London, Ep. 3

November 3, 2009 — Literary Death Match London, Ep. 3 at Old Queen's Head was a stylish and whimsical ceremony that illustriously ended when The Idler fictionist Matthew De Abaitua narrowly beat out Penned in the Margins masterful rep Ross Sutherland in a wild Hoopstravaganza. The clash featured both hastily wadding up pages of the Daily Mail and firing them through a Picador-backboarded basketball hoop. With the competition tied at 3 points apiece, De Abaitua swished his money-ball shot to take home the Literary Death Match championship!

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Austin, Ep. 1

October 31, 2009—by Tyler Stoddard Smith—The Texas Book Festival was a veritable feast of literary delights, none more savory than the “boot-up-your-ass” brawl during the Lone Star State’s first Literary Death Match in Austin. Festivalgoers may have been a bit bemused at learning the forum for the LDM was not a bar called "The Sanctuary" (as I first thought) but in fact an actual sanctuary housed in the First United Methodist Church. However, the proceedings were as bare-knuckled and bawdy as they come, House o’ the Lord be damned.

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NYC, Ep. 19

October 29, 2009—The Literary Death Match NYC, Ep. 19 at Bowery Poetry Club was a masterfully literary event with a dress-up flop of a finale that had Robert Lopez (author of Part of the World; representing Mixer) pulling out a narrow victory over his equally exceptional co-finalist, Sarah Jane Stratford, as each "raced" to produce a costume from a smattering of fun-time elements, but neither (disappointingly) utilized the beard.  

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SF, Ep. 22

Sequins, audience members getting high on stage, and a supersized game of local-lit card shark made for Literary Death Match SF, Ep. 22. LDM regulars as well as Litquake X attendees filled Verdi Club to witness the literary merit, performance, and intangibility of four readers before James Nestor took home the gold for his drug-related genius and card-guessing skills. 

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Paris, Ep. 1

The Literary Death Match descended on Paris' Le Reservoir with a brilliant result, as Mohamed Razane was a more successful knifesmith than Max Monnehay in a shockingly close game of Stab a Hole in Liechtenstein. In front of a confused crowd of 165, Razane was awarded the Literary Death Match medal, and a secure place in the event's storied history. 

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NYC, Ep. 18

Literary Death Match NYC at Bowery Poetry Club put the needle on the lit record for its 18th episode, with the inaugural music-themed LDM. Opened with a stellar, nostalgia inducing set by the Mountain Goats' member (and Intangibles judge) Franklin Bruno. Todd Zuniga's replacement host, Liam Gallagher, failed to show citing a sore throat (sources have him scarfing down some fish and chips outside of Shoreditch earlier that afternoon).

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London, Ep. 2

Last night was a historic one for the Literary Death Match: London, Ep. 2 marked our 50th-ever episode (wow!), and featured the youngest champion in the series' history, as 17-year-old Ashna Sarkar out-scribbled co-finalist Tom Chivers in a wild, hotly-contested Sharpie-based finale of Sketch-a-Judge™ to snare London's second Literary Death Match crown.

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Raleigh, Ep. 1

September 15, 2009—Raleigh’s Literary Death Match debut was a night full of “treasured masturbatory fantasies,” unicorns and rock n’ roll as Jodi Lynn Villers captured the crown through a highly imaginative interpretation of the cafeteria scene in Mean Girls ("Would you like me to assign someone to butter your muffin?"). Co-finalist Scott McClanahan also delivered a riveting performance of the gym scene in Clueless ("I doubt I’ve even worked off the calories in a stick of Care Free Gum"), but Villers’ combination of southern charm and naughty hockey fantasies had stolen too many hearts that evening as the audience screamed for the winner.

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SF, Ep. 21

September's Literary Death Match SF marked was a night to remember at Elbo Room, as Tracy Clark-Flory—pitted against finalist Genie Grotto—took home the LDM crown in a ferociously heated game of Literary Beer Pong. 

See all the photos for this event!

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NYC, Ep. 17

Literary Death Match NYC’s seventeenth episode had the air of a good stand-up comedy show. Each segment showcased another distinct voice and performance, each as often profound as uproarious. If its comedy club atmosphere was incidental—coincidently, three of the four readers performed without notes, which is unusual at LDMs—it was befitting for a reading series conceived by Opium.

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