Urban Storytelling for the Internet
Age
The WYSIWYG Talent Show is a monthly showcase
for the oft-overlooked genius of bloggers in or visiting New York
City. Although our events are comprised mostly of readings, any
sort of performance is welcome, be it an original song, a dramatic
scene, sketch comedy, burlesque, or whatever your twisted little
minds can come up with. If you have a great idea for a performance,
just let us know. If it sucks, we won't tell anyone, promise.
The only requirements to participate in the WYSIWYG Talent Show
are that you keep a regularly-updated blog, will promote the WYSIWYG
Talent Show on it, and that your performance fits with whatever
the evening's theme is. If you're interested in participating,
let us know on our submission
page.
The Story Behind WYSIWYG
In January 2004 Chris Hampton
and Andy Horwitz, both
long-time bloggers, were having a drink at a P.S. 122 party and
joking about Valentine’s Day, which was fast approaching.
Chris said, “The worst, most embarrassing sex I ever had
was on Valentine’s Day. In a home for developmentally disabled
adults. I’ve got to post that story to my blog.” (With
a staffer — not, she wants everyone reading this to know,
with a resident.) Then she paused and said, “Hey Andy, you
know a lot about putting on events — if I wanted to put
together a blogger reading, how would I do it?”
And thus “Worst. Sex.
Ever.” was born. Chris and Andy enlisted their fellow
blogger Dan Rhatigan
to help with graphic design and organization, and they were off.
On February 11th, 2004, eleven bloggers took the stage in front
of a sold-out crowd at Performance
Space 122 for the first-ever all-blogger reading. In the wake
of the evening’s success Chris, Andy, and Dan decided to
make this a monthly event called The WYSIWYG Talent Show (WYSIWYG
is an old software development term for “What You See Is
What You Get”). Each month’s show is themed and features
bloggers reading personal stories, singing original songs, or
doing other performances based on the theme. Past shows have included,
“That’s SO Gay:
Tales of Extremely Gay Gayness,” “You
Can Go Home Again (But You Probably Shouldn’t),”
and “Psychos I Have
Dated or Worked For (Or Both).”
“Our feeling was that, while blogging had become this huge
media phenomenon with people getting book deals and turning into
pundits, we wanted to make an event that kept the spirit of the
early days,” says Andy.
“We were blogging when it was embarrassing; this weird,
geeky hobby that you didn’t really want to admit to in public,”
says Chris. “When I started in 2001 there weren’t
that many bloggers in NYC. We would go out, drink together, and
throw get-togethers for visiting bloggers from out of town. So
we decided to start this series to keep the focus on that spirit
— let people share their stuff, and show the diversity of
voices in the blogosphere, but also have it be people that you
would still want to hang out and drink with.”
A year later, WYSIWYG has become a regular, anticipated event
that has showcased numerous talented bloggers including Paul
Ford, Todd Levin, Jessy
Delfino, Faustus, M.D.,
Choire Sicha, Blaise
K., girl-group The Hazzards,
Mike Daisey, Chelsea
Peretti, Ron Mwangaguhunga
and Ned Vizzini, to name
a few. Bloggers have read funny stories and serious stories; they’ve
performed songs, monologues, comedy, and performance art. They’ve
been gay, straight, black, white, Latino; some are published,
others unpublished; some are young, others not so young. It has
become a monthly celebration of the blogging community and a great
event for audiences.
“The community aspect of blogging is so important,”
says Dan. “I’ve met many people and made many friends
— across the country and around the world — through
blogging. There are countless examples of people finding each
other, either for relationships, or work, or friendship, through
their blogs. Often these are people that would never have run
into each other and it has led to creative collaborations, businesses,
all kinds of things. Blogging can be a powerful means of connection.
And all of us have had moments where we’ve faced challenges
in our personal lives, posted about them, and seen our readers
and the community at large respond with overwhelming support.”
Andy agrees, “The real revolution of blogging is how it
facilitates peer networking in real life, not how it facilitates
careers.” Chris continues, “We’ve had a few
‘celebrity’ bloggers but mostly we just try and read
as many sites as we can and find compelling people who pique our
interest and might fit one of the themes. We like to have a variety
of people, regardless of how large their readership might be.”
WYSIWYG has made it through its first twelve months of pathos,
raunch, and random silliness with that spirit intact, and its
organizers recently kicked off another year with “Spawn.
Of. Worst. Sex. Ever.” in the hopes of making the bad
sex show an annual event. More shows are already in the works
for early 2005, including “Minimum Rage: Work Slaves Revolt!,”
“Arrested Development: I Fought the Law and the Law Won,”
and a follow-up to last June’s pride show.
Culturebot.org
is an online arts magazine devoted to the live arts: dance,
theater, performance and music. Part weblog, part gossip column,
part arts journal, part lifestyle magazine — Culturebot
is about “downtown” life and art from all perspectives.
It is the hub of a growing online arts network of bloggers,
artists, and arts presenters.
