SF, Ep. 6

February 20, 2008—The Literary Death Match’s Episode 6 at San Francisco’s Rickshaw Stop proved to be a fantastic and well-fought battle, indeed. With usual host Todd Zuniga bounding around Poland, genius fill-in Kurt Bodden (past LDM judge and host of Talk Show Live) proved fearless as host. The night ended with Tony Dushane of Cherry Bleeds six-word-memoiring his way to victory.

The festivities started with Marianna Cherry (14 Hills Magazine) walking on stage and removing a pair of black leather gloves (performance judge Scott Campbell later said, “She looked like she was going to punch the air or something.") It was a fitting start to the grim, gory tale of a young man's kidnapping by guerillas in the Colombian Jungle. Next, Barbara Jane Reyes (Parthenon West Review) silenced onlookers with a series of riveting poems--the first time in LDM history a poet took the stage.

The poignancy, though, didn’t just pour out of the mouths of the two readers of the first round, but out of the judges, as well. Intangibles judge and PhD Alana Conner stated, "This is some heavy ass shit." After a short deliberation, Reyes was selected to advance to the finals. The crowd dispersed to the bar.

Round Two took a turn for the funny, as Dushane shared what literary merit judge Ted Weinstein guesstured could be the first "pre-natal memoir"—a yet unfertilized sperm narrated the tale of his conception. Suzanne Kleid (Other Magazine) followed, charming the crowd with a story about a mug victim-turned mugger. She charmed the judges with her own pair of gloves, throwing them down "sexily," according to Campbell.

While the judges decided on a winner, surprise guest Rachel Fershleiser of Smith Magazine shared from the best-selling book Not Quite What I Had Planned—composed entirely of six-word memoirs. Finally, the judges chose Tony to go on the final round, in which the finalists were asked to give their own six-word memoirs.

Dushane: “Masturbation saved my sex life forever.”

Reyes: “Some people say I eat dog.”

The audience exploded with applause for both, but the winner by a few clapping hands was Tony Dushane, who was (literally) crowned as the unanimous winner of Literary Death Match Episode 6!