May 2013
1 post
Mascot →
The tale Chris Bower tells in this one-hander, about an unhinged father determined to make his son into a high school football star, could stand on its own as a fascinating short story. But brought to the stage by director Kevlyn Hayes and actor Matt Test, the piece is powerful, darkly funny
April 2013
3 posts
10 tags
MASCOT FUNDRAISER THIS WED. NIGHT AT 7. COME...
Click to view this email in a browser
FOUND OBJECTS THEATRE CHICAGO
Mt. Sutton Whispers Pep Rally Wednesday, April 24th 7-10 PM At GORILLA TANGO THEATRE
Greetings! You are cordially invited to the first annual Mt. Sutton High Pep Rally and Fundraiser, benefiting Mt. Sutton High’s own football team, the Whispers! LET’S GO WHISPERS! Also, because of some complaints raised during...
9 tags
WatchFound Objects Theatre Group Presents Mascot
A play by Chris Bower
Performed by Matt Test
Music by Alan Scalpone
Directed by Kevlyn Hayes
Mascot opens Friday May 3rd
at the Den Theatre in Chicago
1333 N. Milwaukee Ave
Friday-Sunday through May 26th
Friday and Saturday at 7 PM
Sunday at 3 PM
online tickets available at brownpapertickets.com/event/353112
Contact FOTG at...
March 2013
3 posts
7 tags
South America →
I have a poem that is in the first issue of Sway.
12 tags
11 tags
Mascot to open at the Den Theatre in May
We just signed the lease and the Found Objects Theatre Group is getting ready to open Mascot for a full run of shows in May. Friday-Sunday at the Den Theatre 1333 N. Milwaukee, Chicago
Fri-Sa at 7:30 PM and Sun at 3 PM
$15
MASCOT is:
A man comically estranged from his family has something more important to worry about: a restraining order that keeps him from his son’s high school...
February 2013
4 posts
I want to pay your hand with a ring.
Favorite accidental phrase of the school year so far: “He paid my hand” meaning, “he asked for my hand.”
30 tags
The Ray's Tap Reading Series presents: Manners...
“I believe the knowledge of the rules of living in our society makes us more comfortable…[although] some of the rudest and most objectionable people I have ever known have been technically the most correct.” Amy Vanderbilt 1952
“No Drink, No Piss. And don’t piss on my fucking steps. Go in the alley if you have to go.” Ray Javers 2007
The Ray’s Tap...
10 tags
Cafe Neck Beard Opening Soon in Logan Square!
There is a new coffee shop opening in Logan Square called Cafe Neck Beard and they are going to serve what they are calling the smallest sandwiches in the world and their coffee is going to be filtered through a hat once owned by Queen Elizabeth II. The best part about it is that it is going to have vintage toy riding horses displayed around the store that you not only can’t ride but you...
ElvisBride Kickstarter campaign →
One of my favorite live acts in Chicago is trying to finish their debut record and need some help. They have only a few days left to make it happen.
ElvisBride is the kind of band that rarely happens; an ambitious, hilarious, hypersmart and poetic band that knows how to both challenge and entertain. Bands like this only come around once in a while and by supporting them, you will prolong...
January 2013
1 post
6 tags
December 2012
1 post
November 2012
1 post
11 tags
Go see the new Curious show opening tomorrow at... →
Here is the link for tickets. On-line tickets are available. Also be sure to pay attention to the notes on the Jarvis Red Line closure. Remember: All Curious shows are $15 buck or pay what you can so if you are broke, come for what you have. It’s all about seeing the show.
October 2012
1 post
9 tags
Write Club Write Up 2012 →
August 2012
3 posts
19 tags
6 tags
Three Sisters Too (2)
This is a piece of fanfiction that I stumbled up was written by a man who calls himself, Dr. Anton Chekhov the Optimist and what he does is writes new ending acts to Chekhov plays and makes them life affirming. While he admires the stories and characters in Chekhov’s plays, he is unhappy with how they are treated and gives the characters another chance to makes things right. Dr. Chekhov...
13 tags
Lies, Liars and the Myth of Truth
The Ray’s Tap Reading Series is coming back on September 8th at the Prop Thtr at 8 PM
The show will include performances by Matt Test, Dave Snyder, Mason Johnson, Samantha Irby, Barrie Cole, Vickie Walden, Margaret Chapman, Chris Bower, Daniel Shapiro and feature the music of Tijuana Hercules.
The show will be 15 bucks or pay what you can so come and pay nothing if you have nothing.
...
July 2012
3 posts
5 tags
Gloria Kissed My Head: An RFK poem
Gloria Kissed My Head She didn’t sneak around Rose She only snuck around my sisters girls are jealous of fathers and movie stars Rose was too proud to be jealous too wrapped up in a vase collection to be jealous But Gloria was there to see me I would watch them from my window watch them walk toward the oldest trees I would watch their hands growing closer and closer and watch them come...
4 tags
Grandma: Another tiny story from The Family Dogs
Grandma Grandma used to work but not for money. She used to help take people’s blood over at the Catholic Hospital. She came over to our house one day after work, her white blouse splattered in blood, and from her I learned that even volunteers can be fired.
4 tags
Inventions: A Tiny Short Story
This is a tiny story from a yet unpublished book called, Family Dogs.
Inventions Dad invented a baseball bat that could swing itself. There was a hinge near the bottom of the bat that was voice activated, and as the ball approached all you had to do was yell, “Swing” and it swung. Despite the genius of it all, it wasn’t really any fun.
But when we humored him he knew it...
June 2012
4 posts
3 tags
Nice post about the story I read last night at... →
8 tags
Reading a new story about Madame Bovary, Belgium... →
This Much Is True is dedicated to bringing together the members of our community in a welcoming environment where we can share with each other, listen to each other, and learn from each other. Once a month, we gather to celebrate the uniqueness of the individual while simultaneously tapping into the universality of the human experience. Our core group of storytellers is joined each month by...
16 tags
Gapers Block Glowingly Reviews Birthday Boy: Only... →
15 tags
May 2012
7 posts
9 tags
Beau O'Reilly really wants you (click on the link... →
6 tags
Memorio's Day by RFK
Memorio’s Day My butler’s name was Robert He came before me and preferred to be called Robert When I decided that I preferred to be called Robert and not Bobby the family disagreed Rose and Papa Joe had long ago decided that the servants working in our home were to be addressed by their first names something that caused a bit of a scandal in the neighborhood but was accepted...
MY SON WANTS TO GO TO THE MOON →
YAHOO ANSWER QUESTIOn
I AM GOING TO BREAK UP WITH MY GIRLFRIEND OVER... →
Yahoo Answer Question of the Day
6 tags
Maria Loves Albert audio up at Curbside Splendor...
http://www.curbsidesplendor.com/curbside/blog/curbside-sounds-chris-bower
The folks at Curbside Splendor have launched a new audio project and they asked me to record myself read “Maria Loves Albert” a story that was featured in Another Chicago Magazine.
here is what they have to say about it:
Curbside Sounds is a new audio project where we’ll feature authors we dig reading...
6 tags
Sun-Times music critic raves about Deliver Us From... →
7 tags
Another good review for Deliver Us From Nowhere:... →
April 2012
8 posts
3 tags
Chicago Reader reccommends Deliver Us From... →
9 tags
an apology and another stab at promoting this...
My discovery at the Diner Grill eating 2 eggs (over medium) and hash browns (with no toast) for $3.85 and reading the house Sun-Times was that they actually printed the article written about Deliver Us From Nowhere: Tales From Nebraska that contains a pretty extensive interview with me about the piece I wrote for the show. I thought it was only an online thing, or because I happen to me a North...
13 tags
Link to an article about Deliver Us From... →
This show opens Thursday night at the Right Brain Project in Ravenswood, April 26th and runs for 4 weeks, 4 nights a week. 10 songs, 10 plays, 10 directors all inspired by the album Nebraska. You can read more about the show and buy tickets here www.tympanictheatre.org
11 tags
Small interview about my role in Deliver Us From... →
10 tags
Story in the newest Another Chicago Magazine →
I have a story in the newest Another Chicago Magazine which is on sale at bookstores and available on line. Just follow the link.
14 tags
New short play in Deliver Us From Nowhere: Tales... →
My play is called “When You’re Dead” and is based on the song Mansion on the Hill. It is being directed by Kyra Lewandowski and performed by Nate White.
10 short plays inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska
April 26-May 20 Thurs-Sat, 8pm / Sun, 7pm at the Right Brain Project 4001 N Ravenswood Ave
Tympanic pairs eleven playwrights with ten Chicago directors to create...
3 tags
13 tags
New play (Birthday Boy) by Chris Bower and Matt... →
Starting May 11th and running through June 10th at the Prop Thtr at 3502 N. Elston, The Curious Theatre Branch will be presenting The Other Side of the Elephant, a series of 9 plays over 3 days for 4 weeks.
The Other Side of the Elephant
Short Plays by Curious Writers May 11 – June 10, 2012 Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston
New work by Jayita Bhattacharya, Chris Bower & Matt Test, Judith...
March 2012
2 posts
8 tags
Broken
This is an early version of a story I wrote for the Dreams show at Salonathon, at the Beauty Bar in Chicago.
Broken When I was a little kid I used to dream that I had a broken arm and that I broke it, not in an accident or during a sports game, but that I just woke up in the morning in my bed, broken. I imagined how the gossip would trickle down, the speculation on why I wasn’t in school...
14 tags
Drunk Poem Reading at the Berghoff, Saturday. AWP... →
I will be reading a poem by Nelson Algren for the Lost Chicago Drinking Poems reading at the Berghoff at 17 W. Adams. The show is being put on by Chicago Detours and it is free. Show starts at 6:15 and will be done before 8. The show features Mandy Keiftetz, Douglas Light, Sophie Grimes, Amy Ganser, Hannah Pittard and Elizabeth Tieri.
http://www.chicagodetours.com/
February 2012
1 post
4 tags
Horse Poem #34
This poem is in the newest issue of Po, which should be out and about soon.
Horse Poem # 34
if I stop at night going to her stable tip-toeing straw knocking buckets will she not be there sleeping? if she stops at night coming to my window nudging glass licking caulk will I not be there sleeping? what if I’m out at night going to her stable and she’s out at night coming to my...
January 2012
3 posts
14 tags
8 tags
22 tags
December 2011
1 post
5 tags
Match.com (An "essay" I wrote in 2006) in...
Match.com (2006) by Chris Bower
I am single, have been for about 5 months, and I don’t want to get into the details of the break-up here, because they are embarrassing and awful, so I ‘ll just say this; I made a lot of mistakes.
For the first month of being single, I behaved like a drunken ghost.
For the second, I behaved like a drunken sub-human.
For the third month, I didn’t behave at...
October 2011
7 posts
Big Head →
The kind folks at Untoward Magazine have published a short story by me about a woman with an enormous head.
What do you do when you realize your room-mate has... →
Strange room-mate habits or good room-mate habits? →
