Edinburgh, Ep. 14

August 26, 2015 — For the fifth of eight consecutive LDM's in eight days at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Literary Death Match glittered with the magic only a Fringe showcase can offer, as the pitch-perfect hour finished with a racing finish that saw Tom Salinsky outduel Lucy Ribchester in hotly-contested game of Literary Pictionary in sudden death to win the LDM Edinburgh, Ep. 14 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the show opened with Tom Salinsky (co-writer of EdFringe 2015's Impossible), who read a fantastic, written-for-LDM piece that featured these things: a man named Banjo Hopkins; a man named Porky; gunfire; blood; death. Then up stepped LDM's first-ever Zimbabwean author, as Petina Gappah read a fantastic excerpt from her brilliant novel The Book of Memory. 

The mic was then handed to the trio of all-star judges: Reif Larsen (How Far Do You Need to Travel to Know Yourself?), author of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet; Samantha Baines (Sam and Helen: Out There), award-winning actress and comedian; and Alex Edelman (Everything Handed to You), comedian, 2014 Fringe Newcomer Award Winner. The brilliant-minded trio heaped loads of praise and witticisms on both readers before huddling up and making the late-afternoon's first impossible decision, declaring Salinsky as the first finalist. 

Then came Round 2, kicked off by Lucy Ribchester, who read a gripping bit from her masterful novel, The Hourglass Factory. Finally, it was Renz (of EdFringe's Poet of the Impossible), who worked magic into his memorized piece, about the magic of being. 

The microphone was again passed to the judges, who were completely mind-blown by the captivating authors, delivering a blinding set of commentary about both writers, before making the night's second impossible choice, deciding to send Ribchester on to the finals. 

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced the night's finale: Literary Pictionary, in which Petina Gappah drew the names of famous book titles while the two finalists guessed (with the audience's help). With everything to play for, it was Salinsky who nailed the final answer, winning him the LDM Edinburgh, Ep. 14 crown, and literary immortality to go with it. 

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