Ryan DiGiorgi makes things for the internet. He spends most of his time trying to convince large companies to approve his robot jokes. He also writes fiction, co-produces the podcast Hello from the Magic Tavern, and eats at Chipotle.

Please join Ryan and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, August 4, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Will this summer ever really heat up? We'll see, but Tuesday Funk will definitely be hot in August as we welcome guests Henri Harps, Robert McDonald, Ryan DiGiorgi, Hallie Palladino and Daniel Kraus to your favorite eclectic monthly reading series. Join us Tuesday, Aug. 4 in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St.

Doors open at 7:00 pm sharp -- no earlier, please, but get there as close to 7 as possible to grab a table, as the room fills up quickly -- and the show begins promptly at 7:30. Andrew Huff and Eden Robins co-host. Admission is free, but you must be 21 or older.

RSVP on Facebook and, as always, bring a friend. Don't forget to become a fan so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings.

The July 7 edition of Tuesday Funk brought an eclectic medley of performers and haiku by co-host Andrew Huff, as well as a selected poem by someone on Twitter.

No more gay marriage.
It's just plain old marriage now.
So it is ordered.

Also, women's soccer
is just soccer from now on.
Go Team USA!

How many churches
must burn before we call it
domestic terror?

I eat my peas with guacamole,
I've done it all my life.
They do taste kind of funny,
But it keeps them on my knife.

I have closed the tabs
that were in the browser
and which you were probably
saving to read.
Forgive me, they hogged memory
and were so old.
   &emdash @stvnrlly, after William Carlos Williams

Wow, what a show. Not much more to say than that. Seeya next month!

I kid, I kid.

The night started off strong with Lily Be's telling of how our stories - particularly those of people of color - can be taken from us and twisted in sometimes catastrophic ways. Norman Doucet followed with an essay exploring his own prejudices and where they came from. And co-host Eden Robins finished up the half with an excerpt from her novel about golems and race in the age of the AIDS epidemic.

We all pretty much needed a drink after that.

The second half featured Erin Watson, who delighted us with her poems and essay. And then Fred Sasaki ended the night by reading a series of hilarious emails he wrote to a literary convention, pretending to be an indignant author expecting an invite.

We explored all reaches of human emotion on Tuesday, and you know what? We're going to do it again! So join us on Tuesday, August 4 for our next round of fabulous readers: Henri Harps, Robert McDonald, Ryan DiGiorgi, Hallie Paladino, and Daniel Kraus!

Got plans? Cancel them and come to Tuesday Funk! Tonight we've got the likes of Erin Watson, Norman Doucet, Lily Be, Fred Sasaki, and co-host Eden Robins... who will also be hosting, as always, with the dashing Andrew Huff.

Our readings take place at Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. We get started promptly at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. Arrive early if you want a seat--but no earlier than 7:00 pm. Our readings are free, but only those 21 and over will be admitted. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

Norman Doucet hails from the den of the southern rebellion, Charleston, South Carolina. Influenced by the duality that exists there, he made some interesting decisions, starting with attending the college--founded after a slave revolt--which also has the dubious distinction of producing the two cadets who fired the first shots of the Civil War.

An English major as an undergrad, Norm decided to join the Marine Corps. He spent almost a decade there, earning his MA in English literature in the process. He loves telling stories, especially stories about those seminal moments that explain the duality that exists in most people.

Please join Norman and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Lily Be is a momma, a nanny, and storyteller. She's a wise Mexican badass from Humboldt Park, Chicago. You can hear her tells stories everywhere and anywhere. Lily is a Moth GrandSLAM champion and the host and producer of her own storytelling show, The Stoop. A bio does not do Lily Be justice. After listening to her stories, you should talk to her and invite her over to make tamales. Experience the magic that is Lily Be.

Please join Lily and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

In the grand tradition of underemployed artists, Eden Robins has been: a singing waitress, a dildo salesman, a dental assistant, an abortion clinic receptionist, a blowjob instructor, a travel writer, a pelvic model, and a Swahili teacher. She's had some short stories published in magazines like Kaleidotrope, Shimmer, and Apex, and is the founding editor of the now-defunct online journal Brain Harvest. Eden is also half of the weekly podcast Should I Worry About This? as well as your Tuesday Funk co-host, in case you hadn't noticed.

Please join Eden and all our multitasking readers on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Fred Sasaki is art director for Poetry magazine and a gallery curator for the Poetry Foundation. He also co-founded Homeroom Chicago's "School Night" info show in which artists and professionals talk about big things in slant ways in front of a drinking crowd. With his son and late father he is the author of the zine series, FRED SASAKI'S & FRED SASAKI'S FOUR-PAGER GUIDE TO: HOW TO FIX YOU.

Please join Fred and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Erin Watson is a Southern person living in Chicago. Her poems appear in Anthology of Chicago and in the self-published chapbooks No Experiences, Instax Winter, and Nickels. Her poetry criticism appears on the Volta Blog. She was a finalist for the 2014 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award and one of New City's best emerging poets in Chicago in 2014. She's also read poems and essays at Miss Spoken, Story Club South Side, and the Private Reading Series, among others.

Please join Erin and all our amazing readers on Tuesday, July 7, 2015, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.