SF, Ep. 51 (at CJM)

November 14, 2013 — In the splendor of San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum, Literary Death Match teamed with Reboot to celebrate the launch of Unscrolled, and the memorable night to finished in brilliant fashion as Josh Healey caught fire in the Literary Judaic Pictionary finale to topple co-finalist Rebecca Bortman by a score of 14-1 to win Healey the LDM SF, Ep. 51 crown. 

But before the finale was even a consideration, the night kicked off with Healey (award-winning writer, performer, creative activist and regular on NPR’s Snap Judgment) led the night off with a hilarious/touching ten commandments-based piece about helping his mother set up her profile on Jdate. Next up was Caitlin Roper (senior editor at Wired, and contributor to The Moth, Pop-Up magazine, and LA Times), who countered with a poignant tale about her relationship with her ex-husband, that featured the voice of God chiming in via the soundsystem. 

The mic was then handed over to the quadtet of all-star judges: Zarina Zabrisky, author of short story collections Iron and A Cute Tombstone; Rabbi David Kasher, ordained in 2007, attended rabbinical school at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah; and Nato Green, comedian behind The Nato Green Party, named SF's Best Comedian by the SF Weekly, Huffington Post, and CBS. The trio reeled off an array of apt and wild commentary — Healey made Kasher remember he wasn't Beastie Boy cool in his youth; Green related to the Roper's idea that marriages were doomed; and Zabrisky relied on Russian texts as the basis of her judging — before making the night's first impossible decision was made, and Healey was named as the night's first finalist. 

After a swift intermission to drown in wine provided by Justice Grace vineyards, Round 2 kicked off with the charming-as Rebecca Bortman, user-experience designer, and singer in the war-painted art-punk duo Happy Fangs. Bortman's joy-infused piece was about Rabbi Mahler which used an infographic, and a Jewish lyric re-mix of the Proclaimers "I Would Walk 5,000 Miles."  Finally, it was Ben Greenman, New Yorker contributing writer and author of six works of fiction including the all-new The Slippage, who followed by a quiet reading of his thoughful piece direct from Unscrolled. 

Again the judges were center stage, and after more brilliant quips — Kasher didn't love the idea that Greenman suggested the Torah might be fictional; while Zabrisky had the crowd singing Hava Nagila; and Bortman's story reminded Green why he hated his people. After a long deliberation, they emerged with a split decision, deciding it would be Bortman who would advance as the night's second finalist.

Then host and LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga stepped up to announce the night's finale: Literary Judaic Pictionary, in which Healey and Bortman were tasked with naming the book by Jewish authors that audience members drew. After a 1-0 start for Bortman, Healey went into a zone, scoring the rest of the remaining points (impressively shouting "The Giving Tree!" after only two lines were drawn) to pull away. Healey sealed the deal shouting out "Catch-22?!" to win him the LDM SF, Ep. 51 medal, and literary immortality to go with it. 

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