Writer in Residence Ian Belknap 'Brings It Hard' to PushPush 8/28-9/4

Writer/performer Ian Belknap will be in residence with us Aug. 28-Sept.4. From Chicago, this guy is bringing it all--a live writer's battle, two writer workshops, and his monologue performance of his highly acclaimed and very personal black comedy, Wide Open Beaver Shot of My Heart.

Called "Jaw dropping," by Chicago Tribune, "Staggering," "bleak," and "frequently, if inappropriately, hilarious," by Time Out Chicago, in Beaver Shot, Belknap accounts of his grandfather's unsolved murder and his father's suicide.

Belknap will also host WRITE CLUB, which is like boxing for writers, who go head -to-head in a live battle with original pieces. Each is assigned two opposing themes (Fate versus Free Will or Mind versus Body) and have seven minutes to expound on the topic.

He told Time Out Chicago, "When I'm part of an audience, I want to get my ass kicked. I want the show to take a can opener to my skull and punch me in the brain." And this is what he aims to do in Atlanta.

Thirdly, in his writers' workshop, Is Funny Enough?, funny is a tactic for delivering the truth, a cleansing fire; and the workshop itself--a means for writers/artists to mine their own experience of the world for the Funny of authenticity and ferocity.

If you have the Funny but wish to do more with it, or if you have a project with the Funny that's hit a wall, then you're ready for Belknap.

(Warning: This is NOT an Intro to Comedy class. Some workshoppers may go to battle in Late Night WRITE CLUB.)

Ian Belknap is a writer/performer living in Chicago. His live memoir show Wide Open Beaver Shot of my Heart recounts the story of his grandfather's unsolved murder, and his father's suicide the following year. And yes, it's a comedy.

Belknap is the host/curator of the shows Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ian's Dog & Pony, and Write Club. His work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Rhinoceros Theater Festival, the Garage at Steppenwolf, The Neo-Futurists, and elsewhere. As a comedian, he has opened for Dennis Miller and Steven Wright, and appeared in the Chicago Comedy Festival, Zanie's, Donny's Skybox at Second City, the Lincoln Lodge, and elsewhere.

He has appeared in many theatrical productions, the TV shows, and feature films like Uncle Nino and High Fidelity. The facebook page "The Fan Page to Make Ian Belknap Uncomfortable" was named the 3rd GREATEST PUBLIC ARTWORK in the City of Chicago in the 2010 Chicago Reader Poll.