Hi there! Here, Chicago is a creative community- building event that includes a glorious night of live theater created by some of Chicago’s most interesting thinkers and doers, along with a giant free potluck dinner. Three-plus years running, “Here” is a volunteer effort and labor of love by all who make it, intended to give Chicagoans an opportunity to know and be inspired by people outside of their regular professional and social circles. It happens the first Sunday of every month, and takes place on November 2nd at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont.
Our regular shows feature true stories from 4-5 invited, featured storytellers, along with 5 stories straight from the audience. Nov 2nd will be our last show with this format in 2014, because December 7th is our Holiday and Year’s Best show, which features ONLY your Audience Favorite walk-up tellers from the year. Join us then, on the 2nd for your last chance in 2014 to hear stories from folks gathered below. Our goal in selecting features is to bring you true stories from people we think you’ll like to hear from, and we wager we did right by you this month.
Harry Gottlieb is the Founder of Jellyvision. He began the company in 1989, when it had a different name and the international headquarters was in his bedroom… in the corner, over by the closet. Around 1993, he programmed a little trivia game where the host read off all the questions and shot back smart-ass remarks when a player got the answers wrong. That eventually became “You Don’t Know Jack.” Soon, Harry got to thinking that this game interface, where the character in a computer program talks to you… like talks to YOU… could be used for a lot of other stuff. Ever since, he’s been developing what we now call the Interactive Conversation Interface, and applying it to projects for interactive news, advertising, financial advice, tour guides, and most recently health care selection, through ALEX. Harry spends most of his days scrunching his face, thinking real hard, and hoping brilliant ideas will result. It works out better than you’d think.
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After spending a decade working in media for PBS, Chicago Tribune and the CW Network, Tequila Cooper-Shabazz resigned in 2011 at the age of 33 to become a full-time Social Entrepreneur and mentor for young leaders. Her love for community spans back almost 20 years when she first discovered the beauty of cooperative practices that aided in the earliest development of African-American people and communities. Her drive is fueled by the works and writings of Elijah Muhammad, Dr. Claude Anderson, Octavia Butler, Angela Davis, Bell Hooks, W.E.B Dubois and William Chancellor to name a few. Her love for writing offered her a space on the local Hip Hop scene under the moniker Unmuvabo, in which she was amongst the first recipients of a 2007 spring fellowship awarded by Columbia College Institute for the Women and Gender in the Arts and Media. After completion of her fellowship, she began working in mentorship roles with Black and Brown youth and coordinated a number of independent projects in underserved neighborhoods alongside community members. In 2013 she founded, and is now CEO of the cooperative BRIJ Fund, which focuses heavily on social accountability and recycling capital to fuel development in African-American communities. She prides herself on being a visionary and an experiential learner, and believes the only way to test or formulate theories is through application of knowledge and historical reflection.
Roger Bonair-Agard is a native of Trinidad & Tobago, a Cave Canem fellow, and author of three full length collections of poetry, tarnish & masquerade (Cypher Books, 2006), GULLY(Cypher Books/Peepal Tree Press, 2010) and Bury My Clothes (Haymarket Books, 2013), which was long listed for the National Book Award, and won the Society of Midland Authors Award for Poetry 2013. A two-time National Poetry Slam Champion, Roger is also co-founder of NYC’s LouderARTS Project, and a Creative Writing MFA candidate at University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Program. He has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and been featured at universities and literary festivals throughout the world. Roger is extensively published in journals and anthologies. He teaches creative writing with Free Write Jail Arts & Literacy Program at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. He lives and works in Chicago and New York City. He is Nina’s father.
Angelina Pizzi is October’s Audience Favorite walk-up storyteller, and has tried on a lot of different hats over the years: scientist, super server, commodities trader, student and teacher. While searching for the best fit, she amassed an anthology of interesting stories that she has shared at many local live lit events to great acclaim. Angelina is now a girls’ math coach. She founded Girls Count! to empower young girls by helping them gain confidence as learners of math, and she thinks you should stop saying “I’m not a math person” in front of your kids. Seriously… just stop it.
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We are at Theater Wit this month in the slightly smaller venue which always sells out, so we recommend advanced reservations. Tickets are available at the link on the right, or just below!
We look forward to seeing you on the 2nd. The night is for you. Come make it wonderful with us.
Here, Chicago on November 2nd
Theater Wit at 1229 W. Belmont
7:30 potluck / 8pm show
Reserve Advanced Tickets, as the event sells out.
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