DC, Ep. 2

November 8, 2011 — Before a wonderfully packed house, the 826DC-presented epic at DC9 will go down as one of the great word-for-word readings in LDM history, finishing with Sacha Scoblic out-jump-shooting her co-finalist Vijai Nathan in a back-and-forth battle of Down with Book Burners! basketball. Scoblic snared an airtight 5-4 victory, winniner her the LDM DC, Ep. 2 title. 

But well before the Max Brod-inspired finale began, the night kicked off with Huffington Post blogger and regular McSweeney’s contributor Sean Carman up against Scoblic (author of Unwasted). Carmen dazzled with an Occupy Wall Street-inspired satirical political piece that had the crowd buzzing and hopeful, before Scoblic counter-read a section from her memoir about her attempts to avoid booze, only to end up at a dinner featuring coq au vin and amaretto-flushed desserts. 

The mic was then handed to the trio of all-star judges: DC magazine's editor-in-chief Karen Sommer Shalett, storywriter/performer SM Shrake (co-founder of Story League), and improv-master Justin Purvis. After the three wittily responded to each of the semi-finalists, they were faced with a tough choice, and made the tough decision of sending Scoblic on as the night's first finalist. 

After a booze-fueled intermission, Round 2 kicked off, pitting Nathan (as seen on her one woman show Give Them Vagina: Tips from Mom, Dad, & Cosmo), against Jamaal May (a two-time Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam Champion). May was fabulous out of the gate, reeling off two heart-breaking/achingly good poems performed with aplomb. But Nathan was not to be denied, and fired back with a brilliantly-told and hilarious piece that won the hometown crowd, and after more fun-time judging, won the judges vote, as well. 

Finally, LDM creator Todd Zuniga took the stage, finding a volunteer for each of the finalists, and tasking them each with scoring five baskets on a Nerf hoop — only the "basketballs" were crumpled up images of book burners. As the two finalists snapped off set-shot after set-shot, Nathan was off-and-running with a 4-2 lead when Tim "The Human Stanchion" Denevi (Literary Death Match Iowa City, Ep. 1 champion) tilted the hoop, giving Nathan the win — or so the crowd thought. But a foul was called, and a rattled Nathan went cold, as Scoblic caught fire, sinking three consecutive shots to win her the Literary Death Match crown, and literary immortality with it. 

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