London, Ep. 43

October 26, 2014 — After too long a time away, we returned to warm the cockles of your heart with our first show of the autumn at our old Shoreditch favourite Concrete where Chris O'Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy outdueled Janina Matthewson in a sudden-death Literary Charades finale to win O'Dowd & Murphy the LDM London, Ep. 43 crown. 

But before the finale was even a thought, the night kicked off with Nicci Cloke, author of Someday Find Me and co-producer of Speakeasy at @DrinkShopDo who told the gripping tale of talking down a jumper off San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge. Next up was Matthewson, storyteller, chocolate cake aficianado and author of Of Things Gone Astray who told the story of Cassie: a girl who starts growing roots out of her feet and is thought to be slowly turning into a Willow tree.

The mic was then handed over to the night's trio of all-star judges: Suzi Feay: Literary journalist (The Independent, Time Out, FT, just about EVERYWHERE); Rick Edwards: Broadcaster (Free Speech - BBC3, Paralympics - Channel 4, plus tons of E4), writer (Huffington Post, The Observer); and Alex Edelman: Comedian, New Yorker, winner of Best Newcomer at Edinburgh Fringe 2014. After applauding Cloke's work (with Feay saying it was a "great vignette") and Edwards puzzling over if her garb was a playsuit or a dress, the judging turned to Matthewson, with Feay lauding the use of the word "arborary" and likened the story to Ovid's Metamorphosis, while Edwards asked, 'Would it have hurt to have come on dressed as a tree?' and Edelman suggested she adapt it into a Lord of the Rings prequel. 

Then came Round 2, led off by Robert Auton, performer, author of In Heaven the Onions Make You Laugh and Petrol Honey, curator of Bang Said the Gun & winner of Funniest Joke of Edinburgh Fringe, 2013, who mused on what the food is like in heaven, and also read a poem about calling his son Dad. Then, to end the night, it was Chris O'Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy, co-writers of Sky's sitcom Moone Boy and co-authors of Moone Boy: The Blunder Years, who co-told the tale of an imaginary friend customer rep turning up in a kids wardrobe. 

Again the judges were center stage, with Edwards praising Auton's dramatic pauses, his accent and his use of volume, while Edelman wondered what a minotaur would sound like if he was from Yorkshire. Edwards then praised O'Dowd's Loopy Loo voice, and Edelman thanked O'Dowd for not doing an American accent. After another impossible choice was before the judges, they huddled, then decided it would be O'Dowd and Murphy who would compete in the finals. 

Then up stepped LDM Executive Producer Suzanne Azzopardi who announced the night's finale:

Then up stepped LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga, who announced the night's finale: Children's Book Literary Charades. With a trio of "actors" on the stage, Azzopardi delivered titles of famous children's books that the actors had to play out while Team Matthewson and Team O'Dowd/Murphy guessed the titles. After O'Dowd/Murphy rocketed to an early lead, Matthewson stormed back. But with everything to play for it was Team O'Dowd/Murphy who shouted out the final answer first, winning them the Literary Death Match London, Ep. 43 crown and literary immortality to go with it. 

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