The Alarmist launches its final issue with live literature and comedy
Oddball literary magazine The Alarmist is hoping to sign off in style, as it celebrates its doomed existence with the launch of its fifth issue.
An extremely varied bill of entertainment at Brick Lane’s 93 Feet East will see critically-acclaimed comedians mix with wordsmiths and DJs. On the bill is:
Candy Gigi
Evelyn Mok
Jay Cowle
David Bryant
Wesley Cooke
Thomas McColl
Music from Kitty Mao b2b The Albionist
In its five issues of life, The Alarmist has published acclaimed writers and comics such as Ambit Poetry Competition winner Fran Lock and Dave’s Funniest Joke of the Fringe winner Rob Auton; a number of people who had never previously had anything published before, let alone won a prize for it; and quite a few in between.
Its material has veered from a gut-wrenching and poetic account of infanticide to a missive on the British enthusiasm for queuing; from a haiku cycle in praise of J.D. Wetherspoon to a tale of a lifeguard haunted by an MP3 player with a lasting fixation on classic soul.
Co-editor Mansour Chow says:
“It’s been a fun couple of years or so, but sadly, running an independent magazine is fraught with the challenge of being up against it from the start. We’ve had to bow out early due to injuries, and we know now that our eyes were exponentially bigger than our bellies. But we won’t be crying ourselves to sleep every night. In fact, we hope to leave with a smile on our faces.”
The other Co-editor Gary From Leeds says:
“We’re hoping for a big night; not like a wake at all. Mainly because we still need to convince people that our fifth issue is very much in existence, and they should buy it.
“We want people to cut the chains to their desks early, get some beers in and enjoy some quality performances. Somebody once said ‘Thursday is the new Friday’, but then again, various people have also said that literary magazines are enjoying a renaissance.”
Though this is the end of The Alarmist magazine, Mansour and Gary are not ruling out further incarnations in the future; possibly transcribing literary work onto their hirsute torsos in biro and publishing the results on a Tumblr page.
The Alarmist Issue 5 is available from alarmistmagazine.co.uk – where you can also find a complete list of real-life stockists.
WHERE?
93 Feet East, The Old Truman Brewery, 150 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
WHEN?
Thursday 14 May, doors 7pm
HOW MUCH?
£5, or £8 with a copy of the magazine (RRP £6)
Tickets on the door
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