Ironically, despite a career in journalism, I’d always dreamed of writing fiction stories. That’s why I went to the now-defunct fiction department at Columbia College Chicago to obtain a creative writing degree. But telling the truth for my day job doesn’t mean I gave up lying—for the sake of entertainment—at night.
Before I graduated, I was helping to run fiction and poetry readings out of Columbia’s special events department. Not stuffy events in coffee shops, mind you. Bizarre, little things that we didn’t take too seriously.
I kept my “dumb for the sake of dumb” aesthetic after graduation and honed it at regular shows at Cole’s bar throughout 2011 and 2012, filling the back room on Sundays. Through that show, curator invited me to their events to perform, shows like the Encyclopedia Show, Write Club and more.
My show at Cole’s is also what caught the attention of the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, who published my first book, a novella titled Sad Robot Stories in 2013.
My last couple of years at CBS I focused on long-form journalism. After I left CBS though, I entered back into the ridiculous world of spoken word. Right now, I help co-produce a mental-health themed comedy show called Psychotic Break at Schuba’s and have teamed up with The Logan Theatre to perform pieces based on upcoming movies for a show dubbed Movie Club. Needless to say, I stay productive.