NYC, Ep. 20

November 19, 2009 — A night of humor high and low, literary and slapstick, LDM NYC, Ep. 20 also brought on the release of Opium9: The Mania Issue. After inviting the audience into the world of her absurdist imagination with a series of vignettes, Edith Zimmerman was thrust into absurdity of the Opium variety. She met the challenge, rising victorious over co-finalist Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show) in a tie-breaking Nerf-machine-gun assault on visual artist James J. Williams III.

Hosts Erin Hosier and Opium's own Todd Zuniga (dressed in a burnt-orange three-piece for the evening by NYC atelier Against Nature) kicked off the night by inviting Zimmerman and Sarah Walker (Really, You’ve Done Enough) to the stage. Walker started things off, and began the first round with instructions on the intricacies of taunting, proving herself a formidable opponent. Zimmerman followed startling the crowd with a series of genius mini-narratives. Judge Terese Svoboda (Weapons Grade) expressed her appreciation and shared a joke about a guy walking into a bra. Following the pair, the admittedly-divided judges declared her the finalist.

In the second round, Teddy Wayne (Kapitoil) personified a needy mailer daemon in a monologic epistolary piece, for which performance artist/judge Joseph Keckler literally sang his praises. Judge Mishna Wolff (I'm Down) noted the difficulty in doing this style well, and commended Wayne for using it to tell a story with emotion. Friedman then read his assortment of short-form humor, including some hopelessly innocuous “Yo Mamma” insults which served to ruin the non-fun of the format, delighting all and winning the judge’s favor for the round.

The finale saw each finalist attempt to guide a remote-controlled helicopter to a safe landing on a book held by Williams III, who stood blindfolded. Meanwhile, the other finalist tried to shoot it down with a Nerf machine gun. Because the heli went haywire after Friedman's initial liftoff/crash, Zimmerman never flew the chopper. Instead, as a tie-breaker, both had the opportunity to fire at the head of Williams III. The one with the most headshots out of six would be declared the winner. Friedman took the opportunity to aim for Williams III's lower region, while Zimmerman, disproving Freud, resisted and won the match with her second shot finding skull. History was made, and Zimmerman was crowned as the Literary Death Match Champion. 

The evening wound to a close when Zuniga suggested that audience members “meet someone attractive,” at which point several defeatists nervously shuffled out.

Sponsored by: 

Against Nature

All proceeds from this event supported the publication of Opium9: The Mania Issue.