What’s in a name? When you claim an identity - Gay - Straight - Bi – Trans - do others see what you see, feel, who you are? What about homelessness or political affiliation? Too often we judge people by how they look, dress, walk, talk and superficial characteristics. Too often they don’t see you and their misreading of who you are makes for messy and sometimes tragic consequences. Suppose you are a homeless kid who has been taken off the street by a drag queen. What changes? Suppose you are a member of a religious order and find out that your roommate is Gay. Are you Gay by association? Do you “out” him?
In “How Do You Read Me?” storytellers Howard Lieberman and Loren Niemi look to their experience with gender fluidity, representation and the assumptions we make about others with intimate and revealing stories that are by turns insightful and questioning of those assumptions of what it means to be “other” in America. This show looks to the people underneath the surface.
Having performed together for over two decades now, the 2 Lorens have examined issues of race in “1967”, religion in “A Fool’s Errand”, and the ironies of sex and drugs in their wildly improvisational “55 Minutes of Sex, Drugs and Audience Participation.” They are not afraid to tell their stories truthfully and artfully while finding the humor and grace of being human.
Tickets are $10 in advance/ $12 at the door
Doors are at 9:30, come eat and drink in the theater before the show!
Proof of vaccination with matching ID or lab-certified negative COVID-19 PCR test with matching ID is required for entry. Click here for our current COVID-19 policy.
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Howard Lieberman is a writer, performance artist/storyteller and outspoken social activist whose art takes emotional risks that most storytellers avoid. He is a moderately nice Jewish boy whose personality was shaped by being emotionally abused as a child, orphaned at 14 and homeless at 17. Through a combination of blind dumb luck and perseverance Howard found his way to NYC where he eventually became an attorney, Irish ceili dance teacher and Director of the Irish Arts Center. Hating what NYC brought out in him, Howard moved to MN in 1990 to experience living among Lutherans and bitterly cold winters.
Howard's 2002 Minnesota Fringe show, “Welcome to My Bomb Shelter”, his first, received 14 rave reviews and 1 truly scathing review. In 2007 he joined Loren Niemi and Felix Hampton Brown in the critically acclaimed “1967”, one of the few shows rated MUST SEE by the Pioneer Press. It was followed in 2008 with Howard and Loren again teaming up for “Alone & Testifying” at both the Minnesota and Indianapolis Fringe festivals. The Minneapolis StarTribune said of his 2009 Fringe show, “DEATH CAMP DIARIES"... “it has an unprocessed rawness that makes a strong impact...The effect is chilling..." Beginning in 2009 Howard and Loren took a perverse yet hysterically funny look at life and love in “55 Minutes of Sex, Drugs and Audience Participation” which was one of the 2009 Indy Fringe's 10 best selling shows. "...Lieberman's work has a rawness that is simultaneously compelling, tender and frightening." In 2010 it graced the Hollywood Fringe stage and was brought back as one of the ten "Best of Fringe" offerings.
Today an older and slightly more sober Howard performs all over the world (thank you Zoom) using personal narrative stories of his sometimes funny, sometimes dark life experiences to try and build empathy between the diverse people who call planet earth home. It has been said that "Howard...has lived through enough lives to do at least 100 one-man shows..." His intention is to perform until that one last show where he finally tells all. That's a show no one should miss, especially Howard.
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Loren Niemi is an innovative storyteller creating, coaching/directing, performing, producing, teaching and writing about stories that matter for audiences of all ages in urban and rural settings for over 40 years. He has done 32 Fringe Festivals in eight cities as solo or ensemble storytelling performances since 1996. Howard Lieberman has been his performing partner for 16 of them, proving as Paul Burchill said in the LA Times: "These two are fascinating performers who manage to whip up a theatrical experience from little more than their mouths and imaginations..."
He has also participated in over 200 poetry and story slams since 1995 and has won 71 first, second, or third places and 2 grand slams, as well as being a member of the Minnesota team for the 1998 National Poetry Slam. To cap off his crooked career on stage, Loren AKA "Dr Buzz" was 1/3 with Kevin Kling and Michael Sommers of the iconic performance art trio, Bad Jazz, offering a wild mix of spoken word, suitcase theater, propulsive music and passable tap-dancing.
Loren is a published author and poet. “What Haunts Us” is his collection of non-traditional "ghost" stories won a 2020 Midwest Book Award for "Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy/Paranormal" fiction. Other publications include the critically acclaimed, “Inviting the Wolf In: Thinking About Difficult Stories” (co-authored with Elizabeth Ellis) on the value and necessity of stories that are hard to hear and harder to tell. Not being afraid of those unnerving stories has been one of the hallmarks of his performances.
For more information: www.lorenNiemistories.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmericanSchoolofStorytelling
Twitter: twitter.com/SchoolofStories
Instagram: www.instagram.com/americanschoolstorytelling
Tickets are $10 in advance/ $12 at the door
Doors are at 9:30 PM, come eat and drink in the theater before the show!
There is no late seating beginning 30 minutes after the start of the show.
Proof of vaccination with matching ID or lab-certified negative COVID-19 PCR test with matching ID is required for entry. Click here for our current COVID-19 policy.