Young Chicago Authors (YCA) presents The Encyclopedia Show, brought to you by the quirky minds of poets and producers Robbie Q. Telfer and Shanny Jean Maney. The Encyclopedia Show showcases visual art, comedy, music and spoken word on topics picked at random from the encyclopedia.

This month’s topic: “Explosives!”

Featuring: Idris Goodwin (HBO Def Poet on the Manhattan Project; Molly Meacham (Speak’Easy Ensemble) on Alfred Nobel; TV’s Bill Ayers; Annie Kincade (multiple National Forensics Champion) on ACME Explosives, Inc.; J.W. Baz (author and performer of No One Can Fix You) on the Bat Bomb; Sarah Morgan (author of Animal Ballistics) on supernovas; Erika Janea Dickerson-Despenza (Mayor Daley’s 2008 poet for Women’s History Month) on “smart bombs”; Molly Kuhlman (Louder Than A Bomb poet) on fallout shelters; Tim “Toaster” Henderson (Louder Than A Bomb 2008 finalist) on Patriot missiles; and Laura Berger (visual artist) on exploding friends; with cast regulars Kurt Heinz (E-Poets.net) as Fact Checker; Dan Telfer (Stand-Up Comedian) as Apprentice Fact Checker; Tim Stafford (HBO Def Poet) in charge of special effects; Joel Chmara (HBO Def Poet) in charge of specialer effects; Jilted Emily Rose (poetry vet and house manager) as Jilted Emily Rose; and Evan Chung (musician) as house band leader for The Encartagans.

The Encyclopedia Show is part of YCA’s Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) University. LTAB University consists of all spoken word performing arts and presents: WordPlay, a weekly Tuesday night open mic event for teens between ages 13 and 19 years of age; the newly formed LTAB College, a monthly open mic series for college students hosted by Kevin Coval; The Encyclopedia Show, providing a monthly spoken word alternative to slam; and the annual LTAB Teen Spoken Word Poetry Festival.

Recorded Wednesday, March 04, 2009 at Chopin Theatre.