Amy Sumpter is a comedic actress who has does stand-up all over the city. She is a regular performer with The Kates and Beast Women. You can find her on Rooftop Comedy.com and she will be at Zanies in May. She is also one third of She's Crafty, Chicago's all female Beastie Boy tribute band.

Please join Amy and all our other amazing and beastly readers on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Cesar Torres is the author of the 2010 short story collection The 12 Burning Wheels. His first published short story appeared in The Willows Magazine in fall of 2008. His brand new serial novel, The 13 Secret Cities, releases April 28 of this year. Cesar is also the host of The Labyrinth podcast, where he interviews authors and explores topics in writing, philosophy and publishing. He lives in New York City. For more details about The 13 Secret Cities, please visit 13secretcities.com.

Please join Cesar and all our other secret-keepers on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Brooke Wonders' fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, Electric Velocipede, and the Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2013, among others. Her nonfiction has appeared in or is forthcoming from Brevity, The Collagist, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere. She reviews for American Book Review and serves as nonfiction editor at new online literary magazine The Account. She will soon be receiving her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and her blog can be found at girlwonders.wordpress.com.

Please join Brooke and all our other pre-doctoral readers on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Letitia L. Moffitt was born and raised in Hawaii. She received a doctoral degree in English/Creative Writing from Binghamton University, and she taught creative writing at Eastern Illinois University for six years. Her works include a novel-in-stories, Sidewalk Dancing (Atticus Books, November 2013), as well as short stories, essays, and poetry published in literary journals including [PANK], HTMLGiant, Black Warrior Review, Aux Arc Review, Dos Passos Review, and many others.

Please join Letitia and all our other well-rounded readers on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

Jill Howe has turned story love into a super power. She organizes fellow writers in sharing their latest written work at her monthly workshop, Friends with Words, while also co-producing Story Sessions, a monthly event hosted by Deanna Moffit with true stories, bluegrass music, story-inspired artwork, and hugs at City Winery and Mahoney's. The next installment of Story Sessions is on April 27th at Mahoney's. Jill has shared her nitty-gritty at Mortified, Reading Under the Influence, Story Lab, Chicago Solo Theatre, Ignite Chicago at the 1871 tech lab, Essay Fiesta, Story Club Bridgeport and many more. Most of all, she can't wait to hear your story. Join in the story fun at www.storysessionschicago.com.

Please join Jill and all our other fabulous storytellers on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

No foolin', the next edition of Tuesday Funk is on April Fool's Day. Expect a typically eclectic show with readings by Letitia Moffitt, Brooke Wonders, Cesar Torres, Amy Sumpter and Jill Howe. Eden Robins and Andrew Huff are your humble cohosts.

The evening gets underway on Tuesday, April 1, 2014, at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Doors open at 7:00 pm sharp, no earlier -- arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar. As always, admission is free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

RSVP on Facebook and bring a friend. And hey, become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!

Co-host Andrew Huff regaled the crowd at the March 4th edition of Tuesday Funk with topical haiku.

Winter, long in tooth,
snarls at the lamb of spring and
settles in its lair.

If I hear one more
forecast of snow, I may cry.
I'm over this winter.

As Venezuela
and the Ukraine heated up,
we watched the Oscars.

It's Mardi Gras and
National Grammar Day, so
party grammatically.

In traditional Mardi Gras fashion, Tuesday Funk #67 featured elaborate floats, the exchange of plastic beads for glimpses of nudity, and the consumption of King Cake.

Well, the last part is true, anyway. Co-host Andrew Huff brought two genuine King Cakes for our enjoyment, and luckily, no one ate the baby.

Joe O'Sullivan got us laughing with his all-too-true tales of life in cubicle farm drudgery. Co-host Eden Robins regaled us with a story of ancient demi-gods fighting with one another for supremacy over the Northwest Suburbs. And Naomi Buck Palagi rounded out the first half with her awesome collection of "rock"-in poems, ie poems about rocks.

We all grabbed some King Cake and some brewskies from the ever-faithful Mark, and then it was time for round two. Co-host Andrew Huff told us about the weather in haiku format, and then Laura Adamczyk gave us a lively, modern interpretation of Chekhov's gun. Wendy McClure finished us off with a tale of her visit to Walnut Grove, MN, home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder festivals, and the wackiness she encountered there.

And then, like all good Mardi Gras...es, we stumbled home, full of cake and beer, regret for our behavior merely a twinkle on tomorrow's horizon, ready to do it all again next month.

Speaking of next month -- don't miss it! Tuesday, April 1st, we've got Letitia Moffitt, Brooke Wonders, Cesar Torres, Amy Sumpter, and Jill Howe. No foolin'!

They say an elephant never forgets, but because you're probably not an elephant... here's a reminder! Tonight is Tuesday Funk's 67th episode, featuring Wendy McClure, Joe O'Sullivan, Naomi Buck Palagi, Laura Adamczyk, and Eden Robins. So get a babysitter for your pachyderms, folks, because frankly... this'll be too much fun for them to handle.

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!

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. She is currently writing her second novel, a weird Western. Eden is also your Tuesday Funk co-host, in case you hadn't noticed.

Please join Eden and all our multitasking readers on Tuesday, March 4, 2014, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.