SOUND THE ALARM
Audio festival to host an immersive murder mystery
TBy Jessica Parks his murder is made possible by
listeners like you!
A three-day podcast festival
will take over Williamsburg’s Wythe
Hotel next weekend, featuring live
recordings, networking sessions,
and a murder mystery! On Air Fest,
happening on March 6 –8, will host
an immersive audio crime story that
will send visitors scrambling through
multiple rooms of the historic building
to follow a murder, according to the
podcast host who wrote it.
“As this story is unfolding, you are
going to get a look into some of the
really interesting spaces of the hotel,”
said Zac Stuart-Pontier of Crimetown,
a podcast that looks at organized
crime.
“The Con” begins in the lobby,
where participants can use a pair of
headphones to listen to audio clues
that will guide them to other spots in
the hotel, said Stuart-Pontier.
“It is going to be triggered by the
spaces themselves,” he said. “There is
going to be a code on the wall that you
scan with your phone and will trigger
the next act of the story.”
The mystery story was entirely
recorded within the confines of the
hotel, which will help to immerse
listeners in the story, said Stuart-
Pontier.
“We did a lot of recording in the
hotel itself, so you are going to hear
sounds from the spaces that you
are in,” Stuart-Pontier said. “For
the stairwell, for example, you’ll be
listening to two people climb the
stairs and hear someone coming from
below, all of which we will have
actually recorded in the hotel.”
The story’s narrator, actor Edgar
Crime bosses: Podcaster Zac Stuart-Pontier (left), festival host Scott Newman (center),
and actor Edgar Oliver collaborated on an immersive crime story set and performed at the
Wythe Hotel. Photo courtesy of On Air Festival
Oliver, also elevated the material, said
the podcast host.
COURIER L 40 IFE, FEB. 28-MAR. 5, 2020
“He has a way about him that is
pretty indescribable, he never really
comes out of character,” said Stuart-
Pontier. “He just really embodied this
character and brought it to the next
level.”
The three-day festival will also
feature intimate talks, live music, art
exhibitions, and live recordings of
podcasts from big names, including
Bon Appetit’s Adam Rappaport and
the Daily’s Michael Barbaro.
The fourth annual festival will
host its first award ceremony this
year, giving the Audio Vanguard
Award to “This American Life” host
Ira Glass. The groundbreaking radio
host was an obvious choice, said the
fest’s founder.
“He is very deserving for all of the
obvious reason: mastery of the craft,
storytelling, pioneering a new space,”
said Scott Newman. “He inspired
people to this day to want to report
stories and tell stories and make audio
work.”
“On Air Festival” at the Wythe
Hotel (80 Wythe Ave. at N. 11th Street
in Williamsburg, (718) 460 –8000,
www.onairfest.com). March 6–8 from
9 am–7 pm. $149 per day, $375 threeday
pass.
The best reads
— handpicked
by some of the
best Bklyn
bookstores
Community
Bookstore’s pick:
“Tyll,” by Daniel
Kehlmann
In this rich retelling of
the German folktale of Tyll
Ulenspiegel, Kehlmann
infuses his 17th-century
hero with a modernist bent
and a dash of existential angst: like a
trickster god meets Paul Newman from “Cool Hand
Luke.” On the run from Jesuits and soldiers alike,
Tyll does a stint as a court fool, works intelligence for
multiple factions of the 30 Years War, travels with the
famed occultist Athanasius Kircher, and meets drunken
clergy and a sympathetic hangman along the way, while
exposing hypocrisy and speaking truth — or irony
— to power wherever he goes. A delightful blend of
folklore and philosophy, romanticism and satire.
— Samuel Partal, Community Bookstore 43 Seventh
Ave. between Carroll Street and Garfield Place in Park
Slope, (718) 783–3075, www.commu nityb ookst ore.net.
Greenlight
Bookstore’s pick:
“Separation
Anxiety,” by Laura
Zigman
Zigman’s latest novel
“Separation Anxiety”
has some very original
humor and some very odd
situations, but it also has plenty
of heart. What starts off as a wacky, off-beat story
about a wife and mother in her 50s who has the sudden
urge to wear her dog in a baby sling evolves into a very
human story that is easy to relate to, while maintaining
a consistent tone throughout.
— Geo Ong, Greenlight Bookstore 686 Fulton St.
between S. Elliott Place and S. Portland Avenue in Fort
Greene, (718) 246–0200, www.greenlightbookstore.
com.
Word’s picks: “With
the Fire on High,”
by Elizabeth
Acevedo
Stunning in every sense,
“With the Fire on High”
is a spectacular follow-up
to Acevedo’s 2018 debut
“The Poet X.” It taps into
something so organic and
heartfelt that you can only sit
back and marvel at her prowess. There’s a richness
to Acevedo’s prose that can only come from a skilled
wordsmith. “With the Fire on High” is not written in
verse like its predecessor, but it still reads like poetry,
with short chapters that pack a punch and words that
paint the most vivid of pictures. With this book, Acevedo
cements her place as a star of the young-adult genre.
— Kim S., Word 126 Franklin St. at Milton Street
in Greenpoint, (718) 383–0096, www.wordbookstores.
com.
Brooklyn embraces film and foam!
Brooklyn has an action-packed
weekend ahead, full of the
magic of film, the magic of
beer, and a film about beer-slingers!
Friday night you should sneak to
Industry City’s Factory Floor (268
36th St. between Second and Third
avenues in Sunset Park, rooftopfilms.
com) for a free screening of the
murder mystery “Knives Out.” Rian
Johnson directs an all-star cast in
this classic whodunnit, about a
patriarch murdered on the eve of
his 85th birthday, where everyone
has a motive. The movie starts at
8 pm, and if you’ve seen it before,
you can download the director’s
commentary from www.knivesout.
movie/#commentary and catch it with
a whole new perspective.
On Saturday, celebrate one of
Brooklyn’s great bars by raising cash
for “Why Farrell’s?” a documentary
about the iconic Windsor
Terrace saloon, which
has been open since
1933. The fundraiser,
which
starts at 7 pm at
Shepherd’s Hall
( 245 Prospect
Park West between
Windsor Place and
Prospect Avenue
in Windsor Terrace,
whyfarrells.com) will feature
clips from the upcoming film, a talk
from the documentarians, and an
chance to bid on authentic Farrell’s
gear, including a barstool and some
of the soon-to-be-extinct styrofoam
cups. Admission costs $35 ($30 in
advance), and includes free beer,
wine, and soda.
Sunday marks the end
of New York City Beer
Week, and you can
meet every brewer in
town at the Ruppert’s
Cup ceremony at
Randolph Beer
Dumbo (82 Prospect
St. between Pearl and
Jay streets in Dumbo,
www.randolphbeer.
com). From noon to 2 pm, a
special beer from each brewery
will be on tap on the serve-yourself
wall, so you can sample them each
and then vote to see who gets the
prestigious Ruppert’s Cup. It is free
to get in, but each beer will cost you
at least a couple of bucks!
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/www.greenlightbookstore
/www.wordbookstores
/www.knivesout
/www.randolphbeer
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