So you want to read?
We love our readers! But before you can sign up to read, you need to come see the show at least once and read the rules carefully. Readers who don’t follow format won’t be invited back to read at future Salons, and that really IS a shame.
THE FIVE RULES OF SHAME
1. You must be the author of your reading
This is the core tenet of the Salon of Shame: you can only embarrass yourself. You cannot read a letter someone else sent you, or a poem written by an ex. Shame must be consensual.2. Readings should be five minutes long
Shame is best in small, hilarious, focused doses. Make sure your reading is short, sweet, and as embarrassing as possible.3. We like adolescent writing
Teen readings are the most entertaining, but childhood and college writing can work, too. The most popular selections are teenaged diaries and awful poetry, but other pieces include high school essays, unsent letters, awful middle school short stories, etc.4. Just read – do not perform
The Salon of Shame is a reading series — do not hijack our show with stand up comedy, spoken word, or slam poetry. Be expressive, but DO NOT turn your reading into a performance piece with prepared introduction or dramatic interpretation. Don’t interrupt your reading with supposedly witty asides … just read. Audiences have been known to loudly heckle people who break the “just read” rule.5. Do not read for more than five minutes.
We’re saying it again, because it’s really important: Don’t go longer than five minutes. Time your reading at home before the Salon. There’s this weird thin line between funny and self-indulgent; that line is called six minutes.
Ready to commit?
Please contact us to sign up! Confirmed readers always get in for FREE, and get to bring a guest too.
