Pop-Up Magazine brings together the best kinds of creatives—writers, artists, photographers, filmmakers—and puts them onstage to share and discuss their work. (Case in point, tonight's lineup at the Ace includes bestselling authors Susan Orlean and Jon Ronson, This American Life regular Starlee Kine, Mother Jones editor Kiera Butler, photographers Naomi Harris and Stefan Ruiz and filmmaker Marah Strauch, just to name a few.)
All work performed at the show is new and unpublished, either created for the event or as part of a larger ongoing project. This means getting a first look at work from some of the biggest names in fiction, photography, film and more—according to senior editor Pat Walters, "work everyone else will start hearing about a year from now." Also, nothing is recorded, so everything shared is a one-time only creative experience.
When asked who he's most excited about, Walters can't choose, though he does concede that the Magik*Magik Orchestra (a group of classically trained musicians who prefer to think and play outside the box) and composer Rob Moose (who collaborated on albums by the likes of Sufjan Stevens and Bon Iver) will be scoring pieces live onstage, providing musical accompaniment for each story.
Though most Pop-Up Mag shows don't have themes (it's tough when the topics covered range from art and design to politics and criminal justice), LA's first show will consist mainly of stories about California and her neighbors—the American West, Latin America and Asia.
To see tonight's full lineup and snag tickets while you still can, head to Pop-Up Magazine's website. And if just one night of genre-bending storytelling doesn't seem like enough, you can find Pop-Up Mag's newest project, The California Sunday Magazine, online or in the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times the first week of every month.