Wake me up, September has Ended for TCM

This past Tuesday Sept 8 was the last TCM of the summer. The lineup was solid with a mix of about everything you'd expect at one of our readings: comics, poetry, fiction, a shadow puppet show, zines and of course cookies. The readers all excelled at their craft and the series was grateful they shared their time with all of us. I'd like to recap a bit now about the night and our year at Comfort Station.

The comics reading of Marnie Galloway shows work so polished and crisp, with a playful creative nonfiction story and a smooth and touching delivery in the reading. What a pro. This is her tattooed arm hard at work moving between panels.

In the comic Hard Decora by Kamilha Jones, she wonderfully mixed anime over landscape photos (which she mentioned where snapped around Logan Square, what a coincidence). This was the first time she shared this new work with an audience and we were so glad she did!

Erin Nederbo's short story about carnival season, those pop up neighborhood festivals with kids rides and bad hot dogs, was appropriate for this time of year. Her story captured so well the life of residential South Side Chicago, I always forget she's from northside neighborhood Jeff Park. The fiction was vivid, painting the image of her characters so they could be memorable after we left, something only great fiction can do.

It was awesome to welcome back the sisters Summers, Jill Summers and Susie Kirkwood for a shadow puppet show. The accompanying story read was by author Chris Bower (from his new short story collection that was also illustrated by Susie). Our venue was a great location to have such a show. Its always an amazement for our audience to see how this visual storytelling adds another dimension to the story being read.


It was also special to invite long-time TCM supporter Collin Brennan to read. He plans to move to LA this fall and this was my way offer thanks and goodbye at the same time. His poems played with form: a letter addressed to Tragedy; a poem about love and loss with Chicago at its center; a personal recollection of his father and the frailty of life. We'll miss him, but know he'll be back. Or maybe he'll host his own series in LA?

Another treat, besides the cookies, was to have not one, but two hands working to document the reading through illustration. Our resident artist Alex Nall was joined by last month's fill-in Eric Bartholomew. Both have their own style and eye for capturing the scene. We'll collect their works for next year's Cookie Crumbs zine. Can't wait to see this work!

As I close out the year, I not only wanted to detail and thank this month's readers, but all those who made our 2015 happen. It was so good to have our regulars follow us to our new venue people like our artists Alex and Eric. It was a treat to welcome all the readers and attendees from LUMPS zine who I invited as readers this year, adding new faces and sharing their talents. And its always comforting to know members of the zine, comics, and indie lit community follow us: Violet Fox, Matt Davis, Neil Brideau, Julie Koslowski, Ben Spies, Collin Brennan, Jon Drawdoer, Gina LoBianco, Kerri Gannon, Elizabeth Harper, Todd Herskovitz, Dan Pogo, Ed Blair, Noami Huffman, and others I am forgetting to mention. Most have read at the series and its great to see that support. Thanks for my family support: my sister Sarah for making homemade vegan cookies and my wife Jill for performing, attending and kicking my ass to have good lineups. And thanks to everyone how has been part of the audience. You all are what makes this series thrive. Now into our 5th year, you all help sustains us. So thank you all.

Lastly, TCM was so thankful for the Comfort Station, letting us call their space home this summer. Thanks to Raul from their Comfort Films program who was our lead, introducing the space each month and making sure we had all the tech under control. TCM has been fortunate that every venue we've called home has been so welcoming as well as historic to the city. We look forward to coming back to the Comfort Station for another year next spring. Things look good and I'll share spring 2016 information later this fall when all the scheduling is worked out. Until then, our sponsor CHIPRC will host an end of year reading in December. More to come on that.

Again, thanks for 2015. Be back soon.
Best,
Johnny Misfit

TCM Summer Ender (opps don't mind my finger in the way).

September Ends the TCM Summer Season

Two Cookie Minimum ends its summer Tuesday September 8^th as its our last reading at the Comfort Station in Logan Square for the season. Ending summer on a good note, this month’s lineup will showcase various styles of storytelling from visual to poetic.  Readers include:

Marnie Galloway, comics artist and organizer of CAKE.
Kamilha Jones, illustrator at Hard Decora and contributor to LUMPS zine.
Collin Brennan, music journalist, zinester and poet.
Erin Nederbo, co-founder of Encylcopizzeria and host of Reading Under the Influence.
Chris Bower, author of Little Boy Needs Ride will be accompanied by a shadow puppet show from Jill Summers and Susie Kirkwood.
Hosted by Johnny Misfit.

There will be free cookies per usual.
Comfort Station  2579 N Milwaukee Ave. Doors 8pm, reading to follow after mingling and cookie eating.  The series is sponsored by Chicago Publishers Resource Center, located in West Town at 858 N. Ashland. CHIPRC’s mission promotes the local publishing community. Donations will be accepted at the door benefiting CHIPRC.

What does this mean for the future of Two Cookie?  We will be seeking some pop-up readings this winter. As for next spring 2016, we'll be looking to be back with monthly dates. Check back in for any info. We appreciate your support through the years! See you next week for this reading.

August Among Us - Two Cookie Reveiw

This month's reading was another great time, one for the books, all that. We had some amazing visuals thanks to Vickie Segovia, some forward thinking comics by Andy Burkholder, a glimpse into one's process thanks to Andy Glass's reading, and welcomed an old friend Mairead Case as she was visiting Chicago. This is the type of reading that defines the series: friendly, informative, and entertaining. If you've been to a Two Cookie, that should be pretty present. If not, you have one more chance this summer to see us at Comfort Station, Tuesday September 8th. Drop by and let us know that our short stint in Logan Square was a good one.

The photos

August New Cookie Crowd!

L to R: Mairead Case, Vickie Perez-Segovia, Andy Burkholder.

P.S. This was one of the first readings in a long time that Two Cookie regular Alex Nall could not attend (visiting Ireland or something, sheesh). Although we do not have his drawings from the night, alas another 2CM regular Eric Bartholomew picked up his sketch pad and filled in. We hope to get these doodles and drawings into a future 2CM zine. But for now, here's Eric's rendering of comic reader Andy Burkholder.

Reminder Not to Miss August Two Cookie

A TWO COOKIE NOT TO BE MISSED

Join the event on Facebook here.

Two Cookie August is On

Two Cookie Minimum celebrated its 5 year anniversary last month. Beginning the sixth year (weird its been that long!), the next reading is Tuesday August 11 at the Comfort Station 2579 N Milwaukee Ave. at 8pm. Not only will there be variety or readers the way a TCM year should start, but we are glad to welcome an old Chicago friend who now lives in Colorado.

 

Writer/Poet Mairead Case (visiting from Denver, CO),

Comics Artist Andy Glass,

Artist/Writer Victoria Perez-Segovia, and

Comics Artist Andy Burkholder
Hosted by series curator Johnny Misfit.

The series is sponsored by Chicago Publishers Resource Center, located in West Town at 858 N. Ashland. CHIPRC’s mission promotes the local publishing community. Donations will be accepted at the door benefiting CHIPRC.

And yes, there’ll be free cookies!

Don't forget, Two Cookie ends its summer run at the Comfort Station next month. Join us on Tuesday September, 8th for the last summer reading.

Gift Wrapped, TCM 5 Year Reading Recap

This week TCM celebrated its 5th year of doing what it does best, providing a reading space for the self publishing community and giving out free cookies. The event was super special as the readers were all long-time supporters of the series. Leslie Perrine read at the very first Two Cookie in 2010! Jonas and Ben Spies each respectively have read multiple times each over the years. Their presence was exactly what we needed to celebrate.





If that wasn't enough, we released the second issue of Cookie Crumbs,  a zine showcasing the series in 2014. This wouldn't be possible without the assistance and talent of cartoonist/illustrator Alex Nall. Every month last year, Nall documents each reading with doodles, full page comics and caricatures of the readers. Additional content included flyers, Two Cookie 4 year anniversary messages, and some notes from past readers. (The zine is available at Quimby's to purchase, along with issue 1 documenting 2013).

Still not enough? Well, thanks to Sarah W, we helped ourselves to some homemade vegan chocolate chip cookies. Celebration complete.


This group photo is a bit dark, but it represents the celebration. I appreciate all those who came out, that supported us over the years, and to our venues past and present.


Here's to the start of another year!
- Johnny Misfit

Two Cookie Hits the 5 Year Mark

Two Cookie Minimum has been going strong for 5 years and to celebrate will hold an anniversary reading on Tuesday, July 14.

Through the years, the series has been home to Chicago’s self-publishing community, supporting the work of comics artists and illustrators, independent publishers, students, authors, poets, visual storytellers, and musicians.

The night's performers Include: Comics artist and illustrator Leslie Perrine, Zine publisher and writer Ben Spies, and Independent author and zine publisher Jonas. Hosted by Johnny Misfit.

To give a bit back to the Two Cookie audience, other having free cookies available at every reading, this anniversary will feature the second issue of the self-published zine Cookie Crumbs. The first issue featured the work of resident Two Cookie artist, Chicago cartoonist Alex Nall, who included sketchbook drawings depicting the readings. The new issue will supplement Nall’s artwork with essays from past performers and readers, commentary from host Johnny Misfit, and various photos and flyers from the past year.

The reading begins at 8pm at the Comfort Station, 2579 N Milwaukee Ave. Donations will be accepted at the door benefiting CHIPRC. Two Cookie continues on the second Tuesday of every month at the Comfort Station through September. And it wouldn’t be a party without free cookies. The event is all ages.

A bit of history:
Two Cookie Minimum held its first reading in 2010 at Lakeview’s Fritz Pastry. It held residency at Roscoe Village staple The Hungry Brain until that establishment closed its doors in the winter of 2014. Its current home is the historic Chicago Park District space The Comfort Station in Logan Square. These five years have seen more than 45 shows featuring over 200 readers, boasting a few out of town guests to boot. Recognized in press outlets Chicago Literati, Gapers Block and Newcity, the series has carved out a niche for itself.

Two Cookie’s ties to the independent literary community are clear from past readings that have supported Chicago Zine Fest, Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, Columbia College’s Fiction Writing department, and numerous literary presses. Their many themed readings showcased all female artists, local comics and illustrators, Chicago’s Polish community, and students from academic programs. The series is now supported by Chicago Publishers Resource Center (CHIPRC), a literary nonprofit, that helps its patrons share their work through the reading series.