Robbie Q. Telfer (“Best Local Poet”—Chicago Reader) and Shanny Jean Maney (Winner 2011 Write Bloody Publishing Book Competition) are back to host another verbal encyclopedia entry at the Vittum Theater.  The Encyclopedia Show is A Prairie Home Companion meets Scripps National Spelling Bee, a literary variety show accredited by The Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene determined to fulfill its mission of cultivating accidental knowledge with an unrivaled brand of nerd-core charm.

Commissioning exceptional local talent, nationally touring artists, and renowned experts that have included Lynda Barry, Sonia Sanchez, Bill Ayers, Marc Smith, Paul Sereno, Roger Bonair-Agard, and Rachel McKibbens among others, The Encyclopedia Show is known to feature spoken word, monologues, storytelling, live music, comedy, actual experts, lovable characters, and yes, even the occasional robot. These encyclonauts will leave no truth unturned and nor fact unchallenged when they take on this month’s featured topic, THE RAILROAD!

Second City’s Tim Baltz, Indie Rock MC Enamuel Vinson, award-winning blogger Susannah Breslin, talented singer-songwriter Abigail Vic, and hometown hero John “Jughead” Pierson of The Neo-Futurists and Screeching Weasel, and Jason Rothstein (author of Carless in Chicago, http://www.carlessinchicago.com/) join this gargantuan-hearted cast of characters that includes the Fact Checker, Thomas the Tank Engine, Jilted Emily Rose, and house band The Encartagans for an hilarious history lesson on THE RAILROAD.

Winner of the 2009 Orgie Theatre Award for Best Creation/Curation, The Encyclopedia Show has exploded planetarily to include branches in over ten cities worldwide, including New York, L,A., Austin, Korea, Germany, and Omaha! It was recently featured at the Wisconsin Book Festival and the Chicago Humanities Festival as well as many other colleges and writing communities! Don’t miss this month’s brain train certain to dazzle with scholarly gumption for all ages be they bookish or bozo.

Recorded Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at the Vittum Theater.