Expect scandalous Parisian burlesque from Ophelia Plenty, experimental dance and belly dance moves from Vyora, as well as a special drag showcase!

A new DJ has also been added to the line-up: expect world and soul music from Jason the Underwater Culprit to close out our dance party!

Come out after UnBlurred to Remedy Lounge for a spectacular evening of music, poetry, dance, comedy, and all the TypewriterGirls antics that you’ve come to have a wonderfully conflicted relationship with.

Expect music and general zany antics from dear TypewriterGirl friend and role model, Steve Pellegrino:

Mr. Pellegrino has been creating experimental and inter-disciplinary performance works since 1975. He has been the recipient of numerous grants, commissions, and residencies. In March of 2005 he will be attending a residency with composer/saxophonist Henry Threadgill at the Atlantic Arts Center. Since the early 80’s he has been engaged in an on going multi-sectional work called DRYWALL. The impetus behind this series is the integration of his bread labor as a plasterer and his shamanistic role as an artist. An entire mythos and culture is built on this construction milieu, utilizing tools and process as the basis for rituals, music and dance/movement sections.

The Man from ‘NYAYZAR is the 25th section. These performance pieces range from solo works to full scale operatic spectacles not necessarily confined to theatrical spaces. This year he will be celebrating his 30th year of creating original inter-disciplinary performances.

Our fine poets for the evening are Adam Atkinson, a beloved cohort in creative projects past, and Ellen McGrath Smith, an amazing writer and poet that the TypewriterGirls have longed to work with for quite some time:

Ellen McGrath Smith teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. Poems have appeared in: Kestrel, Oranges & Sardines, CQ, 5 a.m., Café, Oxford Magazine, Pig Iron, The Best of the Prose Poem, Pearl, Zone 3, Southern Poetry Review, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Sistersong, Descant (Canada),  and others. Critical work in Sagetrieb, The Denver Quarterly, The Pennsylvania Review, American Book Review, and The Pittsburgh Quarterly. I have received the Rainmaker Award in Poetry from Zone 3 magazine, the Academy of American Poets Prize, the Ascher Montandon Prize in Poetry ( HyperAge magazine), and an Honorable Mention in the Lynda Hull Awards (Crazyhorse, 2004). Reviews Editor, Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics; 2007 Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Adam Atkinson is a writer, a comedian, and the Executive Director of Open Thread, a local arts service organization. Born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, Adam channels his fondness for Pittsburgh into two things: the Steelers, and raising the profile of young artists and writers in the tri-state area through Open Thread’s events and publications. In his free time, Adam is actually employed as a creative writing and literary theory instructor at a high school for the arts in Beaver County. When Adam grows up, he wants to be a poet, a professor, a comedy writer, a comedy actor, or the director of an arts organization in Bizarro Pennsylvania, where state funding for the arts flows like the Mighty Allegheny.

Expect much more in between and a dance party djed by the TypewriterGirls’ favorite DJ Randy Spinster!

The Rich People Protest

The Bad Monkey Farm

Sports? courtesy of Sean Collier

TyperiterGirls Inc. courtesy of Sean Collier

Success or Late Book Fees?
The Exquisite Corpse with Spat Cannon on Bass

Media Advisory

Release Date: January 3, 2010
Contact: Crystal Hoffman 412-417-3683

TypewriterGirls Gone Biblical

NYC — On January 17th at 6:00 pm, The Bowery Poetry Club will host New York City’s first ever Poetry Cabaret! Never heard of one of those? Well, that’s because The TypewriterGirls haven’t made it from Pittsburgh, PA to New York City just yet. The TypewriterGirls’ Dada-bred performances are collage-work theatre formed from sketch comedy, poetry, music, whiskey games, collaborative writing, dancing, and a little magic.  In New York’s first ever manifestation of The TypewriterGirls Poetry Cabaret, the girls take the audience on a whirlwind adventure to “fix” the Bible featuring some all-stars of TypewriterGirls shows past: Straight Razor, a group of queer artists who came together to confront ideas of gender through performance, will be performing burlesque, drag pieces, as well as avant-garde puppetry; David Doyle, a veteran TypewriterGirl, in the guise of a well known biblical friend will perform miraculous feats of shock and awe; and the poets for the evening will be two of NYC’s finest and most unique poet performers: Huang Xiang, one of the greatest poets of 20th century China and a radical human rights activist and Patrick Rosal, an award winning poet and author of two full-length poetry collections, Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive.

Come partake in an Exquisite Corpse on a typewriter turned “Bible-Editing Machine” and surrealist games which may win you either kisses or whiskey, watch and see if the TypewriterGirls succeed in their attempts to stop the Jews from declaring a king or keep Jesus from damning the fig tree, and dance along to gender-bending burlesque. You may just find yourself realizing why exactly the Comte de Lautréamont once declated “poetry must be made by all.”
More Info: www.typewritergirls.net
What: A poetry reading and performance by the avant-garde poetry cabaret troupe, The TypewriterGirls.
Who: The TypewriterGirls Poetry Cabaret w/ poets Huang Xiang and Patrick Rosal, performance art troupe Straight Razor, magician David Doyle.
Where: The Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery New York, NY 10012-2802
When: Sunday, January 17 at 6:00 pm
Cost: $7.00 required

Poet Bios:

Patrick Rosal is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Uprock Headspin Scramble and Dive , which won the Asian American Writers’ Workshop Members’ Choice Award, and most recently My American Kundiman, winner of the Book Award in poetry from the Association of Asian American Studies. His chapbook Uncommon Denominators won the Palanquin Poetry Series Award from the University of South Carolina, Aiken. His poems and essays are forthcoming or have been published widely in journals and anthologies including Harvard Review, Indiana Review, Ninth Letter, North American Review, Pindledyboz, Black Renaissance Noire, Brevity, Columbia , and the Beacon Best. His work has been honored by the annual Allen Ginsberg Awards, the James Hearst Poetry Prize, the Arts and Letters Prize, Best of the Net among others.

Huang Xiang is one of the greatest poets of 20th century China and a master calligrapher. Huang Xiang spent over twelve years in Chinese prisons and endured much suffering for writing his lyrical, free-spirited poetry and for his advocacy of human rights in China.Huang Xiang’s poetry and calligraphy is internationally recognized and he has performed for crowds numbering in the thousands. Fifteen of his books have been published in several languages. His latest book in English A Lifetime is a Promise to Keep: Poems of Huang Xiang, is available from Berkeley Press. Huang Xiang’s mission today is to use his art to build a bridge between East and West  and to promote a universal humanity. Having completing a residency with the City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, Huang Xiang and his wife, the writer, Zhang Ling, live in New York City.

DECEMBER 3, 2009
Short List: Week of December 3 – 10

For the first time in 114 years, the Carnegie Library system plans to close branches … and Pittsburghers are not happy. On Sun., Dec. 6, some of the Steel City’s most creative citizens continue working to raise awareness about the endangered system. At the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, avant-garde cabaret troupe The Typewriter Girls hosts an eclectic show including: Moquette Voulante’s belly-dancing; NAKA Entertainment’s hip-hop dance; chanteuse Phat Man Dee; and poets Sandra Beasley and Nancy Krygowski. The show features interactive improv games and an “exquisite corpse” on library themes that will be read at the end. There’s also a silent auction of donations from local artists, writers and businesses to benefit the floundering library system. “It’s something we were both really nervous about and we were planning on taking some kind of action, and this just sort of opened itself up,” says Typewriter Girl Crystal Hoffman. Meanwhile, at Highland Park’s Union Project, puppeteer Flora Shepherd hosts the finale of her Puppets for Pages Campaign with four family-friendly puppet acts and craft workshops for the children. Shepherd and Katrina Struloeff spent November performing at all six libraries scheduled to close. The Dec. 6 finale arrives just before the library board’s next meeting. “I’ve always loved libraries and when I heard they were closing, I wanted to do something to raise awareness,” Shepherd says. “It’s also a celebration of the libraries. We’ve been tying to keep the pressure on because they’ve barely been given enough funding to keep them open through 2010.” Lucy Leitner Puppets for Pages: Noon, Sun., Dec. 6 (801 Negley Ave., Highland Park; PuppetsForPages.org). Typewriter Girls Save the Libraries: 6 p.m. Sun., Dec. 6 (4400 Forbes Ave. Oakland; $7)

AND It was Hotlisted in the Post-Gazette’s Weekend Guide!

SUNDAY

Poetry party

Avant-garde cabaret troupe The TypewriterGirls will raise awareness and funds for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh with a poetry reading and performance Sunday at Carnegie Library Lecture Hall.

This show also will feature poets Nancy Krygowski and Sandra Beasley, performance artist Christiane D., song stylist Phat Man Dee, hip-hop dance group Naka Entertainment and stuntman Dave Doyle.

There will also be a silent auction filled with goods from local artists, musicians, poets, restaurants and shops, with all the proceeds going to the library’s operating fund.

It begins at 6 p.m. Minimum donation is $7. For details, go to www.typewritergirls.net.

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09337/1017976-437.stm#ixzz0Z2JtavIM

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09337/1017976-437.stm

AND Check out this awesome blog article on the Post-Gazette’s website!

http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/citywalkabout/archive/2009/11/24/puppets-weird-poets-to-the-rescue.aspx

Photos by Kevin Ross

What: A poetry reading and performance by the Avant-Garde cabaret troupe The TypewriterGirls to raise awareness and funds for Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Who: The TypewriterGirls Poetry Cabaret w/ Readers: Sandra Beasley, and Nancy Krygowski; music by Phat Man Dee; stunts by Dave Doyle; dance by NAKA; performance art by Christiane D.; comedy by Sean Collier; and musical accompaniment by upright bassist Spat Cannon and guitarist Chad Hammitt

Where: Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA, 15213

When: Sunday, December 6th Doors Open at 5:30 pm / Show begins at 6:00 pm

Cost: donation based—minimum donation of $7.00 required

TypewriterGirls Save the Libraries!

On Sunday, December 6th, utilizing the power of poetry, protest, pygmy goats, awkward conversation, and, yes, even necromancy, The TypewriterGirls gather up all of the forces at their disposal and battle furiously to save the Pittsburgh library system–the same libraries that spawned their very group’s formation through its fine artistic and educational programming, amazing international poetry collection, and its generosity in employing Crystal as a security guard despite her frequent and occasionally dangerous  bouts with delusions of grandeur.

This show will feature many of the area’s greatest activist artists including poet Nancy Krygowski, performance artist Christiane D., and famed vocalist and song writer Phat Man Dee. Don’t miss this artistically stunning opportunity to show your support of and contribute to our local library system.

True to the TypewriterGirls’ cabaret spirit, the event will include a library themed typewriter written exquisite corpse at the door, a sure to be rousing and thoroughly literary round of the improv comedy game “Poets” in the middle, and lots of inanely intellectual comedic theatrics to tie it all together, as Crystal and Margaret and guest comedian Sean Collier take to the streets (and many other indiscreet locales) to round up the funds to keep our libraries running, with a special guest appearance by Franco Dok Harris.

Many other acts will take the stage in this epic battle–including but not limited to Naka Entertainment, a unique hip-hop dance group comprised of youth from Pittsburgh‘s East End, Dave Doyle, a daring performer who will amaze us with a round of physical stunts, poet Sandra Beasley, author of I Was the Jukebox, forthcoming from W. W. Norton, and poetic musical accompaniment by stand-up bassist Spat Cannon and guitarist Chad Hammitt. In addition, there will be a silent auction filled with goods from local artists, musicians, poets, restaurants, and shops. Come bid on baskets filled with chapbooks, CDs, handmade jewelry, and other goods! All the proceeds go to the library’s operating fund!