Preparing illegal deer meat, talking about Frida Kahlo with professor Maria Cotera, eating foods that shouldn’t be eaten together, and sharing cringe-worthy stories on this week’s Saturday Six Pack

13200_10153109810569123_7577791042425413112_n

If nothing else, this coming Saturday’s program promises to be eclectic. Remember the illegally-butchered deer we discussed during the last show? Well, its owner (Ben Connor Barrie) and I will be cooking it in the studio this weekend and handing out samples to passers by. And, as if that weren’t enough, we’ll also be joined by acclaimed University of Michigan professor Maria Cotera, with whom we’ll be discussing, among other things, the new Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Detroit exhibition at the DIA, and her work at Southwest Detroit’s El Museo del Norte. So, if you’re a fan or either women’s studies or wild game, this is the show for you.

And, once all of the deer meat has been consumed, and Professor Cotera has left the studio, we’ll be having that eating challenge that we talked about in episode seven, during which two grown men will face off over a plate of unappetizing food combinations. (Think kibbeh and peanut butter, or anchovies and butterscotch ice cream.) And, at some point during the night, Patrick Elkins and Jessica French will be dropping by to tell us about their upcoming event, CRINGE: a night of truly embarrassing stories. I could go on, but you get the point. Lots of interesting stuff will be happening.

If you’d like to tell your friends about the show, feel free to share the Facebook event listing. As of right now, it looks as though only a handful of people are planning to listen, but I imagine that our milliwatts will start becoming scarce once people find out that we’ll be cooking deer meat live in the studio. [Unless you live really close by, I’d recommend streaming the show online, which you can do either on the AM1700 website or by way of TuneIn.com.]

And for those of you who aren’t yet familiar with the show, and need to get caught up, you can listen to the entire archive on iTunes.

One last thing. We love phone calls. So please burn this number into your well-toned torso with a cigarette… 734.217.8624… and call us between 6:00 and 8:00 this Saturday evening. [Don’t make us call you.]

Oh, and if you don’t live close enough to the studio to pick us up on the radio, and you don’t have access to a computer, I’m told that, again this week, the folks at 826michigan will be hosting a listening party at their downtown Ann Arbor Robot Supply Store. So, if you can’t hear it any other way, or you’re just curious as to what Annarbourites look like when they listen to the radio together, head over to Liberty Street and pound on the door until they let you in.

Also, for those of you drinking along at home, this week’s beer is Bell’s Oberon.

[note: If you do go into the Robot Supply Store, don’t rub the breasts of their robots, like I’m doing in the image above. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it could be disastrous.]

Posted in The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

ZipCap: empowering America’s most loved local businesses by transforming customer loyalty into working capital

In spite of the billboards around town by local banks claiming to support homegrown businesses, the truth is, when our small “mom and pop” stores need capital, it’s almost impossible to come by. When a local restaurant, for instance, needs capital to grow, or to make it through lean times, there are few options, in spite of all the rhetoric to the contrary. Thankfully, there are a number of small business proponents out there in the world who are looking to remedy this, trying to find ways to get working capital into these small, local entities so that they can thrive and grow… and break free from the predatory lenders who have made it their business to prey on small business owners. And one of these folks, Evan Malter, the founder of ZipCap, has been spending quite a bit of time in Michigan lately, working with our friend Bee Roll, the owner of Ypsilanit’s much beloved Beezy’s Cafe, to secure more favorable lending terms. Here’s Evan on how they accomplished it by demonstrating to lenders that Beezy’s had a loyal customer base, and how, going forward, the idea of Loyalty Capital™ could help save America’s independent businesses. [below: Evan presents Bee with a hand-drawn check at the completion of the Beezy’s membership drive]

evanbeecheck

[note: This is the continuation of a conversation that began a few weeks ago on AM 1700’s Saturday Six Pack, where Evan and Bee discussed how they’d come to find one another, among other things.]

Screen Shot 2015-03-25 at 1.43.02 PMMARK: Here, to start with, is what I think I know about ZipCap… And feel free to jump in and correct me if any of this isn’t correct, Evan… ZipCap exists in order to put working capital into the hands of small retail businesses that would struggle to stay afloat, let alone grow, without it. ZipCap does this by demonstrating to investors that risk is decreased if said business has a loyal client base dedicated to spending a certain amount with them annually. I that pretty close?

EVAN: It’s a good start. In the simplest terms – we are connecting local businesses to affordable capital. However, it’s important to note the bigger picture. We empower more than just the businesses. We intend to empower entire communities to rally for the businesses they want to have in their neighborhoods. In that same spirit, we feel strongly that, by engaging the community in the ZipCap process, we are strengthening the business with more than just financial capital.

To avoid confusion, I’d love to explain the model a little more specifically. Through ZipCap, customers who already intend to spend at a certain business can pledge that support without any pre-payment or investment… they are simply saying, “I will come back.” ZipCap then turns those pledges into something we call Loyalty Capital™, which serves as a sort of line of credit for the business. And this money is available once a business is able to rally 100 loyal customers.

Beezys 02
MARK: Is it safe to say that a lot, if not most, small, independent businesses in America fail because they lack access to the funds necessary to keep them afloat during lean times, or cover unexpected expenses?

EVAN: It is definitely safe to say that most independent businesses lack access to such funds. Since 2008, banks have basically abandoned these smaller businesses. Access to just $10,000 to $20,000 can be the difference between failing and thriving.

MARK: You’ve been spending quite a bit of time recently in Ypsilanti, as Beezy’s is one of your first real-world tests of the ZipCap concept. And, as I understand it, of all of the tests that you currently have running, Beezy’s was the first to reach the goal of having 100 of their regular customers pledge support (promising to spend at least $475 over the next year at the restaurant).

EVAN: Yep. I‘ve been here quite a bit, and, I won’t lie, I’m happy the weather is warming up. I’ve loved getting to know the community and this place called Ypsi. On your radio show the other night, I said “When I met Bee, I knew I wanted her to be my first.” That obviously didn’t come out just right, but I guess that’s the nature of live radio. Possible misinterpretations aside, I did mean what I said, and now, in retrospect, I’d add that I am glad that Ypsi was the community where it happened. When I started the journey to create ZipCap, it was entrepreneurs like Bee and communities like yours that I had in mind. We want to empower the people who are passionate about what they’re doing and the communities that are embracing their unique character and identity. Bee and Ypsilanti will forever have a special place in my heart.

Bee and her members were indeed the first to reach the 100-member goal, but, to be fair to the other pilots, not all were running the program in the same way as Bee… and frankly… Bee is a superstar.

MARK: So, once Beezy’s reached 100 members you were then able to go to lenders to negotiate the line of credit?

EVAN: Actually, that’s not quite how it works. The terms of the loan are known and guaranteed in advance of the member drive. Once a business owner rallies 100 members, the money is immediately made available to them. ZipCap is not shopping these loans around after the fact. We find the lenders in advance. Those lenders have trust in this new form of underwriting and are prepared to deploy capital when that criteria is met. [below: The hastily scrawled check presented to Bee]

BeezysCheck

MARK: By way of context, it’s probably worth noting that, prior to entering this deal with ZipCap, Bee’s only option, having been turned away by local banks, was to borrow money from a predatory lender when she needed money to get Beezy’s through unforeseen events… predatory lenders who were lending her money at an annual rate in excess of 80%. By comparison, what interest rates can businesses working through ZipCap expect?

EVAN: Our rates currently range from 0.99% to 18.99%, and Beezy’s is borrowing at a rate in the low single digits. Bee will pay less in interest over the course of a year than she was paying every couple weeks with her last loan.

MARK: What influences the rate on your end?

EVAN: ZipCap is all about putting the business owner back in control. If they can please their customers then they should have access to capital. We go a step further by rewarding their efforts with better rates and more access. The more Loyalty Capital™ that they can rally, the lower their rate and the higher their line of credit.

beequotezipcap

MARK: When you dropped by the radio show with Bee, you mentioned that you’d had some broadcasting experience, but I had no idea just how extensive that experience was until I looked you up on LinkedIn today and discovered that you were “the radio voice of the Hickory Crawdads, the Winston-Salem Warthogs, and the Greensboro Bats.” If I’d known, I would have asked you for some of your catch phrases… You did have catchphrases, right?

EVAN: You’re really putting me on the spot with this one. It’s been many years… I had some favorite things that I’d say, but was never really one for scripted lines. Some home runs require a “that one is long gone” and some are a simple “touch ‘em all” – it depends on the moment. The only thing that I repeated on each broadcast was the opening and closing line. I started with “Another Day, Another Ball Game” and closed with “There will always be another ballgame.” It’s kind of a “baseball is life” metaphor, but I may have been trying too hard with that.

MARK: Do you miss working in baseball?

EVAN: I definitely do. Who wouldn’t want to work at the ballpark every day? I am a person with no regrets, and I believe that our lives take the course they do for a reason. I had my fun in baseball, and now I’m pursuing another passion, and hopefully making a positive impact on the world. With that said, in the unlikely event that a Major League Club called and offered me a play-by-play job – I would have a decision to make.

MARK: When did the idea for ZipCap first come to you?

EVAN: The short answer is that the idea of ZipCap, and the passion and experience to make it happen, was decades in the making, but officially ZipCap was born a little over 2 years ago. We filed the patent for the business method (using customer loyalty as due diligence and “collateral” for a loan) in February of 2013 and incorporated the company soon after that.

MARK: OK, so what’s the long answer? What was the path that got you to that point two years ago when you started ZipCap?

EVAN: I’ve been a devout localist my entire life and believe passionately in local small businesses for all the obvious reasons. You’ve probably heard the stats about small businesses creating more than half of the jobs and being the primary driver for our economy. As an economist, I can’t ignore those things. To be honest, though, for me it’s about preserving the unique character of our communities and making it possible for people to pursue their passions, and, in doing so, sharing their passions with the rest of us. It’s about personal face-to-face relationships. It’s about being in Ypsi and knowing you’re in Ypsi and not Ann Arbor, or Detroit, or San Diego.

MARK: I wasn’t aware that you had an economics degree.

EVAN: Yeah, as you can see on my LinkedIn profile, my career has taken a few turns, but I truly believe that each one was leading towards ZipCap. I got an economics degree, but chose to avoid the traditional “Wall Street” route. (That was how I ended up in sports radio.) I did eventually work in finance, and I also founded a company that worked with Mom and Pops. Those experience all have an obvious link to ZipCap, but the six years that I spent living in Australia with my family made a huge impact as well. I was able to see America from the outside and live in a place where you get meat from the butcher, fruit from the fruit guy and flowers from the florist. In 2012, we were settling back into our life in America and my wife came home with groceries from a big box store. That was the day that ZipCap started taking shape. I was horrified to think about a world without the relationships, passion and character of local businesses. I knew there needed to be more ways to support passionate entrepreneurs and give the world more ways to rally for them.

As I dug into the issue, it became obvious very quickly that others felt the same way and it was exciting to explore all of the creative ways people were approaching the issue. It became clear that shifting money from Wall Street to Main Street would be central in any proper solution. I set out to learn as much as I could and played with ways for community members to invest in their favorite businesses. That was short lived, however, as I grew uncomfortable with the idea of shareholders for local businesses. I didn’t feel it was good for anyone in the ecosystem.

I realized that there was no shortage of capital in the world if we could prove decreased risk to an investor. The consumer in the community did not need to be that investor… they just needed to do what they were already good at doing… consuming. If we could foster and monetize their “intent to spend,” we could reward everyone in the ecosystem. With that revelation, ZipCap was truly born.

MARK: I’d like to follow up on something that you just said. “ I grew uncomfortable with the idea of shareholders for local businesses.” I’m curious as to why. I’ve always thought that local stock exchanges had promise.

EVAN: I want to be careful with this answer, because like you, I would love for people to invest locally and that is absolutely one of the end goals of ZipCap. I know, for instance, that we could create a sort of micro-bond that is debt-based and allows locals to comfortably invest in their community without requiring as much risk or research.

This answer could be another long one, but bear with me. At Columbia, I wrote a paper in which I suggested that Jack Welch had ruined America. It may sound extreme, but the idea was that shareholder value had become too important and that customer value was an after-thought. It’s why I love local businesses. For them, the customer and the community are the top priority. What would happen if the owner of the local pizza shop had to start thinking about shareholders and meeting quarterly numbers and dividends? Maybe he would source cheaper cheese and toppings. Maybe he would just use less cheese on those cheesy pizzas you love. Maybe he would fire a member of the wait staff, and make do with just two, even though he really needed three to properly serve his customers.

Even if they were able to avoid that fate, most small business owners still don’t want shareholders. They have started these businesses because they have a passion for the business and they have specific ideas concerning how things should be run. They want to make enough money to support the business, pay employees, and take a little home to support a family. These are lifestyle businesses. These are not businesses that should need to support the demand of shareholders.

The reverse side is also important to consider. Grandma should not be investing in a pizza shop because she likes the pizza. Throughout my career I have done a great deal of business valuation, and I can tell you that the proper due diligence required to make an investment in a local business is too much for most “local investors.” And, the truth is, If they did the research and saw the numbers – they’d likely flee back to Wall Street any way.

I think the possibilities and future of crowdfunding and local investing are enormous. I’m fearful, however, that if, as an industry, we’re irresponsible, we’ll do more harm than good, and lose this incredible opportunity to change the way that people invest.

Some amazing people around the country have worked to strengthen the shop local movement over the last decade. Local economies are getting stronger and more sustainable. We hope that we can further that movement and use it to create a responsible way to shift money from Wall Street to Main Street.

MARK: And how did you go about finding your investors, the people who are actually making these loans through ZipCap?

Evan1bEVAN: I’m glad that you asked that question, because it is likely unclear and also speaks to the bigger picture. At launch, as we prove this concept, we have a core group of investors who like what we are doing and believe in this underwriting criteria to make small business loans. This works well in the short term, but we’re excited to have begun talks with other stakeholders like foundations, philanthropists and actual municipalities, looking for new ways to inject capital into their communities in a responsible and affordable way. If we can achieve our goal of creating a micro-bond, we would then feel comfortable opening up investment to any and all stakeholders, including individual members of the community. We hope that someday people could take $500 from their savings account and move it into an Ypsilanti fund that would lend to small businesses in town and earn a small interest rate of return.

MARK: So, here’s a hypothetical. Let’s say there’s a university with a vested interest in their local community, like Eastern Michigan University, or the University of Michigan. It’s possible that they could, in the future, invest some of their endowment dollars into a fund that would make loans to businesses in their communities…

EVAN: Absolutely. We believe we are creating a new asset class of sorts. They could have some funds in large cap, some in small cap and some in ZipCap. If we do this right, investing in local businesses could be part of any investment portfolio. The fact that it will make their community, and the world a better place, would be a bonus.

MARK: So, how is ZipCap capitalized? And do you have enough money to grow, now that the concept has been somewhat proven? I mean, it will probably take a significant team of people, and some real capital, to do things like establish micro-bonds at the community level.

EVAN: Indeed. Part of our mantra at ZipCap is that “Access to capital is opportunity for impact.” We considered starting ZipCap as a non-profit, but decided that, if we could create a model that made money and attracted real investment, we could create something that could scale and truly change the world. At this point, we’re considered seed-stage and, along with some of my own money, we have an on-going raise from angel investors. We have a core team of amazing people in San Diego and Michigan who have been working on things, and that team is growing. We have some milestones that we hope to hit by the end of this year, at which point we intend to go out for a more significant raise. We are confident that we are on course to achieve our goals and grow the company and our impact.

MARK: So, what’s next for you? Where will you be focusing your energy now that the Beezy’s beta test has proven successful? Where, to use your metaphor, is tomorrow’s ballgame?

EVAN: We are really excited to make Michigan our proving ground for ZipCap. We’ve already begun conversations with organizations throughout the state interested in facilitating our relationship with local businesses. In the few days since I presented Bee with her check, I have gotten calls and emails from business owners in Ann Arbor and Ypsi who had heard what was happening at Beezy’s and wanted to learn more. I’ve spoken to a few and some things are in the works, but more will be revealed in the coming weeks. Think Local First has invited me to present to member businesses in April, and that will likely lead to a few more things here in the County. We’re still limiting the businesses that we take on, but soon we hope to be in a position to open the platform up to any business that is interested. It’s very exciting to be at this point, on the cusp of the next big steps for ZipCap.

EvanBee2

[note: Photos of Evan and Bee in the AM 1700 studio are courtesy of Kate de Fuccio. All other photos, except for the cell phone shot at the top, which I took, were taken by Chris Stranad.]

Posted in Local Business, Locally Owned Business, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Who should I back in this year’s Wurst Challenge?

I’ve got $20 set aside to support this year’s Wurst Challenge, but I’m torn as to which competitor I should back… Should I put my money behind defending champion Jason “Knifebeard SausageHawk” Youngs, reclusive roboticist Cre Fuller, local midwife turned professional sausage eater Kate Stroud, or one of the many others who are presently locked in heated battle for a shot at facing down one of the ten 20-foot-long bratwursts being prepared by the staff of Ypsilanti’s historic Wurst Bar? As I’m friends with several of these people, and don’t want to offend any of them, I’ve decided to leave it up to you as to who deserves my $20… my 20 votes as to who proceeds to the final round. Please look over their bios and let me know who you think is most deserving of my support by participating in the following poll.

Screen shot 2015-03-24 at 6.13.51 PM

Who should I back with my $20?

 
pollcode.com free polls

Screen shot 2015-03-24 at 6.13.51 PM

[The second annual Wurst Challenge, a fundraiser for the FLY Children’s Art Center, will be held Sunday, March 29th at Ypsilanti’s Wurst Bar. Doors open at 5:00. Frantic sausage eating commences at 6:00. For details, click here.]

Posted in Special Projects, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Pointless Brewery & Theatre to explore the intersection of brewing and improv

If all goes according to plan, Tori and Jason Tomalia will soon be the proprietors of new brewery situated between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti that will cater primarily to lovers of improvisational comedy. The brewery, which they’ve dubbed Pointless, will be just a few doors down from our friends at Hut-K Chaats, at the intersection of Packard and Platt, in what had been the Makkara Sushi and Noodle Company… Following is my conversation with Tori.

pointless_black_bg2

MARK: You and your husband have just gone public with your intention to open a brewery on the east side of Ann Arbor that would also serve as a venue for improv comedy. As of right now, how far along are you in the process?

TORI: Yes, we have leased a space at 3014 Packard Road in Ann Arbor. We are currently working with an architect and have started some of the small, cosmetic changes ourselves. As soon as all the architectural plans are done, we can get a permit to do the bigger work in the area that will be the brewery. We are aiming to open sometime this summer. [below: The future home of Pointless Brewing]

Screen Shot 2015-03-23 at 11.13.39 AM

MARK: To be honest, since you first reached out to me, I’ve been struggling with how to approach this interview. I know how offensive it must be, as someone with cancer, to be defined by it, and I don’t want to add to that. At the same time, though, your cancer is so central to the Pointless story, that it’s kind of impossible to avoid.

TORI: Not offensive at all! I am very open about my cancer, in part because I think people get nervous and don’t know what to say, and I would prefer they just come right out and ask. And yes, cancer is a big part of why we started this business NOW (instead of “one day when the time is right”, which had been our plan). Like it or not, cancer is also a big part of my life now. The goal is that we will be able to treat it as a chronic illness, rather than a terminal illness, which technically metastatic cancer is. So far, my daily meds have been able to control it super well (knock on wood!) but I do experience side effects. I’ve been able to adjust my lifestyle to fit my physical needs, though… So if you have questions, ask away!

MARK: My friend Katrease wrote a story about you for the Ann Arbor News in December, 2013. In that story it was noted that, as someone with stage four lung cancer, you’d been given approximately eight months to live. Here we are some 15 months later, though, and not only are you still with us, but you’re planning to open a brewery. How do you explain it?

TORI: A blend of luck, perseverance, and scientific advances (and thank you Katrease for the lovely article!). I don’t want to geek out too much on you, but there are some exciting developments happening in our understanding of cancer, and I pushed my doctor to test for a driver mutation (the thing that went wrong and caused the cancer), and well, I guessed right and we found the mutation. So now I’m able to take a pill that targets that specific mutation. Pretty amazing stuff. I feel like I’ve been given this gift of more time – how much more, we don’t know, because one day my magic pill will stop working – but in the mean time, I want to get as much out of life as I can! I dreamed big that we could control my cancer, now I’m dreaming big that we can open this awesome business.

MARK: Starting a brewery, even under the best of circumstances, is a stressful undertaking. Among other things, it generally means putting in long hours, going into debt, and fighting with people at every level of city and state government. Given this, and the fact that you and your husband have three small children at home, I’m wondering how difficult of a decision it was push ahead with this.

TORI: It’s strange, it wasn’t really a difficult decision at all. Yes, it will be hard. But everything worthwhile I’ve ever done in my life was hard. Learning how to be a mom was hard. Having premie twins in the NICU was hard. Surviving childhood cancer was hard (did I mention I also had childhood cancer?). So yes, we know this will be a challenge, but Jason and I love having a project that we are working on together, and, well, life is short. May as well be bold and do something worthwhile.

ToriTomaliaMARK: Was your childhood cancer in any way related to the cancer you have now?

TORI: As far as they can tell, no. I went through genetic testing, consulted with my childhood oncologist, and it seems like it is just some bizarre coincidence. Of course, there is still so much that is unknown about cancer, we really don’t know.

MARK: One more cancer-related question… I read in Katrease’s article that, as someone who has lung cancer, you have to contend with people judging you, as there’s a perception out there that lung cancer is “a smokers disease,” and therefore one that people bring on themselves. And I’m wondering if, along these same lines, you’re experiencing any judgment from others for you choice to spend your time and energy on the launching of a business. And, if so, I’m curious as to how you deal with it.

TORI: Well, if people are thinking that they are keeping it to themselves, because all of the reaction we have gotten is just the opposite. I mean, I’m not on my death bed. I am doing really well health-wise (there is no active cancer as far as they can tell). I think there is a funny in-between place that people with cancer live. We hear the cliche saying, “live every day like it was your last,” but if you think about it, that is kind of terrible advice. If this were literally your last day on the planet, would you go to work? Would you pay your bills? Heck no. So, even with a super scary diagnosis like I have, there is still a need to balance some forward-thinking in the mix. That said, I did go through a big shift. Prior to getting sick, I was pursuing my MFA with the goal of becoming a professor, but once I found out that I would be dealing with cancer for the rest of my life, such a long path did not make much sense anymore. Compared to that, this business has a much shorter timeline to develop, and the project does not rely entirely on one person, like my pursuit of a tenure-track position did. If/when my health starts to falter, we can hire people to do what I was doing.

MARK: You’ve recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to help launch Pointless. How much are you seeking to raise, and how much have you raised thus far? [See the Pointless Kickstarter video below.]

TORI: Our goal is $50,000. We are currently at $8,594 with 31 days to go. It’s been going for about a week, with the campaign running 39 days in honor of my 39th birthday – which is today! There are a bunch of great perks, and every pledge of $75 or more gets a one-year membership that gives 10% off of all tickets, drinks, snacks, and merchandise. Plus you get a t-shirt. What a deal!

MARK: And what will that money be used for?

TORI: The money will be used to cover equipment costs, cold room and fermentation rooms, insurance, and the stage. [below: The planned layout for Pointless.]

pointlessbuildout

MARK: I would imagine that the actual costs of getting up and running are quite a bit higher. How, if you don’t mind my asking, are you raising the rest of the rest of the capital you need?

TORI: We have some friends and family who have provided initial capital to get things going.

MARK: Several years ago, an attorney from Chicago, Dan Izzo, came to Ann Arbor with the intention of opening an improv club downtown, which he did. It was called Improv Inferno and it was on Main Street for a few years. I’m just curious if you’ve reached out to Dan, and, if so, what kind of advice he may have offered.

TORI: Jason has chatted with Dan a bit. From what we understand, Improv Inferno did really well and there was a lot of community support for the business, but it closed due to some interpersonal issues unrelated to the business. Dan also used to coach an improv friend of Jason’s from back in his Minneapolis days. Small world!

MARK: On the brewing end of things, I’m curious as to what kind of capacity you’re talking about… Just how big of a system are you building, and how much beer will it allow you to produce?

TORI: We will be using a one barrel brewing system, which is 31 gallons. Jason plans to brew 2-3 days a week, so we will be making 4-6 kegs of beer a week.

MARK: Can you explain how it was that you and your husband came to decide that this new business of yours would straddle the two worlds of brewing and improv?

TORI: We used to live in Minneapolis which has a huge improv community, and Jason was really involved there. When we moved back to Michigan, we were sad to see that there wasn’t much going on for improv in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area, which seems like a lost opportunity in a college town. We have both worked in theater for years, and because of that we know how hard it is to run a financially viable theater. We looked at models that were successful, and they all had multiple sources of revenue. Maybe they had a great education division, a corporate arm, things like that. At the same time, Jason was going crazy with his homebrewing and friends who tried his beer kept saying that he should sell it. Somewhere in there we realized that the spirit of craft beer is the same as improv; they are both all about innovation, creativity, reacting to the current environment, and taking risks. It just clicked. We are kind of surprised that we are the first people to think of this. As far as we have found, there is no other brewery/improv stage in the US. If you know of one, please let us know!

MARK: What are improv people doing in the local community right now, given that there’s no real space dedicated to that particular form of comedy?

TORI: They go to Detroit. There are Go Comedy!, Planet Ant, and a few others that do great improv shows there. But it gets to be quite a hike to go there for rehearsals all the time.

MARK: Are there plans to teach improv at Pointless?

TORI: Absolutely! We plan to have classes for people interested in studying improv more seriously, as well as folks who just want to try it out for fun. We also plan to have one-time workshops for groups of friends, similar to the “Paint and Pour” model.

MARK: I’d suspect you might also find interest in summer programs for young adults.

TORI: Yes! This summer we will just be getting started, but in future years we definitely plan to have more extensive workshops for various ages. And throughout the year we also are going to have a family series on Saturdays, with improv/play-based shows for little ones.

MARK: Are you doing anything now, while you’re working on the space, to start pulling together the local improv community, so that, when you launch, everything is ready to go?

TORI: That’s what we are working on now. Gary Lehman, an Ann Arborite who works extensively in the Detroit improv scene is part of our team, and we are gearing up for auditions in about a month.

family photo2_smallMARK: Have you named any of your beers yet?

TORI: Yeah, several of them. One of my favorites is “Yes, And” because that is the core improv rule. In case you aren’t familiar, “Yes And” means that when you are improvising, if your partner suggests something (where you are, what you are doing, who you are, etc), you should never deny the world they are creating, but rather agree and add to it. That boils down to saying, “yes, and…” The beer is an anytime ale, meaning you can drink it any time of the year, in any situation.

MARK: I probably should have asked earlier, but, speaking of names, why “Pointless”?

TORI: It came from a day when I was feeling really rotten from chemo, I was just exhausted and felt like I wasn’t sure if I could take it any more. In that dark moment, I turned to Jason and wondered aloud why I was going through all of this if it could all just end up so horrible in the end. “What’s the point? Everything just feels pointless.” And he responded so perfectly, “Okay, maybe it all is pointless. Maybe everything we do is pointless…. So let’s do this. Let’s open a pointless brewery and theatre, and make our pointless dreams come true.” He got me laughing, and we realized that it would be a great name, because everything we do is pointless when you really think about it. So you should spend your time doing what you love, and being with the important people in your life.

Posted in Ann Arbor, Art and Culture, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

“Exclusively for White People” campaign comes to Austin in time for SXSW

It was reported last week that Jordan French and Darius Fisher, the owners of Austin-based F&F Real Estate Ventures, had one of their properties bulldozed to make room for more SXSW parking. This, in and of itself, probably wouldn’t have made the news, if not for the fact that the bulldozed building was home to a neighborhood piñata store, the owners of which had not been informed of the demolition. That’s right… in spite of the fact that the business owners, Sergio and Monica Lejarazu, had rented the space for eight years, and had a lease until 2017, the building was torn down with their inventory, cash registers, and personal property still in it.

jumpolin1The building’s new owners, it would seem, were in a hurry to tear the building down as they’d rented out an adjacent building for an event catering to tech entrepreneurs on the second evening of SXSW. (The store was torn down on February 12. SXSW started on March 13. And the upscale party for tech entrepreneurs was scheduled for March 14.)

The building’s owners have since said that they were justified in tearing down the building as the owners of the Jumpolin piñata store hadn’t paid their February rent. A quick check of their demolition permit, however, shows that they’d requested approval to bulldoze the building on January 22, well before February rent was due. Furthermore, Sergio Lejarazu, perhaps sensing that the new owners of the building that he rented were douche bags, had the presence of mind to videotape himself writing out his February rent check and drop it at their office.

Building owner Jordan French, when asked about this, likened his former tenants, who are of Mexican descent, to cockroaches, saying, “Say you have a house that was infested by roaches. You have to clean that up.”

He also speculated that Sergio and Monica Lejarazu were likely selling “uncontrolled substances” from the piñata store. “They weren’t making a living selling piñatas; they were selling something else,” French said of the couple.

The company that had rented the space next to Jumpolin for their SXSW party, for what it’s worth, quickly backed out once the backlash began. Here are the final two paragraphs from their public letter on the matter.

…As Dr. Tane Ward stated, with respect to the ongoing transformation of East Austin, “The dominant narrative is that unless there is a yuppie condo going up every day, the Austin economy will collapse. In reality, the poor and working people’s economy has been collapsing precisely because of this development trend.”

The historically Latino, working-class neighborhood of East Cesar Chavez is considered one of the most highly-gentrified areas in the nation. While the demolition of Jumpolin has sent shockwaves through our city, this tragedy is only a symptom of the larger displacement of poor communities in Austin to make way for newer, wealthier residents, and development that predominately serves them.

So, with all of that said, I wasn’t really all that surprised when I read yesterday in the Daily News that someone had vandalized a number of new, high-end Austin businesses with “Exclusively for White People” stickers.

Screen shot 2015-03-22 at 9.10.58 PM

Lest anyone think, like the folks at the Daily News, that this might be the work of racists, Austin attorney Adam Reposa just came out today, taking responsibility for the stickers, and explaining that it had been done in response to the city’s ever increasing gentrification.

I know I don’t have very many readers in Austin, but I thought that this might strike a chord with some of you in the Ann Arbor area with whom I’ve discussed similar issues in the past.

Posted in Ann Arbor, Civil Liberties, Corporate Crime, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

Connect

BUY LOCAL... or shop at Amazon through this link Banner Initiative Manchurian Candidate Banner