2010, which sounds crazy to me. Remember when it was still the 80s?
Thanks to everyone who came out this month!
xoxo Blaise
The afternoon of the show, I happened to be on the phone with a friend of mine while she witnessed a dude on the streets of New York City slip on a banana peel. That's when I knew it was going to be a good night. Standing outside of Happy Ending later that night while waiting for the doors to open, a nice young girl told me she loves coming to How I Learned. "It's laugh therapy!" she said. I am telling you this because she told me I could. Then she started banging on the door to be let in because her high heels were killing her. I love my people!
If you missed Wednesday's show, How I Learned to Live in New York, you are sad. Pretty lady in red and Chicago transplant Brooke Van Poppelen talked about waiting on Owen Wilson at an Upper East Side vegan restaurant and how hard it is just to get to the fucking post office. The dashing Brad Lawrence, master storyteller, did the best impression of an NYC crackhead I have ever heard. His Rastaman was not too shabby either. The charming and insanely talented writer Paul Ford read excerpts from a new secret project he's working on, which may or may not have to do with a "shirt of chocolate" and "pastrami pants," but you didn't hear that from me. And Seth Herzog, everyone's favorite veteran downtown NYC comic who also sometimes wears a Wonder Woman costume if he feels like it, rounded out the night with a true bit about trying to score drugs in NYC with perhaps the last person you would ever want to be scoring drugs with.
Photographic documentation of How I Learned to Live in New York coming soon. [UPDATE: Photos here!] Meanwhile, mark your calendars for our amazing October 28th lineup. The topic is How I Learned What Everyone Else Already Knew and the show features both David Carr (The Night of The Gun) and Jeff Simmermon (This American Life, The Moth). That's, like, worth way more than the zero dollars we charge for the whole thing. [UPDATE: Jeff had to postpone unfortunately, but we now have the lovely Elna Baker, so still worth a pricey ticket were we to charge one, obviously!]
We are taking November and December off so be sure to get your HIL fix next month because you won't see us again until 2010, which sounds crazy to me. Remember when it was still the 80s?
Thanks to everyone who came out this month!
xoxo Blaise
Tonight...
...is going to be the time of our lives. Doors open at 7. You might want to get there early because the time of your life warrants a seat and two cocktails (one in each hand), ready to go.
xoxo Blaise
HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE IN NEW YORK
Featuring:
PAUL FORD, SETH HERZOG, BRAD LAWRENCE + BROOKE VAN POPPELEN
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, September 23rd
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome St. btwn Forsythe + Eldridge
MORE DETAILS...
xoxo Blaise
HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE IN NEW YORK
Featuring:
PAUL FORD, SETH HERZOG, BRAD LAWRENCE + BROOKE VAN POPPELEN
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, September 23rd
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome St. btwn Forsythe + Eldridge
MORE DETAILS...
It's All Happening
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hey! Never mind that I just had two big blood orange margaritas on an empty stomach, Tomorrow's installment of How I Learned just popped up in the New York Times' Urban Eye!
WE'RE RICH!
Tomorrow, I love you. (Today, I love you also.)
Hey! Never mind that I just had two big blood orange margaritas on an empty stomach, Tomorrow's installment of How I Learned just popped up in the New York Times' Urban Eye!
WE'RE RICH!
Tomorrow, I love you. (Today, I love you also.)
I Guess This Means I Have To Be Funny?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Hey! Next week's show is a Time Out New York Critic's Pick in the comedy section! (So if you were thinking of maybe doing something else on Wednesday, you're probably starting to think twice right about now.) Thanks, Time Out!
Also, How I Learned was mentioned in this New York Press piece by Rachel Kramer Bussel earlier this month. I forgot to tell you.
I have other stuff to tell you, too--stuff that doesn't really have anything to do with HIL, but I'll save it for when I see you.
Hey! Next week's show is a Time Out New York Critic's Pick in the comedy section! (So if you were thinking of maybe doing something else on Wednesday, you're probably starting to think twice right about now.) Thanks, Time Out!
Also, How I Learned was mentioned in this New York Press piece by Rachel Kramer Bussel earlier this month. I forgot to tell you.
I have other stuff to tell you, too--stuff that doesn't really have anything to do with HIL, but I'll save it for when I see you.
How I Learned to Live in New York
May be hard to top last month's truly hysterical How I Learned, but I'm pretty sure our upcoming reading is going to be the greatest show in America.
I was thinking that I'm coming up on my 12th year of life in New York. Either the 12th or 13th year. Possibly 14th? I don't know. I'm not good at math or time or life. Anyway, in honor of my whatever New York anniversary, I've asked four funny, talented people to come talk about life in New York because I'm kind of self-involved that way.
See you there for fun and stories!
xoxo Blaise
How I Learned is pleased to present:
HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE IN NEW YORK
Featuring:
PAUL FORD
(Harper's, Author of Gary Benchley, Rock Star)
SETH HERZOG
(Zog's Place, Sweet)
BRAD LAWRENCE
(Moth StorySLAM winner)
BROOKE VAN POPPELEN
(NY is Retarded)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, September 23rd
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
J, M, Z, F to Delancey
B, D to Grand
(212) 334-9676
***
PAUL FORD is an editor at Harper's Magazine, where among other things he runs the website. His novel Gary Benchley, Rock Star was published by Plume in 2005, and he has written for TheMorningNews.org, NPR's All Things Considered, and the National Information Standards Organization's Information Standards Quarterly. He is the sole proprietor of Ftrain.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Mo and the obligatory cats.
SETH HERZOG has been a professional actor since elementary school and has been performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. Since moving to New York in 1994, he's been a vital force in the thriving downtown comedy scene. He's the creator/producer of the long-running show, Sweet, featuring some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. Seth appears in the films Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, and the upcoming The Winning Season. He has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access, and he's had some memorable turns on Chappelle's Show and Stella, among others.
BRAD LAWRENCE is a writer, storyteller, actor, burlesque performer, producer, and a good son originally from St. Louis, Missouri and now residing in Brooklyn. He and his wife are responsible for Stories at The Creek and The Thursday Show at Identity Lounge. He is a Moth StorySLAM winner, the author of the critically acclaimed one man show Monsters In The Wood, and a regular guest at The BTK Band, The Liar Show, Speakeasy Stories, and anywhere that the performers get paid in drink tickets.
BROOKE VAN POPPELEN writes for Lemondrop.com, was recently nominated as an Emerging Comic of NYC, and, from time to time, skips town to feature in clubs around the country. Excerpts from her blog, NY is Retarded, have appeared in an array of print publications, and she will be starring in her first ever one-woman show, "So-Low Show," this October and November at the Phil Coltoff Center for Performing Arts in NYC.
I was thinking that I'm coming up on my 12th year of life in New York. Either the 12th or 13th year. Possibly 14th? I don't know. I'm not good at math or time or life. Anyway, in honor of my whatever New York anniversary, I've asked four funny, talented people to come talk about life in New York because I'm kind of self-involved that way.
See you there for fun and stories!
xoxo Blaise
How I Learned is pleased to present:
HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE IN NEW YORK
Featuring:
PAUL FORD
(Harper's, Author of Gary Benchley, Rock Star)
SETH HERZOG
(Zog's Place, Sweet)
BRAD LAWRENCE
(Moth StorySLAM winner)
BROOKE VAN POPPELEN
(NY is Retarded)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, September 23rd
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
J, M, Z, F to Delancey
B, D to Grand
(212) 334-9676
***
PAUL FORD is an editor at Harper's Magazine, where among other things he runs the website. His novel Gary Benchley, Rock Star was published by Plume in 2005, and he has written for TheMorningNews.org, NPR's All Things Considered, and the National Information Standards Organization's Information Standards Quarterly. He is the sole proprietor of Ftrain.com. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Mo and the obligatory cats.
SETH HERZOG has been a professional actor since elementary school and has been performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. Since moving to New York in 1994, he's been a vital force in the thriving downtown comedy scene. He's the creator/producer of the long-running show, Sweet, featuring some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. Seth appears in the films Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, and the upcoming The Winning Season. He has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access, and he's had some memorable turns on Chappelle's Show and Stella, among others.
BRAD LAWRENCE is a writer, storyteller, actor, burlesque performer, producer, and a good son originally from St. Louis, Missouri and now residing in Brooklyn. He and his wife are responsible for Stories at The Creek and The Thursday Show at Identity Lounge. He is a Moth StorySLAM winner, the author of the critically acclaimed one man show Monsters In The Wood, and a regular guest at The BTK Band, The Liar Show, Speakeasy Stories, and anywhere that the performers get paid in drink tickets.
BROOKE VAN POPPELEN writes for Lemondrop.com, was recently nominated as an Emerging Comic of NYC, and, from time to time, skips town to feature in clubs around the country. Excerpts from her blog, NY is Retarded, have appeared in an array of print publications, and she will be starring in her first ever one-woman show, "So-Low Show," this October and November at the Phil Coltoff Center for Performing Arts in NYC.
Humiliation and Hilarity
Friday, August 28, 2009
How are you? That's good. Listen, Wednesday's How I Learned to Laugh at Myself pretty much killed thanks to the writing talent and comedic stylings of our readers. After hearing about Brian Grosz's nether region trauma, Jiji Lee's before-the-morning-after morning after pill problem, Suzie Guillette's friend's very special underwear incident, Jon Friedman's garbage collecting humiliation, and perhaps even my never-meant-to-go-public ballet routine, I think we all left feeling a little bit better about ourselves. The stiff drinks didn't not help. Man, it was fun. Thank you, everyone.
Actor and musician BRIAN GROSZ and the Lapdance Academy girls. (They're not really his girls. Please don't sue me, ladies.)
Guess who.
Obviously discussing his prostate here.
If anyone could have held their own following Grosz's prostate story, it was hysterical writer and playwright JIJI LEE on collegiate sex mishaps.
We offered a signed copy of Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped and Canceled to one brave soul willing to come up and tell an embarrassing story of their own. Here is KATHERINE relaying her tale while I evidently do something totally crazy at her with my face.
The delightful SUZANNE GUILLETTE reads from her book Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment, a funny and heartfelt book about Guillette's coming to terms with some of her own experiences through the embarrassing stories of others. Really!
Packed house. People usually flee the city in August. Thank you, terrible economy!
Me with Jon Friedman before the show. Someone please email me a caption for this.
In conclusion, the crowd was happy, the performers were happy, I was happy, everybody was a winner. You can be a winner too just by attending next month's How I Learned on September 23rd and telling all of your friends. The topic is How I Learned to Live in New York. See you then! Stay tuned for details.
xoxo Blaise
Photos by Bryan Formhals
How are you? That's good. Listen, Wednesday's How I Learned to Laugh at Myself pretty much killed thanks to the writing talent and comedic stylings of our readers. After hearing about Brian Grosz's nether region trauma, Jiji Lee's before-the-morning-after morning after pill problem, Suzie Guillette's friend's very special underwear incident, Jon Friedman's garbage collecting humiliation, and perhaps even my never-meant-to-go-public ballet routine, I think we all left feeling a little bit better about ourselves. The stiff drinks didn't not help. Man, it was fun. Thank you, everyone.
Actor and musician BRIAN GROSZ and the Lapdance Academy girls. (They're not really his girls. Please don't sue me, ladies.)
Guess who.
Obviously discussing his prostate here.
If anyone could have held their own following Grosz's prostate story, it was hysterical writer and playwright JIJI LEE on collegiate sex mishaps.
We offered a signed copy of Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped and Canceled to one brave soul willing to come up and tell an embarrassing story of their own. Here is KATHERINE relaying her tale while I evidently do something totally crazy at her with my face.
The delightful SUZANNE GUILLETTE reads from her book Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment, a funny and heartfelt book about Guillette's coming to terms with some of her own experiences through the embarrassing stories of others. Really!
Packed house. People usually flee the city in August. Thank you, terrible economy!
Me with Jon Friedman before the show. Someone please email me a caption for this.In conclusion, the crowd was happy, the performers were happy, I was happy, everybody was a winner. You can be a winner too just by attending next month's How I Learned on September 23rd and telling all of your friends. The topic is How I Learned to Live in New York. See you then! Stay tuned for details.
xoxo Blaise
Photos by Bryan Formhals
If The Incredible Hulk Had A Drinking Problem
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
Tomorrow night! We will come together and embrace our embarrassing moments. I'm not going to lie--I am shamelessly excited about my own event. Is that OK?
Anyway, here are two short films from readers Suzanne Guillette and Jon Friedman to get you pumped for tomorrow. One is Suzanne Guillette's "Much To Your Chagrin." The other is Jon Friedman's old promo for a special edition of The Rejection Show. It's one of my favorite things of all time, and not just because it uses Queen's "Somebody To Love" as the soundtrack. But that is a pretty major reason.
Okay, see you tomorrow!
HOW I LEARNED TO LAUGH AT MYSELF:
EMBARRASSING STORIES OF HUMILIATION AND HILARITY
Featuring: JON FRIEDMAN, BRIAN GROSZ, SUZANNE GUILLETTE + JIJI LEE
Wednesday, August 26th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE!
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street (between Forsyth & Eldridge)
Tomorrow night! We will come together and embrace our embarrassing moments. I'm not going to lie--I am shamelessly excited about my own event. Is that OK?
Anyway, here are two short films from readers Suzanne Guillette and Jon Friedman to get you pumped for tomorrow. One is Suzanne Guillette's "Much To Your Chagrin." The other is Jon Friedman's old promo for a special edition of The Rejection Show. It's one of my favorite things of all time, and not just because it uses Queen's "Somebody To Love" as the soundtrack. But that is a pretty major reason.
Okay, see you tomorrow!
HOW I LEARNED TO LAUGH AT MYSELF:
EMBARRASSING STORIES OF HUMILIATION AND HILARITY
Featuring: JON FRIEDMAN, BRIAN GROSZ, SUZANNE GUILLETTE + JIJI LEE
Wednesday, August 26th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE!
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street (between Forsyth & Eldridge)
Another One Bites The Dust (Probably Me)
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Dear Friends, Fans and Supporters of How I Learned,
I'll be representing the How I Learned Reading Series in a comedy-heavy episode of Opium Magazine's wacky Literary Death Match on August 20th. Yow!
If you come and cheer real loud I'll feel like a gold medal winner no matter how hard I fucking bite it in the end. I'm doing it for How I Learned. And for you. Everything I do, I do it for you.
Info below. And, of course, don't forget August 26th's big night of embarrassment at How I Learned. Yay!
Literary Death Match
NYC Ep. 17
Judges: four-time Emmy winner Scott Jacobson (The Daily Show), Tony Arcabascio (Alife founder) and Ethan Nosowsky (Graywolf Press)
Readers: Elisa Albert (The Book of Dahlia), Janice Erlbaum (GIRLBOMB), Elna Baker (writer of the forthcoming The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance) and Blaise Allysen Kearsley (How I Learned reading series)
Hosted and produced by Todd Zuniga & Erin Hosier
When: Thursday, August 20; Doors at 7:30, show at 8:05 p.m. (sharp)
Where: Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery, (212) 614-0505
Cost: $10
Dear Friends, Fans and Supporters of How I Learned,
I'll be representing the How I Learned Reading Series in a comedy-heavy episode of Opium Magazine's wacky Literary Death Match on August 20th. Yow!
If you come and cheer real loud I'll feel like a gold medal winner no matter how hard I fucking bite it in the end. I'm doing it for How I Learned. And for you. Everything I do, I do it for you.
Info below. And, of course, don't forget August 26th's big night of embarrassment at How I Learned. Yay!
Literary Death Match
NYC Ep. 17
Judges: four-time Emmy winner Scott Jacobson (The Daily Show), Tony Arcabascio (Alife founder) and Ethan Nosowsky (Graywolf Press)
Readers: Elisa Albert (The Book of Dahlia), Janice Erlbaum (GIRLBOMB), Elna Baker (writer of the forthcoming The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance) and Blaise Allysen Kearsley (How I Learned reading series)
Hosted and produced by Todd Zuniga & Erin Hosier
When: Thursday, August 20; Doors at 7:30, show at 8:05 p.m. (sharp)
Where: Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery, (212) 614-0505
Cost: $10
Wincing the Night Away
Holy crap, it's August. That means you have one more chance to check out How I Learned before the summer is over. This month we have a super fun lineup and a wince-worthy topic. What I'm saying is, it's not to be missed. If nothing else it might make you feel a little bit better about your life.
Okay! See you there!
xoxo Blaise
How I Learned Reading Series proudly presents:
HOW I LEARNED TO LAUGH AT MYSELF: EMBARRASSING STORIES OF HUMILIATION AND HILARITY
Featuring:
JON FRIEDMAN
(The Rejection Show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
BRIAN GROSZ
(Musician, Voice-over Extraordinaire)
SUZANNE GUILLETTE
(Author of Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment)
JIJI LEE
(Women Center Stage Festival, The New Republic)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, August 26th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE!
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
(212) 334-9676
Get directions
***
JON FRIEDMAN is a writer, comedian and producer living in Brooklyn and currently writing/blogging for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He is the creator/producer and host of the New York City cult hit show, The Rejection Show, and many other popular live events. Jon's first book, Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped & Canceled, a humor anthology of rejected works, was released in 2009 with Villard (Random House). He has performed and read at literary events and stand-up comedy venues throughout New York City and beyond.
With a "face for radio," BRIAN GROSZ is the voice behind commercials for clients that include Chase Bank, VH-1, Levitra, Major League Baseball, American Standard and Canon. When he's not talking on television, he's screaming with stoner-metal act Dogs of Winter or howling with his blues project Brian Grosz and The Bad Idea. He's also the founder of Lapdance Academy Records, a blogger at Needles and Sins and an adamant chain-smoker.
SUZANNE GUILLETTE (www.suzanneguillette.com) is a teacher and writer whose work has appeared in Tin House, SELF, Publisher’s Weekly, Time Out New York and elsewhere. Her first book, Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment, was released in March. Suzanne holds a Bachelor's in Philosophy and a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Non-fiction. She lives in Brooklyn.
JIJI LEE is a speechwriter for diplomats and a humor writer when her boss isn't around. She realized diplomacy wasn't her calling when she attended a work event and was the only one frequenting the open bar. She writes IS THIS THING ON?--a weekly newsletter of observations, anecdotes, and tips on how to ruin people's lives. Her play, In the Sun, was selected and produced at The Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival. She has also written for print and online publications such as The New Republic, Mar magazine, and Refinery 29.
Okay! See you there!
xoxo Blaise
How I Learned Reading Series proudly presents:
HOW I LEARNED TO LAUGH AT MYSELF: EMBARRASSING STORIES OF HUMILIATION AND HILARITY
Featuring:
JON FRIEDMAN
(The Rejection Show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon)
BRIAN GROSZ
(Musician, Voice-over Extraordinaire)
SUZANNE GUILLETTE
(Author of Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment)
JIJI LEE
(Women Center Stage Festival, The New Republic)
Hosted by BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
Wednesday, August 26th
8:00PM (Doors open at 7:00)
FREE!
at HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street
between Forsyth & Eldridge
(It's the pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club")
(212) 334-9676
Get directions
***
JON FRIEDMAN is a writer, comedian and producer living in Brooklyn and currently writing/blogging for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He is the creator/producer and host of the New York City cult hit show, The Rejection Show, and many other popular live events. Jon's first book, Rejected: Tales of the Failed, Dumped & Canceled, a humor anthology of rejected works, was released in 2009 with Villard (Random House). He has performed and read at literary events and stand-up comedy venues throughout New York City and beyond.
With a "face for radio," BRIAN GROSZ is the voice behind commercials for clients that include Chase Bank, VH-1, Levitra, Major League Baseball, American Standard and Canon. When he's not talking on television, he's screaming with stoner-metal act Dogs of Winter or howling with his blues project Brian Grosz and The Bad Idea. He's also the founder of Lapdance Academy Records, a blogger at Needles and Sins and an adamant chain-smoker.
SUZANNE GUILLETTE (www.suzanneguillette.com) is a teacher and writer whose work has appeared in Tin House, SELF, Publisher’s Weekly, Time Out New York and elsewhere. Her first book, Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment, was released in March. Suzanne holds a Bachelor's in Philosophy and a Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Non-fiction. She lives in Brooklyn.
JIJI LEE is a speechwriter for diplomats and a humor writer when her boss isn't around. She realized diplomacy wasn't her calling when she attended a work event and was the only one frequenting the open bar. She writes IS THIS THING ON?--a weekly newsletter of observations, anecdotes, and tips on how to ruin people's lives. Her play, In the Sun, was selected and produced at The Culture Project's Women Center Stage Festival. She has also written for print and online publications such as The New Republic, Mar magazine, and Refinery 29.
And They All Lived Happily Ever After
Monday, July 28th, 2009
Pleased to report it was another super fun night at Happy Ending last week. July's topic, How I Learned We Were Breaking Up, inspired delightful tales of cocaine binges, dead dogs, a reverse Cinderella story (and, um, Adam Sandler), not to mention an impressive hi-fi slideshow presentation with a pointer. You know how much I love visual aids. We also learned a lot about Jews and the people who love them.
Please enjoy a few photos with captions while I edit some videos from the evening and eventually get them up on our YouTube channel. "Wait. You have a YouTube Channel," a friend said to me recently. True story.
Thanks so much to everyone who came out last week. See you next month for what will hopefully be some of the most embarrassing stories in the history of embarrassing stories. August 26th is How I Learned to Laugh at Myself: Embarrassing Stories of Humiliation and Hilarity with Jon Friedman, Suzanne Guillette and more. Join us for fun and wincing, won't you?
xoxo Blaise
Photos by Bruno J. Navarro
Pleased to report it was another super fun night at Happy Ending last week. July's topic, How I Learned We Were Breaking Up, inspired delightful tales of cocaine binges, dead dogs, a reverse Cinderella story (and, um, Adam Sandler), not to mention an impressive hi-fi slideshow presentation with a pointer. You know how much I love visual aids. We also learned a lot about Jews and the people who love them.
Please enjoy a few photos with captions while I edit some videos from the evening and eventually get them up on our YouTube channel. "Wait. You have a YouTube Channel," a friend said to me recently. True story.
DAN ALLEN, comedian and co-producer/co-host of the monthly comedy show ¡SACAPUNTAS! is very funny and very tall. "I wasn't fully aware of my self-worth so I thanked god for anyone who put up with my Mr. Burnsian naked body. I really do look like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons when I'm naked. You can see my liver."
Handsome young MENACHEM KAISER, a writer and Huffington Post contributor, had an elaborate presentation illustrating an elaborate plan to get a gal to dump him. "I thought that I could sit down and say, 'we need to talk,' and that would be the breakup. I actually hadn't prepared anything past that line."
The lovely DIANA SPECHLER (www.dianaspechler.com), author of Who By Fire, had a thing or two to say about two boys and a binge. "Keith kept his golden-brown hair longish and wavy and tucked behind his ears. He had an angel face complete with peaceful blue eyes. I had once watched him inhale twelve nitrous balloons in a row as dispassionately as if he were eating Chex Mix."
Super cute LYNN HARRIS (www.lynnharris.net), award-winning journalist, author, humor writer and Breakup Girl alter ego, shared several brief vignettes of bogus breakups. "#5) Larry, my college sweetheart/first love/boyfriend emeritus. I learned we were breaking up at his wedding. That's what it took. I got very drunk and went straight from there to play ice hockey with my hair still up in a french twist under my helmet. I got two penalties for roughing."
Thanks so much to everyone who came out last week. See you next month for what will hopefully be some of the most embarrassing stories in the history of embarrassing stories. August 26th is How I Learned to Laugh at Myself: Embarrassing Stories of Humiliation and Hilarity with Jon Friedman, Suzanne Guillette and more. Join us for fun and wincing, won't you?
xoxo Blaise
Photos by Bruno J. Navarro
Bringin' On The Heartbreak
Monday, July 20th, 2009
Over the last couple of weeks I've spent a lot of time gearing up for this Wednesday's How I Learned We Were Breaking Up. How? Well, thank you for asking. I've been watching a lot of heartbreaking music videos on the YouTubes. I've made different breakup mixes to suit the various stages of grief. I've re-read love letters from old boyfriends, torn up their photos (but then glued them back together), and I've been weeping a lot. Angry tears, mostly. I've also overfed the cat, neglected to shower, and I've eaten a pint of ice cream in one sitting on several occasions while asking myself questions like, "Why can't you just fucking let it go?" or "What would Alanis do?"
Anyway, this is just how I'm preparing myself. I'm kind of a method-host. You probably have your own technique.
Question: What's the worst/best/weirdest way someone has broken up with you or you've broken up with someone? (That someone could be your therapist, your BFF, a relative, etc....) I want to know! Email me at howilearned at gmail dot com.
See you Wednesday!
xoxo Blaise
HOW I LEARNED WE WERE BREAKING UP
Featuring:
DAN ALLEN, MENACHEM KAISER, LYNN HARRIS + DIANA SPECHLER
Wednesday, July 22nd
8pm (Doors open at 7)
Happy Ending
302 Broome Street
(between Forsyth & Eldridge)
FREE!
MORE DETAILS
Over the last couple of weeks I've spent a lot of time gearing up for this Wednesday's How I Learned We Were Breaking Up. How? Well, thank you for asking. I've been watching a lot of heartbreaking music videos on the YouTubes. I've made different breakup mixes to suit the various stages of grief. I've re-read love letters from old boyfriends, torn up their photos (but then glued them back together), and I've been weeping a lot. Angry tears, mostly. I've also overfed the cat, neglected to shower, and I've eaten a pint of ice cream in one sitting on several occasions while asking myself questions like, "Why can't you just fucking let it go?" or "What would Alanis do?"
Anyway, this is just how I'm preparing myself. I'm kind of a method-host. You probably have your own technique.
Question: What's the worst/best/weirdest way someone has broken up with you or you've broken up with someone? (That someone could be your therapist, your BFF, a relative, etc....) I want to know! Email me at howilearned at gmail dot com.
See you Wednesday!
xoxo Blaise
HOW I LEARNED WE WERE BREAKING UP
Featuring:
DAN ALLEN, MENACHEM KAISER, LYNN HARRIS + DIANA SPECHLER
Wednesday, July 22nd
8pm (Doors open at 7)
Happy Ending
302 Broome Street
(between Forsyth & Eldridge)
FREE!
MORE DETAILS
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