Stand Up, Improv, and More at Greensboro's Idiot Box Comedy Club
The art of comedy is alive and well in the Triad and much of the credit goes to The Idiot Box Comedy Club in Greensboro. There you’ll find a veritable beehive of activity going on year-round. This fall is no exception with their monthly Knuckleheads production—an all-ages, kid friendly show with stand up, improve and sketch. Comedian Eric Trundy and club owner Steve Lesser are teaching stand up classes, and tonight at 8:00pm at the Idiot Box it’s round two of The 6th Annual Ultimate Comic Challenge. Eric knows the UCC well, as does Idiot Box Co-owner Jennie Stencel. Jennifer is a comedian and improv actor well-known to Triad audiences. From 2006-2010 she was the comedic traffic reporter on WXII-TV whose on-air antics—rapping the traffic report—eventually wound up on CNN, VH1, and MSNBC. David Ford began by asking Jennie how the Ultimate Comic Challenge came into being.
Meet Ben's Sister Jane, History's Forgotten Franklin
For centuries, the memory of Jane Franklin has languished in brother Benjamin's shadow. While Ben is on currency and splashed across textbooks, Jane's life of curiosity and hardship has been forgotten. In Book of Ages, historian Jill Lepore draws a portrait of one of the American Revolution's "little women."
The Bel Canto Company Presents Double Double Toil and Trouble
Bel Canto Company presents Double Double Toil and Trouble, an exciting, international concert of cutting-edge 20th century pieces for vocal ensemble featuring Gian Carlo Menotti’s mammoth 30-minute work The Unicorn, The Gorgon and the Manticore: Three Sundays of a Poet (Introduction, Twelve Madrigals and six Interludes). The performances are Saturday, October 12 at 8:00 pm, and Monday, October 14 at 7:30 pm in Christ United Methodist Church in Greensboro. Bel Canto Artistic Director and conductor Welborn E. Young discussed the program with David Ford from his studio at the UNC at Greensboro where he is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music. Also on the program will be music by Hungarian composer György Orbán, Norwegian Ola Gjeilo, and Finnish composers Bengt Johanson, and Jaako Mäntyjärvi. Today we give a sample from all four.
Tina Brown's Must-Reads: On Heroism
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of The Daily Beast for Morning Edition's series Word of Mouth. For this installment, Brown talks about three must-reads that are all about the mettle and mindset of those we end up calling heroes.
Local Project Gives New Voice to Those With Developmental & Intellectual Disabilities
A multi-media project and exhibition at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem is giving a new voice to some adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Too Weird To Be True? In China, You Never Can Tell
Foreign news coverage of China is often deadly serious: corruption, pollution and the like. Then there's the funny and bizarre that often goes viral — like the zoo that swapped a dog for a lion. A number of websites are making these offbeat and satirical tales increasingly available in English.
Elizabeth Smart Says Kidnapper Was A 'Master At Manipulation'
Smart, who was held captive for nine months at age 14, describes the 2002 ordeal in a new memoir called My Story. She's now an advocate for children's safety education and says "the best punishment" she can give her abusers is to move on with her life and be happy.
George R.R. Martin, Author And ... Movie-Theater Guy?
The author of the wildly successful Game of Thrones books has been spending his days working on reopening an old movie theater in Santa Fe — much to the displeasure of fans who think he should be writing the next book.
A History Of Love Gone Wrong, All In One Croatian Museum
From furry handcuffs to a toy bunny that a couple once shared, the Museum of Broken Relationships is filled with artifacts of romances that didn't quite work out.