Did your school have mandatory square dancing lesson? Mine did, which may be why I’ll never wear western plaid again.
Humorist and participatory journalist Henry Alford has not only written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Vanity Fair, and the Paris Review but also survived elementary school square dancing lessons. His most recent book, And Then We Danced, details his recent experiences to recover from enjoy dancing lessons. Listen in while he describes the process, including his now-signature move while doing contact improv.
Alford won a Thurber Prize for his book Big Kiss, which detailed his acting career. Other books include How To Live: A Search For Wisdom From Old People (While They Are Still On This Earth) and Would It Kill You To Stop Doing That?: A Modern Guide To Manners.
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Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas has appeared in many films, starring in Rookie of the Year and playing Kevin Myers in the American Pie franchise. He’s also a musician, producer, and writer.
Steven Wright is one of a handful of comics I’ve paid to see perform live, although that says more about how cheap I am than it does about comics.
Ohio State University alum Michael Kardos had a problem. How could he keep his son busy while he was writing? The solution: promise to write story chapters for his son if he played quietly for a time. In a classic case of unexpected benefits, Kardos discovered that writing for his son made him realize the importance of writing for a sense of wonder.
Christine Hayes is a Columbus native and columnist for the Short North Gazette. You might know her as Ramona Moon, the art car lady. Aside from gluing toys to her car, Hayes has edited a book of her father’s old newspaper columns and cowritten two books about Ohio’s lost restaurants. On this episode of Craft, Christine talks with Adam Hribar about some of the missing eateries of her childhood and what’s changed since she ate out as a kid.