LA, Ep. 6

February 22, 2012 – On a pitch-perfect Los Angeles evening, the curious masses arrived at Busby's East where they were privvy to an electric night, and witnesses to a slice of literary history: a historic Pictionary finale that saw Team Ned Vizzini outguess Team Antonia Crane by a final score of 3-1, to win Vizzini the LDM LA, Ep. 6 championship. 

The audience was groomed for action by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga and the lovely Megan Neuringer, as they introduced Round 1: Michelle Haimoff primed the mic with an extract from her novel These Days Are Ours – a phone call between friends containing post 9-11 speculation and whimsy. Then Crane (representing SLAKE journal) gave us a sizzling and contemplative account of a many-nippled man’s eventful visit to the ‘masseuse.’

Then came the all-star judges: past-SNL and 30 Rock writer Hannibal Buress (My Name is Hannibal), prankster/comedian Brendon Walsh, and writer/actress/comedian Rachel Bloom (the brain/voice behind F*ck Me Ray Bradbury). The men struggled with their love-hate of Sex in the City, and continuing the theme of the night, recommended a delectable duo of websites: tugmaps.com and rubmaps.com. The lady of the bunch was appreciative of the readers’ feminine bravery and boldness. In the end, though, they made the tough decision of advancing Crane onto the finals. 

The intermission was booze-bountiful and whipped the audience into a frenzy of anticipation never before seen in the literary sphere. And then came Round 2: Ned Vizzini (author of It's Kind of a Funny Story and Be More Chill) read from his forthcoming novel The Other Normals, a riotous extract of brotherly squabbles and summer-camp foreboding. Steve Abee (author of Johnny Future and The Bus: Cosmic Ejaculations of The Daily Mind in Transit) performed a story that was a veritable howl of drug-fuelled, Quaalude-heavy, urine-light, sex-raw rantings, which tickled the audience to no end.

The judges were enamored with the dynamic Abee, but coerced into choosing, they ultimately opted for the stately presence of Vizzini to progress to the finals.

At lightning speed, the virgin finale was upon us. Teamed with volunteers handpicked from the crowd, Vizzini and Crane went head-to-head in the guessing of various famous novels from the scrawlings of whoever cared to partake. Naked Lunch, To Kill A Mockingbird, and 1984 (to name a few) gave ripe subject matter for the occasion. It was Vizzini, admirer of dragons, who took the belt in the end, winning not only the LDM crown, but literary immortality to go with it.

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