The Gotham Fool has his brains picked
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting from a Dawn of the Unread showcase, but it definitely wasn’t this. Perhaps a reading or comic slideshow was buried in the back of my bwain somewhere, but all of that was dug up and chomped down on, intestines and all.
Dawn of the Unread, the bwainchild of our Literature Editor James Walker, is a series of digital comics exploring our city’s most influential writers through the medium of flesh-eating zombies. Every issue so far has been hilariously crafted and masterfully drawn, not unlike the quizzical showcase that took place in a humble tent, pitched in the middle of Market Square for the Festival of Words 2014.
On entering, six characters glared back at me, all with ghoulishly painted faces, blood dripping from their gobs and realistic gashes smeared across their foreheads. Hosting the event was Lydia ‘Magnus’ Towsey, who eased us into the mood with a poem recited over her ukulele playing – the subject matter of bad relationships chewed on with allusions to the undead. Lovely stuff.
With Lydia’s elevated charm contrasting with her gut-smeared mush, we were introduced to a scary-looking score-keeper as well as four budding contestants: Arthur Seaton, Lord Byron, The Gotham Fool and Mrs Hitchcock. Each famous writer was asked questions about his or herself, and each answered with such precise and in-depth answers that I wondered whether the question and answer sessions were pre-rehearsed or the actors were indeed fountains of author knowledge.
One thing I learned about Nottingham’s departed writers was that they were all arrogant twats, bar the pleasant Lady Hitchcock. Arthur Seaton lurched about on stage, answering questions with a smarmy, throw-away attitude while Lord Byron, donned with a ruffled shirt and top hat, came with a similarly dickish manner although with a lacing of upper-class pompousness. The Gotham Fool didn’t seem to know what on earth was going on, but held his own nonetheless.
Each quiz contestant had walk-on music – Byron’s was, fittingly, James Brown’s Sex Machine – one of many hilarious touches that kept the small audience chuckling throughout the show. For the second round of MasterBrainzzz, the literary figures were tested on their general zombie knowledge and it’s safe to say that none of them faired as well on this section as they did with the questions surrounding their own life.
As we drew to the end of the zombie interrogations, the scores were tallied up with Lord Byron in first place, a tie between Arthur Seaton and Lady Hitchcock for second place, and The Gotham Fool in third place. Of course, it couldn’t have been left there, and a brain-eating competition ensued between Seaton and Hitchcock as a decider for second place.
Strawberry jelly flew in every direction as the room turned to complete chaos and Arthur took the highly-esteemed second place position. My cheeks were hurting by this point as I pondered whether or not I’d ever come across a learning experience like this again. I’d put my money on “no,” but hope to learn a valuable lesson in staying away from gambling.
Dawn of the Unread presents MasterBrainzzz took place in Market Square on Sunday 19 October as part of Nottingham Festival of Words 2014
Festival of Words website
Dawn of the Unread website
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