Jan. 17: The Doghouse Edition

Your host is writing this in December, too early to have any resolutions for the new year. Certainly too early to feel shitty about not keeping them. But this ain't my first rodeo, so I can tell you that sooner or later, I will smell bullshit on these rosy expectations. When are we doing Speakeasy in January? The 17th? Oh, yeah. More than enough time for a few impulsive decisions and late-morning regrets.

So here's my gift of advice to you as the new year rolls in, all shiny and smug with possibility: Start your apologies early. Hell, it might be the last chance you have. Ask anybody in AA - you gotta say you're sorry before you can move on. And you may as well do it at Speakeasy, because our theme for the month will be Apologies. (Unless you're in AA, then you should probably stay well away from Will's Pub.) Writers in January are invited to give us their tales of regret. Of shame. Their done-somebody-wrong-songs, their screwed-the-pooch sestinas. "Love means never having to say you're sorry?" Riiight. Come to Will's on the 17th and get a full night of rebuttals for that moldy little chestnut.

Christian Drake

One thing we ain't the least bit sorry about, though, is booking our featured poet for January: Christian Drake. Nationally, Christian's got more than enough cred for our little one-horse reading. A dangerous presence on national slam poetry teams from California to Massachusetts, his interests and inspirations include man-eating tigers, very large trees and period sex. Not good enough for you? We've also got Christian to thank for the semi-bi-wheneverannual Toast-Off competitions we've been conducting here at Speakeasy and the Orlando Fringe. Ample reason to give him a raucous welcome back to the stage at Will's.