Paper Cone Stories

The PC6 gang.

Sean Ferrell reading from Numb at PC6

Evan Mandry reciting the lyrics to Rocket Man at PC6

Jeffrey Somers reading at PC6

Read Sean Ferrell’s hilarious piece about the new Scrabble rules on Electric Literature’s Outlet Blog.  Then come hear him read from his new novel this Wednesday at Paper Cone!

maxine lopez-keough

kayla “classy” morse

If you missed out on Paper Cone 5: America’s Funniest Home Paper Cones, you were wrong.  So I’ll make it up to you and tell you what happened!  You missed stories about childhood lemonade stands! gay porn! vomit! trips abroad! Weezer! You missed me and Kayla in all our glory, accidentally hitting audience members with the mic stand (me) and spilling mimosa on our shirts (also me)!  You missed laughter and tears, but only tears from too much laughter!  You missed some magic.

I want to thank all our readers for being beyond brilliant and funny and talented.  And thanks to all our audience members for coming!!

Check the photos section later for when I post the 2 pictures I may or may not have taken.  (Seriously, if you want to take photos of Paper Cone events, you can have all the free mimosas you want.)

And come back next month!  Because on July 28th, Sean Ferrell is reading from his new novel, Numb!!! And he’s coming equipped with his buds, Jeff Somers and Evan Mandery!!! And I’m inevitably gonna do something/say something stupid!!!

Until next time,

E

Josh Duboff reads at Paper Cone 4 (Pen 15: A Night of Pranks)!

“In other words, someone lost a bet/ Salman Rushdie dropped out and Paper Cone Stories invited me to participate in their latest reading this Wednesday. If you’re in NYC you should go. I will probably be drunk again, I will most certainly call everyone the wrong name and if I make the mistake of wearing any kind of shoes, I’ll probably trip in them. On stage. Dress over the head, papers flying, take a bow and tip your waitress. “

come wednesday night to see maxine. it won’t be on youtube. if you miss it, you miss out.

e

aaaand it’s here. can’t wait to see you all.

First year, i talked about this video A LOT.  i mean, it’s my all-time favorite ‘episode’ of my all-time favorite show, so duh.  I would say, “DEFIED THE LAWS OF GRAVITY WITH HIS FEAR.”  

I couldn’t find it on youtube then, was sure it was buried in the vault of the 90s and no one would ever see it.  BUT THEN.  So i’m at michelle’s in atlanta after a long first-trip to new orleans.  we are sitting on her couch after getting super-high from this weed she dug out of a so-michelle little metal tin with flowers etched onto the top or something.  we have a TUB of hummus and a BAG of pretzels.  and TV, which is like, the best when you go to college and never have TV.  it’s vacationx2.  LIFE was GOOD.  thought maybe it couldn’t get any better.  BUT THEN.  the grimy shot panning over carpeted stairs and football gear in Hometown, Indiana.   the whisper: texas chainsaw cheerleader massacre.  the, ‘holy shit, they DID NOT’ as you realize what’s happening.  i was like, YOU GUYS.  and they were like, NO WAY.  and i was like, NO REALLY.  THIS IS IT.  i laughed so hard that i actually couldn’t breathe out for a solid 15 seconds after the clip ended, coated the inside of my lungs with pretzel salt dust, thought i was drowning in that oh-my-god-i’m-so-high-and-god-loves-me way, wiped tears of joy from my little red eyes through all the ensuing skiiing-off-the-roof vids.  tv nirvana. 

k

When I go out to brooklyn bars on a Friday night, I may as well be putting on a power suit, because I am there to WORK.  Bathroom sink’n’mirror combos are my rolodexes—which is why when I looked up from washing my hands a little while back and caught this excellent individual in the reflection, I cornered her until she agreed to read at the next Paper Cones even though she had no clue who I was.  Stopping someone right outside the bathroom stall when they have to pee BAD is a really effective way to get them to say yes to something quick, by the way.  

I knew I had her for real when she said, “You’re asking ME to read, Laura?”  

And I nodded, because sometimes business is about compromise, and first names aren’t exempt from that.

k

josh duboff reading at PC4 on wednesday. i think this was the part where he was comparing himself to gordo from lizzie mcguire. at least, that’s what part i hope this is.

photo thanks to @pizzastroika

HA.  GOTCHA!  Not really, guys.  The best night of my life was when I was in 8th grade and I was staying at a hotel in NYC with my mom and as we were leaving the lobby for dinner the guy in front of me held open the door and smiled and it was PAUL REISER.  But Paper Cone 4 holds a pretty close second.

I’m just kind of shocked at how awesome all of our readers were.  Some of them I had never even heard read before (and some were first-timers), I just crossed my fingers and it worked.  Everyone really killed.  When you can make a room of 20-something sweaty hipsters laugh, you know you’re talented.  It’s a tough crowd, guys.  I should know.  My jokes always bomb big time and I’m hilarious (call my grandma for verification).

Unfortunately, because I was having such a fantastic time, I have absolutely no photographic evidence of the night.  (If anyone else does, please let me know!)  And on that note, Kayla and I were thinking of asking for a volunteer photographer for our events.  You would drink free.  Let me know if you are interested.

you should probably show up to this on wednesday. you know, if you want people to like you.

RSVP

HEY GUYS!
GUESS WHAT?

YOU’VE BEEN JO-BRO’D!!!!!!!!

JK.  THAT’S WHAT IT’S CALLED WHEN THE JONAS BROTHERS PRANK YOU.  I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S CALLED YET WHEN ME & KAYLA PRANK YOU.  WE’RE STILL WORKING ON IT.  BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, BECAUSE THIS ISN’T A PRANK, THIS IS REAL LIFE.  AND IT’S HAPPENING NEXT WEEK.

COME LISTEN TO SOME AWESOME PEOPLE TELL STORIES ABOUT PRANKING AND THINGS UNRELATED TO PRANKING!!

MAY 26TH:

CHRIS FLEMING

MEAGHAN O’CONNELL

JOSH DUBOFF

JULI WEINER

STEVEN KOCHEVAR

DEAR FRIENDS,

HAVE YOU PLAYED A GREAT PRANK ON SOMEONE? HAVE YOU HAD A HILARIOUS PRANK PLAYED ON YOU? DO YOU WANT TO SHARE YOUR STORY TO A ROOM FULL OF DRUNK STRANGERS?! THEN PLEASE “CONTACT” US VIA THE HOMEPAGE (THAT LIL LINK ON THE BOTTOM LEFT OF YOUR SCREEN.)  WE’RE LOOKING FOR READERS/STORY-TELLERS FOR PAPER CONE #4: AN EVENING OF PRANKSTERS.

XOXO

EMMA

www.paperconestories.com

We were reviewed in This Recording by Durga Chew-Bose.  And, go figure, it’s awesome.