Mark down April 9, 2016 as yet wonderful night with friends, family and pleasant strangers at As Was Written, the event my buddy John-Mark and I founded back in 2008.

David Jonas read a letter to his son – who’ll be born any day now – introducing himself and his mother in a touching, hilarious fashion.

Natalie McGill took the stage and poked fun at the metro, roommates who need phonetic lessons and nightmare-inducing 3D pictures, sometimes known as sonograms. She’s hilarious, you should check her out.

Ben Sollee dropped in from Louisville, Kentucky with his cello and pipes to show us how good music sounds. After his performance, he sold just about every CD he brought with him. You should get it, too. He’s crazy talented.

Joseph LMS Green brought his booming voice and piercing words to the stage to celebrate the five year anniversary of one of his strongest poems, Break. Then he shared two newer pieces confronting two powerful social issues, the Black Lives Matter movement and teaching consent to kids, specifically young men. He’s been doing workshops for youth, and starting creative writing programs at schools all around the area. Look him up.

Remy took to the stage to sing about metro troubles, arranged marriages, and upper middle class social movements on campuses. He’s hilarious, and crazy talented. You may already know him, as his YouTube videos have been seen by over 100 million people. Check him out.

I read a story for the first time in two years. It was a piece I put together exploring the darker side of technology and our dependence on it. It was largely inspired by the BBC show Black Mirror, and Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, The Euphio Question. Look those up, they’re great.

People tend to call our event a poetry show. It’s not a poetry show. We generally feature at least one poet or spoken word artist on our stage, and they’re some of the best in the world, ones who’ve performed on Def Poetry, at the Kennedy Center and the White House. But our show expands beyond poetry.

As Was Written is a celebration and showcase of quality writers. Every show we assemble a lineup of writers who perform music, short stories, stand-up comedy and poetry. We handpick the best we can find, and our audiences have continued to enjoy it, year after year. We’ve sold out nearly every show. It’s always a great feeling putting on these shows.

I’m lingering in the post-show joy, taking my sweet time to enjoy every bit of it. Can’t wait for the next one.

Big shout out to the night’s photographer, Matt Leedham, for the wonderful shots.