By Shelbie Janocha
Reading Under the Influence – or RUI for those who have no time to spare – is a Chicago literary staple, which is only to be expected after spending a decade perfecting their brand. Part of RUI’s appeal is their steady presence in Chicago’s lit community. For just three dollars on the first Wednesday of every month, excluding January, you can enjoy both established and upcoming authors reading their original work and the work of those who have inspired them – with tricky trivia sprinkled in-between.
Behnam Riahi has expertly held RUI’s torch for the last three years. He took the time to share RUI’s commitment to their community and the love shown by their passionate audience.
SHELBIE JANOCHA: How long has RUI been running? How has the series grown?
BENHAM RIAHI: Ten years! And growing isn’t exactly the word I would use to describe our direction. After all, we’re always going to be in the same bar, on the same day of the month, with the same crazy cast of kids putting on a new crazy show. Over the years though, we’ve built a great, rotating group of dedicated followers, and we’re very thankful for them. Our efforts for the future are to simply spread the word, get more writers involved, and ideally, help keep the community grow together. We could update our technology a little more though.
SJ: What separates your reading from others in Chicago?
BR: I want to say that our reading series is made strongest because of the dynasty that’s carried it forward, but that’s not just it. While we’ve had a lot of time to establish the series in Chicago, our greatest component is our audience participation. Our authors are coached to engage the crowd. The authors engage the crowd, there’s trivia, and trivia prizes include books and drinks. That makes it feel like something more than a reading series – it feels like a party, like a social club, like… well, home.
SJ: What is your favorite part of the show?
BR: The drinking? No, I probably shouldn’t say that. But really, it’s the atmosphere. The bartenders, Matt or TJ, know us so well, they participate themselves. Drink prices are cut for the show, but everyone in our crowd comes in knowing the signature drink they’ll have, what they’ll spend their drink ticket on should they kill it at the trivia. And the trivia, itself, creates its own fun, watching people rush to answer first or as the crowd works its brain gears in order to find the winning solution to a stumper. It’s the kind of show where someone could be in the middle of reading their story, like if they’re telling a narrative about messing up an important date or interview, and an audience member may drunkenly shout, “Been there!” and literally, no one is going to mind. Hell, we encourage it.
SJ: What drink goes best with RUI?
BR: RUI is strong and sweet and familiar, like a shot of Jameson.
SJ: How do you become a reader?
BR: After you see the show, we encourage people to submit (print is preferable to digital work) a piece to one of the show’s curators. In some cases, if you already have a book or a reputation or you’re just at the show regularly, we’ll just invite you to read yourself. In fact, the easiest way to read is just to make it month after month and give me a nudge.
SJ: What’s your elevator pitch for Reading Under the Influence?
BR: “Yeah, I have this live-lit series. We invite hopeful and established authors to come in, read from their work, and get hammered. What are you doing next Wednesday?”
RUI’s next show is Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at Sheffield’s (3258 N. Sheffield, Chicago, IL) at 7:00pm.