Happy AWP! To celebrate, Curbside Splendor Publishing and iO WEST host The Lit/Comedy Roundtable: LA Edition, a moderated panel discussion exploring how (or if?) literature and comedy inform each other.
Featuring the leading lights of Los Angeles' comedy, literary, and television scenes, including BRAD LISTI, ANTHONY KING, KHANISHA FOSTER, OWEN SMITH, and JACK P. MOORE! Full bios below, and full lineup forthcoming!
WHAT: Author Dave Reidy has assembled a panel of comedy people who appreciate books and book people who appreciate comedy to kick around the question of how literary writing and comedy intersect. It ends up being a discussion of what makes us laugh as writers, readers, viewers, and audience members. Participants' books will be available for purchase & signing, so please join us in the iO West bar immediately following the discussion!
Admission is FREE, so bring a friend, buy a book, and dive into a discussion of two of LA's favorite art forms!
Moderator DAVE REIDY’s fiction has been published by Granta and other journals. His first book, a collection of short stories about performers called CAPTIVE AUDIENCE (Ig Publishing: Brooklyn), was named an Indie Next Notable Book by the American Booksellers Association. Keegan-Michael Key said Reidy’s novel THE VOICEOVER ARTIST includes “the most accurate depiction of the Chicago improv world that I’ve ever read.” Kirkus Reviews calls it "rich and varied," Booklist calls it "moving and honest," and Library Journal listed it among its Top Fall Indie Fiction titles. Reidy lives in Chicago.
BRAD LISTI is the host of the definitive literary podcast Otherppl, author of the novel ATTENTION. DEFICIT. DISORDER., and founder of THE NERVOUS BREAKDOWN, an online culture magazine and literary community.
ANTHONY KING is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, and performer. He co-wrote the Off-Broadway show, GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL!, which also enjoyed a run Off-West End in London and is now being performed all over the world. The show received Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle & Drama Desk Award Nominations, and won a NYMF Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book). Anthony has developed television shows for CBS, HBO, A&E & AMC and has written for shows like Broad City (Comedy Central), Playing House (USA), Wet Hot American Summer (Netflix), Best Friends Forever (NBC) and more. Anthony performs regularly at UCBT in shows like Asssscat, Brand New Ball, Reuben Starship, Shut Up! I Hate You! and many more. He was the Artistic Director of the UCB Theatre in NYC from 2005-2011.
KHANISHA FOSTER is a mixed race writer, performer, director, the Associate Artistic Director of 2nd Story, ensemble member of Teatro Vista, and a TCGYoung Leader of Color. She has collaborated with the Citizen’s Theatre in Scotland. She directed Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and the adaptation of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. She can be seen in the film Chicago Boricua, is writing her memoir, HEROIN(E), as well as screenplays, and is published in the anthology Briefly Knocked Unconscious By A Low Flying Duck. She is currently working on a show called Code Switching. Foster is getting her MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. She hosts the podcast How I Wrote That, which focuses on women who write for TV and film. You can see more of her work at http://2ndstory.com/people/khanisha-foster and check out her blog Black, White, and Awesome.
OWEN SMITH is a stand-up comedian who has appeared on Conan and HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, among other shows. For television, he has written for the Arsenio Hall Show, Whitney (NBC), Deon Cole’s Black Box, Chris Rock's Everybody Hates Chris, and Ice Cube’s Are We There Yet? His hour-long comedy special GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY was the first comedy special shot entirely on iPhones.
JACK P. MOORE is a comedy person, playwright, and TV writer who currently writes for Crowded (NBC) and wrote on Difficult People (Hulu). He is co-author of the popular Modern Seinfeld Twitter account at @SeinfeldToday.