Mare Swallow is an executive coach, storyteller, and occasional comedian. A lifelong performer, she’s a graduate of the Second City Conservatory. She holds a BA from Northern Illinois University, and an MFA from Goucher College.

Please join Mare and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Bill Savage teaches courses on Chicago history, literature and culture at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. At the Newberry, he co-curated their recent exhibit on Mike Royko, and he also works as an editor at the University of Chicago Press. He has published book reviews, op-eds, and essays in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal (neither of which paid him in a timely way [or at all], and both of which he is now deeply ashamed of), the Chicago Tribune, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Chicago Reader, Chicago Magazine, and other publications with Chicago on their mastheads. He has been working for a very long time on a book about Chicago’s street grid, delving into how its quirks tell the history of class warfare, racial and ethnic conflict, and the real “Chicago way”: Half-Assing It. Any brief bio he writes has “Chicago” as its most common word.

Please join Bill and our other awesome readers on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Shake off February's chill with some hot live lit! Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series returns to the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf with readings by Amy Eaton, Bill Savage, Eric Shoemaker, Mare Swallow, and Scott Whitehair.

Admission to Tuesday Funk is always free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables tend to fill up fast, so don't be late!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook, and while you're there, please like and follow us so you get our announcements in your news stream.

Oh hey, you should also follow us on Bluesky!

Tuesday Funk started the year off right, with a full house and five great readers! Michelle Young told a story about buying her home and the safety it made her feel. Next, Carole Hodorowicz shared a story of a young woman reflecting on the Midwest during a night in the Southern heat. Then Kathryn Kruse told a story about a gardener for a megarich man obsessed with his health.

We took a break, then cohost Andrew Huff read an essay about travel and the role of memory as seasoning in people's lives. Last but not least, James Gordon told a story about standing up to a high school bully and how memories can change over time.

Tuesday Funk will be back on February 4 with more great live lit in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. We hope to see you there! Don't forget to sign up for our new newsletter so you don't miss news and announcements.

Andrew Huff has been a PR professional, a journalist, the editor and publisher of Gapers Block, a professional blogger for a ghost hunter "reality" show, and host of 20x2 Chicago, a show in which 20 interesting people have two minutes each to answer one question. He's also cohost of the live lit show Tuesday Funk, where he's normally known for his topical haiku. He lives in Chicago's West Ridge neighborhood with his wife and three cats.

Please join Andrew and our other exciting readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

James Gordon is an award winning actor, author, Poet, and champion storyteller. He has written over 20 books across the genres poetry, children's, and mystery and suspense. James is a member and Facilitator of Artistic Cabal called Act Pack Dark.

Please join James and our other great readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Michelle Young started telling stories and performing as a stand-up comic right before Covid. Post-pandemic, she has performed at various curated storytelling events throughout Chicagoland.

Michelle also co-hosts Do Not Submit, a Storytelling Open Mic at Friendly’s in Berwyn, and produces a curated monthly variety show called “All Skate” at Jarvis Square Tavern in Rogers Park. The show features music, comedy, storytelling, and spoken word. Michelle believes in the transformative power of our stories. Stories elevate, connect, and allow us to express our deepest truth.

Please join Michelle and our other awesome readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Born and raised in Chicago, Carole Hodorowicz has always loved reading and writing. She went to college at Eastern Illinois University, where she studied journalism and English.

Please join Carole and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Kathryn Kruse is the director of Residency on the Farm, an interdisciplinary artists’ residency program. In February her collection of short stories, To Receive My Services You Must Be Dying and Alone, is debuting from Jackleg Press. Her work has appeared, among other places, in the pages of Indiana Review, The Manchester Review, and Interim, on the walls of the I Hope You Are Feeling Better Collaborative Art Exhibition, and on the stages of the San Francisco Olympians Festival. After sojourns around the world and the US, she now lives back near the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago where she teaches quite a lot.

Please join Kat and our other fantastic readers on Tuesday, January 7, 2025 in the upstairs bar at Hopleaf. Doors open at 7pm, and the show starts at 7:30. It's free, and 21-and-over. Please RSVP on Facebook.

Start the new year off with some great live lit! Chicago's favorite eclectic monthly reading series returns to the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf on Tuesday, Jan. 7, with stories and readings by James Gordon, Andrew Huff, Kathryn Kruse, Mare Swallow and Michelle Young! Hosted as always by Andrew and Erin Watson.

Admission to Tuesday Funk is always free, but you must be 21 to attend. Doors open at 7pm sharp (tables tend to fill up fast, so don't be late!) and the show will start at 7:30pm. Please RSVP on Facebook, and while you're there, please like and follow us so you get our announcements in your news stream.