The Encyclopedia Show is a live variety extravaganza that commissions local and touring artists and experts from all the performance disciplines to activate their individual talents to present a different verbal encyclopedia entry each month.
The Encyclopedia Show endeavors to build an age-integrated, non-competitive performance community cultivating accidental knowledge and irreverent loving kindness. Though the show is accredited by The Institute of Human Knowledge and Hygiene, it is our ongoing mission to chafe against logic and proof and find meaning in obfuscation.
Started in the minds of poets Robbie Q. Telfer and Shanny Jean Maney-Magnusson in Chicago, Illinois, The Encyclopedia Show has spread across the United States and the globe to share a passion for embodied and enjoyed learning.
Hosts Mike Graupmann and Ralphie Hardesty began The Encyclopedia Show Austin in February 2010 after both wandering souls agreed that Austin held the perfect fertile ground for just such a creative venture. Together, with friends living in and around Austin, they have dared to bridge the gaps between fiction, poetry, theatre and stand-up comedy.
The ND@501 Studios has been the brave venue that took a chance on an unknown show, and simultaneously, each institution has grown to greater heights. Venue owners Mike Henry and Krissi Reeves and their whole generous crew have been instrumental in making The Encyclopedia Show a proud staple on the second Thursday night of each month in Austin.
