My So-Called Jewish Life
DATE:	Wednesday, December 21, 2011
TIME:	7:30 pm
Courtesy of bottledancers.com Sixth & I and SpeakeasyDC present the third annual night of funny, poignant, powerful, and peculiar autobiographical stories about all things Jewish, not-so-Jewish, and wanna-be Jewish on the second night of Chanukah.   Storytellers include: Adam Ruben, a stand-up comedian and rabbi impersonator. Ophira Eisenberg, one of New York Magazine’s “ten new comedians that funny people find funny.” Rabbi Jonathan Roos, Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai. Hannah Seligson is a journalist and the author of A Little Bit Married: How to Know When it’s Time to Walk Down the Aisle or out the Door and New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches. Jerome Copulsky, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of Judaic Studies at Goucher College. Amy Saidman, SpeakeasyDC’s artistic executive director, is a two-time recipient of the artist fellowship award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Amy has survived Camp Moshava, High School in Israel, and Aish haTorah.
ADMISSION: Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 on the day of the event. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Watch last year’s show featuring  Slate advice columnist Emily Yoffe, speechwriter David Litt, Washington Post journalist Spencer Ackerman, blogger Danny Harris, and magazine editor Karen Sommer Shallet. (not shown NPR reporter Alix Speigel).

Seats are all sold out for both shows. There may still be some standing room. Call Atlas box office at 202-399-7993

Sat Dec. 3, 2011
2 shows:
7 or 9pm
At Atlas
1333 H St, NE
$25 regular admission. $20 students/seniors.
Join our mailing list and follow us on facebook for other discounts.

SpeakeasyDC’s second annual showcase of the best stories of the year! An absolute Don’t-Miss event. Last year’s was phenomenal. Relentless funny, smart, and moving – and this year’s will be too!

Announcing the final 8!!

L to R top: Joseph Price, Nancy LeRoy, Mike Kane, Adam Ruben
L to R bottom: Erin Myers, Topher Bellavia, John Kevin Boggs, Dan Sullivan (So good – all of them!)

HOW THIS WORKS

Our trusty nominating committee nominated 16 stories from more than 100 told on SpeakeasyDC’s stage in the last 12 months. These stories were screened by our stellar panel of judges (see below for more info) and they chose the final 8 who will be invited to perform in the second  Top Shelf extravaganza on Dec 3, 2011 at the Atlas (1333 H St, NE). We will announce final eight on Nov 8 at our next show (Iron Chef: Stories about cooking, eating, and secret ingredients at Town), then on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

ELIGIBILITY

All original stories told at any official SpeakeasyDC event between August 10, 2010 and October 11, 2011 are eligible to be nominated for the 2011 Top Shelf, with the following exceptions:

• Members of the Top Shelf nominating committee, the Top Shelf judging panel, and SpeakeasyDC staff (not including teachers) are ineligible.
• Story Salons, class showcases, any class or training session, and SpeakeasyDC fundraisers are not considered eligible “official SpeakeasyDC events” for the purposes of Top Shelf.
• Stories told at My So-Called Jewish Life are ineligible.

OUR JUDGES

Our judges were selected for the good looks, charm, and discerning minds. They are “outside” judges, in that they are not intimately involved in SpeakeasyDC in any way, so, unbiased. We are psyched to have the input of Rhome Anderson (aka DJ Stylus/former Going Out Guru for Washington Post), Jon Gann (founder of the DC Film Alliance /DC Shorts Festival), Bonnie Shaw (Dean of the DC chapter of The Awesome Foundation), Chris Klimek  and (Theatre Critic for Washington City Paper).

JUDGING CRITERIA

Story Crafting (50%)

• Is it a story (vs. anecdote, stand-up routine, lecture, etc.)?
• Does it have the elements of a good story (conflict, action, characters, insight meaning, change)?
• Is the story visual? Can you picture the scenes described?
• Is the story suspenseful? Does it have high stakes?

Performance (25%)

• Is the teller authentic?
• Does the teller have vulnerable or revealing moments?
• Is the performance entertaining or moving?

Originality (25%)

• Is the story memorable?
• Is the story surprising?
• Is the story crafted or structured in an interesting or unusual way?

TWO NIGHTS ONLY Nov 11 and 12, 2011 8pm at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room $18 in advance, $20 at the door.  1725 Columbia Rd, NW, Washington, DC 20009

Also check out Up the Funny - two story workshops with Margot and Giulia on Sunday, Nov 13

Giulia Rozzi is a NYC based writer, comedian, actress and producer  raised in Boston by two adorable Italian immigrants. Her very personal, blunt, and animated comedy has earned her the honor of being named a Moth GrandSLAM champion, one of the Frisky’s ”Top 15 Comediennes You Should Be Laughing At” and a two-time ECNY Best Female Stand Up nominee. She’s appeared on MTV, Vh1, Italian MTV, CNN and in her original web series themessage-board.com . She co-hosts/created the highly acclaimed humorous sex-themed storytelling show (and now also a podcast) Stripped Stories and the bi-monthly Brooklyn based comedy show Dive Comedy. She has written for Playgirl, BUST, Glamour, XOJane.com, TheGLOC.net, NY Press, Lifetimetv.com, Lemondrop, AOL.com, Takepart.com and the MTV series Silent Library where one of her ideas (licking cocoa butter off a mans hairy back) made Snooki vomit (so proud!) She has also contributed essays to the anthologies My Parents Were Awesome  and Mortified: Real Words, Real People, Real Pathetic. She is currently working on her first memoir about her depressed, drunk, divorced quarter-life crisis.  More at www.giuliarozzi.com.

Margot’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her the title of Moth Grandslam Champion, two ECNY nominations for “Best Female Standup,” and an additional nomination for “Best Storyteller.” However, Margot’s most prized accomplishment remains winning $1664 on “The Price is Right.”

Margot appeared regularly as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast  on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” in addition to appearances on VH1′s Best Week Ever, Jimmy Kimmel Live, ESPN’s “Cheap Seats,” AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Additionally, she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the Spike TV cartoon “The Team,”  as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s “Weekly Evil,” and a regular guest on Sirius XM Radio. She has appeared in about a dozen commercials including Lowe’s Hardware, Bertolli Frozen Dinners , and Mohegan Sun Casino.
Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show “Stripped Stories” at the UCB Theatre, where she also is a frequent monologist in Assscat. A three time Moth Storyslam  winner, Margot has been featured in Glamour Magazine, and the books “Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com,  EHow.com,236.com, the Frisky.com  and in print for Playgirl Magazine and the NY Press . She has just completed her first book, about being the gigantic weird girl growing up on the Jersey Shore.
http://www.margotleitman.com
http://www.strippedstories.com

Jessica Delfino is a NYC based comedian, musician, performer and writer who plays many instruments ranging from the flying V ukulele to the rape whistle. She grew up in  Damariscotta, Maine and went to art school in Philadelphia where she studied animation. Jessica decided to try stand-up comedy when a comedian she met said females couldn?t do comedy. Soon after, she moved to NYC, started playing chess a lot and performing at comedy clubs and on any stage she could find. That morphed into playing music into the subway. She began bringing her guitar on stage and making videos which led to getting publicly denounced by the Catholic League, and banned by Youtube, and then unbanned. She’s performed on ABC?s ?Good Morning America?, The Sundance Channel, Fox News? ?Red Eye?, in the Reading & Leeds Festival, Montreal Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Dublin Comedy Festival, London?s Soho Theatre and has had a whole ton of fun and adventures. It hasn?t all been rainbows and unicorns, but even the shitty parts are probably better than your job.

TWO NIGHTS ONLY Nov 11 and 12, 2011 8pm at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room $18 in advance, $20 at the door.  1725 Columbia Rd, NW, Washington, DC 2000

Sold out. Some standing-room tickets may be realeased at 8

Also check out Up the Funny – two story workshops with Margot and Giulia on Sunday, Nov 13

Giulia Rozzi is a NYC based writer, comedian, actress and producer  raised in Boston by two adorable Italian immigrants. Her very personal, blunt, and animated comedy has earned her the honor of being named a Moth GrandSLAM champion, one of the Frisky’s ”Top 15 Comediennes You Should Be Laughing At” and a two-time ECNY Best Female Stand Up nominee. She’s appeared on MTV, Vh1, Italian MTV, CNN and in her original web series themessage-board.com . She co-hosts/created the highly acclaimed humorous sex-themed storytelling show (and now also a podcast) Stripped Stories and the bi-monthly Brooklyn based comedy show Dive Comedy. She has written for Playgirl, BUST, Glamour, XOJane.com, TheGLOC.net, NY Press, Lifetimetv.com, Lemondrop, AOL.com, Takepart.com and the MTV series Silent Library where one of her ideas (licking cocoa butter off a mans hairy back) made Snooki vomit (so proud!) She has also contributed essays to the anthologies My Parents Were Awesome  and Mortified: Real Words, Real People, Real Pathetic. She is currently working on her first memoir about her depressed, drunk, divorced quarter-life crisis.  More at www.giuliarozzi.com.

Margot’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her the title of Moth Grandslam Champion, two ECNY nominations for “Best Female Standup,” and an additional nomination for “Best Storyteller.” However, Margot’s most prized accomplishment remains winning $1664 on “The Price is Right.”

Margot appeared regularly as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast  on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” in addition to appearances on VH1′s Best Week Ever, Jimmy Kimmel Live, ESPN’s “Cheap Seats,” AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Additionally, she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the Spike TV cartoon “The Team,”  as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s “Weekly Evil,” and a regular guest on Sirius XM Radio. She has appeared in about a dozen commercials including Lowe’s Hardware, Bertolli Frozen Dinners , and Mohegan Sun Casino.
Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show “Stripped Stories” at the UCB Theatre, where she also is a frequent monologist in Assscat. A three time Moth Storyslam  winner, Margot has been featured in Glamour Magazine, and the books “Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours” and “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com,  EHow.com,236.com, the Frisky.com  and in print for Playgirl Magazine and the NY Press . She has just completed her first book, about being the gigantic weird girl growing up on the Jersey Shore.
http://www.margotleitman.com
http://www.strippedstories.com

Jessica Delfino is a NYC based comedian, musician, performer and writer who plays many instruments ranging from the flying V ukulele to the rape whistle. She grew up in  Damariscotta, Maine and went to art school in Philadelphia where she studied animation. Jessica decided to try stand-up comedy when a comedian she met said females couldn?t do comedy. Soon after, she moved to NYC, started playing chess a lot and performing at comedy clubs and on any stage she could find. That morphed into playing music into the subway. She began bringing her guitar on stage and making videos which led to getting publicly denounced by the Catholic League, and banned by Youtube, and then unbanned. She’s performed on ABC?s ?Good Morning America?, The Sundance Channel, Fox News? ?Red Eye?, in the Reading & Leeds Festival, Montreal Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Fest, Dublin Comedy Festival, London?s Soho Theatre and has had a whole ton of fun and adventures. It hasn?t all been rainbows and unicorns, but even the shitty parts are probably better than your job.

Spend Halloween with SpeakeasyDC and  Dance Place with a family-friendly afternoon of true and traditional stories about ghosts and other scary things. Featuring veteran storytellers Bill Mayhew, Ellouise Schoettler, and Michael Cotter, plus  SpeakeasyDC debuts by Emily Ruskowski and Kristala Pouncy.

$17 for Dance Place members, seniors, teachers, and artists.
$10 for students. $22 general public.
1 free child ticket (under 12) for each paying adult. Dance Place is located near Brookland Metro  - Red Line
3225 8th Street Northeast, Washington, DC   MAP

Find out more about adult-only show on Saturday, Oct 29, 2011 at 7:30 and 10pm

Spend Halloween with SpeakeasyDC and Dance Place listening to true stories about frightful encounters, terrifying moments, and spooky predicaments including shark attacks, crazy basement ladies, and unsolved murder mysteries.  Featuring stories by Kathryn Brand, Stephanie Garibaldi, Derek Hills, Cindy Kane, Brian Leonard, Jennifer Luu, Caitlin McIntyre, Eritrea Pitts, and S.M. Shrake.

Two shows on Oct 29, 2011 –  7:30pm and 1opm (adults only) $17 for Dance Place members, seniors, teachers, and artists. $10 for students. $22 general public.
Dance Place is located near Brookland Metro  - Red Line
3225 8th Street Northeast, Washington, DC   MAP

Find out more about family-friendly show on Sunday, Oct 30, 2011 at 4pm.

Prepare your local-loving selves for Scoutmob, that nudge you need to get out the door and do your local thing. We deliver interesting tidbits, city gems and places through their daily email + website + mobile app. They exclusively support local businesses and creativity (like Speakeasy),  which supports local commerce. In return, they support you with crazy-good savings. Sign up and everybody wins.

Help us keep SpeakeasyDC operating for years to come.

Less than two days left in our Spring Fundraising Campaign and hope we can count on you to help us reach our goal of $9000 by June 30th, 2011.

We are up to $8000 now thanks so many wonderful donors (see list)!  We have $1000 to go.

DONATE ONLINE TODAY or send a check to SpeakeasyDC at 2639 15th St, NW #101, Washington, DC 20009.

We have big ideas and plans for the very near future including more shows and classes, a storytelling festival, a national showcase, master classes, programs in other parts of the DC Metro area, a revival of our podcast, a blog with insights and news about storytelling, and someday, most exciting of all, our own classroom and rehearsal space! We can only make these things happen with your support.

Reviews posted on GreatNonprofits.org (Read more) – ‘Speakeasy DC is definitely in my top 5 DC cultural activities. The stories told are truly genuine, original, and heartfelt. They leave the listener inspired to find and tell his/her own story and to open his/her mind to the experiences of strangers. I rarely miss a Speakeasy event if I can help it and feel that attending truly opens my eyes to understanding the DC community.’

‘This group does a tremendous service to the Metro DC area… In our day of quick everything.. they take the time to help everyday people and professionals look inside themselves and really communicate on a very human level.’

DONATE TODAY

Highlights – We’ve had a stellar year. Thanks to fans like you, we’ve had a record number of shows, classes, audience members, and partnerships including top-selling shows in the Capital Fringe and Intersections festivals. Our open mic can boast a wait list of sometimes 20 or more. Read more

Reduced funding – For the several years, SEDC had the good fortune of receiving grants from local and private granting organizations such as the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. In the past, this funding accounted for more than a fifth of SEDC’s epxenses, but these resources are dwindling rapidly and it is urgent that we find new sources to cover the deficit.

A breakdown of the numbers – Despite the economic climate, our performances are selling out, our classes are full, and we are getting new offers every day to work with different partners. Currently, 80% of our budget is earned. We depend on our donors to help us raise the much-needed remaining 20%.

Your dollars at work and the future of SEDC – Your contributions go to pay artists who perform on our stage, graphic designers, videographers, photographers, venue rentals for shows and classes, our teachers, office space, marketing expenses, travel, staff, and supplies. We hope to someday soon be able to expand our staff and afford space of our own for classes and offices and

DONATE TODAY

DONATION LEVELS & BENEFITS

Please visit our sponsorship page if you would like to give on behalf of your business.

Bringing Down the House $1000 and above

Click to see donor benefits

Encore Performance $500 – 999

Click to see donor benefits

Standing Ovation $250-499

Click to see donor benefits

Hootin’ & Hollerin’ $100-249

Click to see donor benefits

Whistles & Cheers $50-99

Click to see donor benefits

NOTE:

Gifts will be recognized for one calendar year from date of gift. if you’d prefer not to be listed in our programs or on our website.

Please email us at info@speakeasydc.org if you DO NOT want to be recognized publicly when you make the gift. We will assume we have permission to include your name in our list of donors unless otherwise instructed.

SpeakeasyDC currently uses the technological services of Democracy in Action to manage its online transactions. Rest assured that your contribution is solely for SpeakeasyDC and is not used in any way to promote a political agenda. DIA offers services much like Convio and other online data management providers (only more affordable for folks like us).

JUNE 6 & 7, 2011 at 8 pm at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Tickets for June 7
Tickets for June 6

SpeakeasyDC and Woolly Mammoth join forces to bring you a night of true stories about all things L, G, B, T and Q during Capital Pride Week and in conjunction with the run of their show Bootycandy. Featuring  local storytelling favorites Christopher Love, John Kevin Boggs, Molly Kelly, Saraubh Tak, JR Russ, and Andrew Korfhage and nationally renowned poets Sonya Renee Taylor, Regie Cabico, and Natalie E. Illum.  Also welcoming exciting debut performances by Caitlin MacIntyre, Kye Allum, and Dan Sullivan. Check back to this page or follow us on Facebook as we add more info about our fabulous cast and their stories.

BUYING TICKETS AND GETTING THERE

Tickets to Don’t Ask, Do Tell are $25 and seating is general admission. Tickets can be purchased through the Woolly Mammoth Box Office at 202-393-3939, online or in person at 641 D Street, NW (between 7^th & D). For directions and parking information, please click here. All tickets will be held at will call. For more information about the performance site visit woollymammoth.net. Get on our mailing list and/or follow our Facebook and Twitter feeds for info on discounts.

DISCOUNT IF YOU GO TO TWO SHOWS

You can see both SpeakeasyDC’s Don’t Ask, Do Tell and Woolly Mammoth’s production of Bootycandy for only $55. Purchase the exclusive DADT/BC package over the phone (202-393-3939) or at the Woolly box office. Mention you want to purchase for both or refer to promotion code number 1199. Ticket Purchase Calendar

Bootycandy, written and directed by Robert O’Hara is a kaleidoscope of sassy lessons in sex education that speaks the truth about growing up gay and African American. With outrageous humor and real heart, it tests how we talk about our bodies at home, in church, and on the corner. Bootycandy runs May 20 – June 26, 2011 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. For tickets visit woollymammoth.net or call 202-393-3939. Save $5 on tickets by using promotion code 1200 when purchasing.

JUNE 6 & 7, 2011 at 8 pm at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Tickets for June 7
Tickets for June 6

SpeakeasyDC and Woolly Mammoth join forces to bring you a night of true stories about all things L, G, B, T and Q during Capital Pride Week and in conjunction with the run of their show Bootycandy. Featuring  local storytelling favorites Christopher Love, John Kevin Boggs, Molly Kelly, Saraubh Tak, JR Russ, and Andrew Korfhage and nationally renowned poets Sonya Renee Taylor, Regie Cabico, and Natalie Ilum.  Also welcoming exciting debut performances by Caitlin MacIntyre, Kye Allum, and Dan Sullivan. Check back to this page or follow us on Facebook as we add more info about our fabulous cast and their stories.

BUYING TICKETS AND GETTING THERE

Tickets to Don’t Ask, Do Tell are $25 and seating is general admission. Tickets can be purchased through the Woolly Mammoth Box Office at 202-393-3939, online or in person at 641 D Street, NW (between 7^th & D). For directions and parking information, please click here. All tickets will be held at will call. For more information about the performance site visit woollymammoth.net. Get on our mailing list and/or follow our Facebook and Twitter feeds for info on discounts.

DISCOUNT IF YOU GO TO TWO SHOWS

You can see both SpeakeasyDC’s Don’t Ask, Do Tell and Woolly Mammoth’s production of Bootycandy for only $55. Purchase the exclusive DADT/BC package over the phone (202-393-3939) or at the Woolly box office. Mention you want to purchase for both or refer to promotion code number 1199. Ticket Purchase Calendar

Bootycandy, written and directed by Robert O’Hara is a kaleidoscope of sassy lessons in sex education that speaks the truth about growing up gay and African American. With outrageous humor and real heart, it tests how we talk about our bodies at home, in church, and on the corner. Bootycandy runs May 20 – June 26, 2011 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. For tickets visit woollymammoth.net or call 202-393-3939. Save $5 on tickets by using promotion code 1200 when purchasing.

MAY 21, 2011
8PM at Atlas Arts Center
1333 H St, NE 20002
Regular ticket; $22
Groups of 10 get 10% discount.

Electronic Press Kit http://pitch.pe/141004

The hottest Indian export these days is sexy ‘n’ sassy comedian Vijai Nathan. Her one woman show, Give Them Vagina: Tips from Mom, Dad & COSMO, is a devastatingly funny takedown of her life as a single lady out on the dating scene.” (Title of show has been changed since first run, but awesomeness still the same). — Nevin Martell, Washington City Paper

SpeakeasyDC presents Comedian Vijai Nathan’s latest solo show as a reprise of the Cap Fringe 2010 smash hit with a new name  and a fresh touch. Nathan’s parents taught her how to be the perfect Indian wife, but COSMO made her want to be (and do) so much more. Experience hilarious, titillating & true tales about the trials and tribulations of learning about sex, beauty, and pleasing your man.

From the Washington Post

Thirty-plus years of mixed messages from her Indian-born parents and women’s magazines have left local comedian Vijai Nathan a walking compendium of flawed dating tips. She’s ready to share. “Be a woman of mystery,” she says in her one-woman show, which opens Friday at Chief Ike’s Mambo Room. “How am I supposed to do that? ‘I killed a man once — it was with the candlestick in the conservatory.’ ” Nathan (a regular at SpeakeasyDC events) is ready with answers for everything that plagues today’s woman, from how to be hot to what to do when you get stuck in your Spanx. “I’m at the point in my life where I’m in my 30s, I’m single and everyone around me is married and has kids,” she says. “I just wanted to make fun of things I’m going through. — Lavanya Ramanathan