Christine Badger

"I'm going to attempt to bring to life this demented little universe," says Marc Ngui, a comic artist from Toronto. With the help of a slide projector, Ngui tells the story of corporate corruption from his graphic novel "Enter Avariz." And so begins another installment of the Perpetual Motion Roadshow.

The show's concept is the brainchild of Canadian novelist and zinester Jim Munroe. After having "Flyboy" published by HarperCollins, he decided to go back to his DIY roots, self-publishing his next book, "Everyone in Silico," through his No Media Kings press. The idea behind PMR is an indie-press tour featuring other DIY writers, performers and artists who travel to seven cities in a week where local artists join them at each venue. Tonight at Quimby's, the last stop on this month's tour, filmmaking duo Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby show shorts with titles such as "Rapt and Happy" and "Bad Ideas for Paradise" in between readings. "I try to read something different every night to keep things fresh," says transgendered writer Charlie-Girl Anders, tall and thin in a red dress, starting with an essay on the impotent effects of all-natural breast enhancement pills. Quickly, the co-publisher of the boundary-crossing "other magazine" moves through a short passage from her book "The Lazy Crossdresser," "a style manual and manifesto for slack trannies."

The final performer, Corey Frost, is a Montreal spoken-word artist now living in New York. "This is not in the book, so pay attention," says the bespectacled writer of the piece with the pending title of "Summer Poem, Winter Version," referring to "My Own Devices," a collection of stories whose main characters are all named Corey Frost. Silence. Then a slow deep beating from a sound machine remains constant throughout his piece about flying and eating a humongous plum.

(2003-04-22)

Also by Christine Badger

Let them eat Twain
Good books may be hard to come by, but good-tasting books are generally unheard of, unless you like the taste of paper. This is not the case at the 4th Annual Edible Book Show & Tea co-sponsored by Columbia's Center for Book and Paper Arts.
(2003-04-09)

No sleep 'til Claymation
Amid cluttered tables, set equipment and an old couch, two cameras: one film and one digital. In front of the cameras, two foot-high clay figures take the spotlight.
(2003-03-19)

Wood is no good
"You guys have to get comfortable being naked." Standing in the aisle of the New Lakeshore Theater, six men strip down to their socks.
(2003-03-12)

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