This weekend, Iowa City will be taken over by Witching Hour. Witching Hour is a festival presented by The Englert and Little Village. The festival, which occurs from Friday Nov 1st- Saturday Nov 2nd, will be held at a variety of locations including The Mill, The Englert Theatre, PS1, The Merge, and many more. The performances range from live readings, artist talks, workshops, stand-up comedy, and live music. Here at KRUI, we are excited to attend and review many of the different shows displayed at Witching Hour. Here’s some of what are writers are most excited for.
Counterfeit Madison
Nov 2nd 7:00pm @ The Englert
I first saw Counterfeit Madison perform at The Mill as part of last year’s Mission Creek Festival and lead singer Sharon Udoh’s presence was magnetizing. She was extremely joyful and exciting to watch, with almost supernatural skills on the keyboard. I’m very much looking forward to seeing Udoh play again. In combination with her own original work, this performance is intended to blend in the unparalleled music of Nina Simone in an exploration of personal and social change. Having listened to Simone for years, I’m excited to see how Udoh puts her own spin on the famous singer’s work. -Lauren Arzbaecher
Comedy Showcase
Nov 1st 9:30pm @ The Mill
Six distinct comics with unique voices will perform at The Mill, which is known for its status as both a restaurant and a performance venue. Im looking forward to laughing with, not at, different comedians in the post-Halloween haze. – Sarah Bridgeport
Fools Mag Exhibit & Reading
Nov. 2nd 11:45am @ Englert Theatre
It’s going to be a visual and literary art exhibit inspired by other works at Witching Hour and the other festival themes. I’m excited to go look at others’ interpretations and thoughts about Witching Hour! – Maddy Dawczak
The Shredders
Nov 2nd 10:30pm @ Gabe’s
They are a four-man rap outfit consisting of P.O.S, Sims, Lazerbeak, and Paper Tiger. I’m excited to hear how their respective sounds/energies will complement each other; I’ve heard a few songs from each individual artist, but not from the overall group itself and I’m very intrigued. -Jack Biscupski
Dimensions: Yoga, Sound, and Visual
Nov 2nd 10:00am @ The Englert Theatre
Described as a multimedia project from the minds of the two native Iowan songwriters and musicians, Dimensions will fuse yoga, sound, and visuals for a sensory experience. “Ambient music” and “psychedelic projected visual meditations” provided by Naoti and Stier will accompany local yoga instructors, completing the “unique yoga experience.” I think the fact that this project has a certain amount of mystery attached to it is what makes it truly exciting. At this point, I feel like I will be walking in not knowing what to expect from the experience at all, which, in my opinion, are always the best experiences. Who knows, maybe this will be my new yoga routine—music and all. -Elisabeth Oster
Marcelo Mena
Nov 1st 6:00pm @ The Englert
Marcelo Mena is the World Bank’s climate advisor to the CEO. He will be giving a presentation on climate change entitled, “From Impossible to Inevitable: How Climate Action is Mainstreamed Globally” that will deal with how to understand and address climate change. I’m really excited to go to his presentation because I think climate change is currently a very important issue and it will be very interesting to learn about it from the perspective of an expert. He is also an Iowa alumni and I think that’d it be really cool to hear how his experiences at Iowa helped him get to where he is now. – Grace Waccholz
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Witching Hour is an annual festival put on by The Englert Theater and Little Village. For more information, including a full schedule, go to www.witchinghourfestival.com. And be sure to keep checking KRUI for our thoughts and reviews on the festival.
