Bob Reading

After dinner last night at the über-homey east-German eatery Walzwerk, BC and I went to Bob (ex-BF Glück) and Amanda Davidson’s reading at New Langton Arts. Bob was suave and charming, focused, open, his work dynamite–stellar. He started his reading, characteristically, by taking his sweater off. He does this because Judy Grahn told him it’s a way of focusing the audience’s attention when you’re part of a big lineup. He usually has a beer in his hand, too, but has been less forthcoming about what I assume is a very specific reason for doing so. Bob’s reading of the first two chapters of a kitty story that he’s writing for Michelle Rollman’s pussy book was followed by a performance by the new BF, under-30 opera singer Anthony, who played on a miniature toy piano and delivered the third chapter of the work in his deep baritone voice. He playfully mimicked the sturm und drang of opera, but with Bob’s contemporary auto-biographical new narrative libretto. It was the best performance I’ve seen all year. The crowd stood and cheered afterwards. When’s the last time you went to a reading and the crowd stood and cheered?