Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 9:55PM October 8, 2010 — Technicolor hijinks outshined some technical hiccups when masterpiece mash-ups collided with subversive cartoons at LDM NY Comic Con. Escalating to a feverish finale where comics heavweights R. Sikoryak and Michael Kupperman battled in a bout of Name That Superhero Jeopardy! that saw Sikoryak win by a closer-than-it-seemed 7-0 victory to claim LDM victory!
Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 8:00AM September 16, 2010 — Fantastical thunderstorms couldn't keep die-hard fans and intrigued newcomers from LDM NYC Ep. 30 to watch four writers brandish their literary battleaxes. NYC Exec Producer Ann Heatherington and co-host, LDM London Producer Nicki LaMasurier (who came ready to fight dressed in a British flag) outlined the rules, and introduced the judges: in-pat/ex-pat critic Liesl Schillinger took on Literary Merit, and Moth Star Jim O’Grady, Performance. Emmy-award winner Cory Cavin, the self-appointed ‘Stupidest Man in the Room,’ would judge Intangibles.
Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 11:00PM September 10, 2010 — Steady Mike Adamick pulled a one-word victory over impassioned, high-fashioned Pam Benjamin in Literary Death Match 33 at the Elbo Room. Adamick secured the win by not quite completing the dying words of Che Guevara: “Shoot coward, you are only going to kill a man!”
Fueled by foxy moxie and horsefeathers, co-hosts Alia Volz and comedienne Janine Brito, commanded the crowd’s attention with an absurdist homage to the alphabet that left Volz bleeding on the floor at Brito’s feet. Gertrude Stein would have proud to love these ladies!
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 6:15PM August 31, 2010 — The Literary Death Match's long-awaited (by us) return to China and The Bookworm Beijing was nothing short of masterwork, with the brilliant night finishing with a fake mustache/chopstick/cheap toy/basketball shootout finale that saw One Story representative John Leary claim a 3-1, closer-than-the-scoreboard-suggests victory over co-finalist and Shiva Naipaul prize-winner James Palmer. While the crowd cheered ecstatically, Leary was crowned victor.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 12:26PM August 19, 2010 — We promised a hot and sticky night, and NYC, Ep. 29 did not disappoint! After a quick and dirty run through of the rules and regs, NYC Exec Producer Ann Heatherington assembled and dissembled judges Bruce Benderson (complete with high-tech nicotine distribution system), Michael Hearst of One Ring Zero (who sadly has never had a run-in with Geraldo Rivera), and Elna Baker (formerly Mormon, currently hilarious). As is LDM custom, the audience selected at random the first round readers, Melissa Petro (of Sex Work Matters: Power and Intimacy in the Sex Industry) and Benjamin Hale (The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore).
Saturday, August 14, 2010 at 3:57PM August 10, 2010 — Deep in the recesses of a brilliant dungeon (a.k.a. The Banshee Labyrinth), the Literary Death Match's Edinburgh debut — teamed with Utter! at the Free Fringe — was pitch- and picture-perfect, with Scotland's homegrown Jenny Lindsay narrowly winning over Molly Naylor (Whenever I Get Blown Up I Think Of You) in a breakneck game of Pass-the-Haggis to take the LDM crown.
Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 4:49PM August 13, 2010 — In a finale seared into the collective unconscious of the Elbo Room crowd, poet D. A. Powell came from behind to snatch victory from novelist Tanya Egan Gibson. After citing the correct Shakespearean play, he claimed the winning point by thrusting his cactus forward to pop host M.G. Martin’s cherry (balloon). And yes, the exploding balloon did spew forth a distinctly blood-like liquid.
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 4:44AM July 15, 2010 — Literary Death Match went all poetical for the event's 28th-ever NYC-based episode, that saw a breakneck game of Shove the Balloon through the Hoola Hoop won by Jon Sands over C.S. Carrier by a 4-1 margin.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 11:42AM July 14, 2010 — The Literary Death Match launch of Bret Easton Ellis' Imperial Bedrooms was a ridiculous success, as the '80s-themed evening at Concrete ended with a wild game of Guess the Musical Artist that saw novelist Lee Rourke (representing Melville House) narrowly claim victory over poet Clare Pollard (representing Bloodaxe Books) by a final score of 7-6.