Past Events

20x2 1.0: What Is Interactive?

The first 20x2 was held at South By Southwest (SXSW) in 2001 at the Four Seasons hotel. Participants included Bryan Pudder of GSD&M, who answered by batting balls with messages up into the air over the crowd, by Joe Silva of Olive Design who broke out a Twister game on the fly, by Sarah Bruner of syrup.org who taught the crowd how to hula by PowerPoint, by Austin band Seven Percent Solution who recorded the crowd before the show and played them back to themselves in song. Many of the others brought a variety of interesting answers to the show, including musician Shane Bartell who got the Meow Mix cat food song stuck in our heads and Andy Wang of Ironminds, who, when asked, answered "What Is Interactive? I'm just a journalist. I have no fucking idea."

20x2 2.0: What Is Real?

One of the ultimate questions during a time of uncertainty, the "What is Real?" show featured music (the blues, appropriately, by Michael Brown and "Reality, Reality" by Tim O. Thompson), short film (by Bottlerocket producer L.M. Kit Carson), and loads of storytelling, from the myriad of answers collaboratively assembled by Heather Champ to the interpretive stance taken by Alison Headley, who stood by idly as a videotaped Alison, well, stood by idly. Ryan Gantz had a major freakout involving a sprint to the bathroom.

Read the Austin Chronicle review of this show here.

20x2 3.0: What RU W8ing For?

The first 20x2 to deftly integrate numbers into the question found lots of waiting in two minute increments. As we noted at the show wrap-up, we waited, and boy, did they deliver.

To whit:

If you couldn't tell, Meryl Evans was waiting for the stork. Jeremy Kliendl was waiting for the waiting to get easier. Mark Couvillion was counting down. Josh Benton was waiting, seemingly, for several things that end in an "oh" sound. Kevin Smokler asked "when did I last wait for anything?" Instead of breaking into tears, Ryan Gantz broke into a Spontaneous Blues Explosion. Johnny Goudie Waited for "his man". Michael Griffith waited for his parents, and his kids waited for their parents. Warren Wilansky was as waiting with spoken word as we were with baited breath. Mena Trott was waiting for her heavy industrial "Lee Press-ons" to spring into action. Min Jung Kim waited for Dad to say "I Love You." Ernie Hsiung waited for his fever to break but mustered the energy to throw awards in the air. Ethan Azarian waited through a song he wrote especially for the occasion. Katherine Jones waited with time-honored prose. Carole Guevin was flashy and organic at once. Halley was waiting ethereally. David Weinberger was waiting for ISO 9000 compatability. Neal Pollock was waiting for a web spoof of Lynn Cheney. Darin Murphy was waiting for a wide variety of things, most all of them with a brush and a drum. And Andy Langer was waiting for the blues to pass.

Like they do when you play it back.

Josh Benton answers "What RU W8ing 4?"

20x2 3.5: Who Are You?

20x2 version 3.5, the first to be held outside of SXSW, was performed in September 2003 and featured singer-songwriters like Matt the Electrician (he of the beer hat...don't ask), Jerm Pollet (he of Mr. Sinus Theater and a pair of ill-themed binoculars), web folk like Leia Scofield (who was, apparently, mostly the result of internet quizzes), Tim O. Thompson (who really would prefer if you didn't stand so close to him), Alison Headley (who recounted her bout with a life of crime and its corresponding state of undress), Mark Couvillion (who was, quite or not-so-quite simply, engaged), Marc English (who was a bandalero with a penchant for table-jumping), Jeff Rider (who was a poetic turn in San Francisco), Ari Brown (who was without a very dear friend), Jodi Jinks (who was art-as-theatrical movement), Erica Lucci (who was baring her soul in front of a loved one from New York), Sarah Bruner, who was new in so many cathartic ways, Melanie Haupt who was from the Austin Chronicle, but not *just of the Austin Chronicle*, Emily Fawcett who was someone who had a thing about shoes, Shane Bartell who was, briefly, Richard Simmons (who was not present) and Eric Anthamatten, who was the spoken word of the street.

20x2 4.0: What's the Big Idea?

Monday March 15th, 2004 at La Zona Rosa, saw our take on a grand query. Tina Winslow bravely talked about love. Tara Hacker broke it down with a flip chart. For James McNally, the big idea was all about being small. Lisa Whiteman shared the Big Idea's potential...through urban lemonade sales. Mark Couvillion posed the Big Idea from halfway around the world, to varying degrees of innebriation. Ed Carter thought the Big Idea was best asked with an accent, or several. Genevieve Van Cleve let the Big Idea and all that stand in its way, well, really have it. Kevin and Jeff imagined the Big Idea as Cop Show, as Western. Jason Cross saw the Big Idea as a poster sale. Robert Brochu thought it more about poetry...and trucks. Jodi Jinks imagined the Big Idea as Tony Kushner might. For Dan Gillmor, the Big Idea was you, all about you. For Craig Newmark, it was the heavy lifting. Rannie Turingan imagined the Big Idea through his telephoto lens, altered and accentuated. For Mike Henry, the Big Idea was a Mike-on-Video-Mike slammoff. For Austin band Housewife, it was spoken beat syncopated with swirling guitar. For San Francisco band From Bubblegum to Sky, it was about the trip here, and how life is silly, and worthy. For Nicolai Nolan, it was about the absence of sound, but for your thought and silent scribblings. For Jerm Pollet, it was about being bolder, and funny. And for Pong? Orange jumpsuits and high fives. Could have seen that one coming, right?

Read the Austin Chronicle review of this show here.

20x2 4.5: What's The Story?

20x2 continued the tradition with our second off-SXSW show, in November of 2004 at Tambaleo in Austin. Nicole Janson started things with a story of new beginnings and the songs you leave behind. Kevin Mason's story was of loss and remembrance. For Jaye Joseph, her two minute story was the last two minute story her father would tell. Robert Frye told his story by six-string. Carla Wilder told a story of love and appreciation. For Billy Hutchison, his story was yours...and mine. For Erica Hess, the story was a Mad Libs adventure. Tina Winslow's story was open about being personal. Joseph Fontinos told the story of why horror stories are the best stories. Ruaraidh MacPherson's story, told from Scotland, was brought with Cookies and Monsters. Ariel Quintans' story was about all the things that make him happy, and that includes the shaking of your ass, thank you. The Late Train gang told the story of a militia...without any weapons. Ethan Azarian's story was about falling in love with a dog...really. Jacob Villanueva's story was full of texture and visceral interpretation. David Hendler's story was about being a Jewish American. Roger Fort's story was about getting screwed and getting, well, even. Tim Thompson's story was about what happens when you combine the word 'blank' and your dirty, dirty mind. Andy Langer's story was about Snuffleupagus, and Sesame Street's role in making him jaded (Andy, not the puppet). Lance Myers' story was about being accosted onstage...or was it? Cinque Hicks' story was that reading between the lines can reveal the unexpected...and the unfortunate.

20x2 5.0: What's the Word?

20x2 version 5.0 was held during SXSW at Tambaleo, our first anniversary show held in our mid-year mainstay. A packed house saw Ted Rheingold discover The Word in a bee costume. For Allison Pickett, The Word was her friend Dave's email password. Evan Horn's word involved a one-act play and a subsequent death. David Dylan Thomas' Word (well, there were several) was delivered via rhythym and powerpoint. The Late Train guys Word(s) were presented via "unique" Ziggy greeting cards. Chris Caddel's Word was both posterized and abstract. Nessim Higson's word was stylized, fast and loose, powerful yet refined. Michael Buffington's Word brought a time-lapse chicken. Jaxon Repp's Word was a stage at a time in relation to an old flame. Shaun Inman's Word was sung to and about the Web, or possibly, convergence. Andrew Baron's Word traveled around the room by cell phone, like gossip. Jennifer Eno's Word was Silence, and there was some. Nick Finck's word was SXSW, or phrase really...a retrospective and a look forward. Brad Graham's word might as well have been eloquence, but was more aptly amusing. So too from Matt Bearden, who reminded us that the word was "Nuclear." And that Louie Armstrong never walked on the moon. Viviane Vives presented her word through a stylistic world of celluloid, poetry and interpretation. And for Miles Zuniga? Grease is the word.

Take that, Travolta.

Michael Buffington answers "What's the Word?"
Nick Finck answers "What's the Word?"
Shaun Inman answers "What's the Word?"

20x2 6.0: What's the Secret?

20x2 version 6.0 asked participants to share a secret …specifically "What's the Secret?" And let me tell you, there were some doozies out there. People really love to let you into the dark.

Kevin Smokler had us all sharing secrets, or one in particular, via a game of "telephone." Matt the Electrician's "Dog Don't Bite," …or so he said. Jodi Jinks' secret was borne through pseudo-political-period-piece-nearly Vaudevillian comedy, in big shoes. Josh Benton's subjects said "if it works in IE, but not in Firefox … I don't care." Andrew Huff paved the way to his secret with lemon juice, matches, and a teeny fireball or few. Jory des Jardins suggested that teaching your nephew to say things like "can't complain" would help determine a legacy … yours. For Chris Messina, love and free will were secrets with staying power. So too with Josh Williams. But Andy Langer didn't see it that way.

Beth Wood's secret was about being quiet, being still. Lynn Isenberg's secret, which took us inside ourselves, did so in a moment of silence. And while Lowell Bartholomee's secret was a trick -- a ruse -- Toni Greaves' secret was everyone else's secret, actually, discovered. Ethan Azarian's secret was a surprise duet with 20x2 vet Jerm Pollet. Matt Bearden suggested, and I am paraphrasing here, that attempting to woo using the word "bitch" was, generally speaking, a bad idea. Scott Simon's secret was about being in the moment. Todd Van Horne's secret spawned the first ever 20x2 post-show tribute band. James W. Johnson's secret was a multi-media assault on the senses. Dawn Runner offered secrets via the slam.

And Jimmy Wales' Secret? Only the reason that there's Wikipedia.

No foolin'.

Jory Des Jardins answers "What's the Secret?"
James W. Johnson answers "What's the Secret?"

20x2 6.5: Where Am I?

20x2 version 6.5 asked a question halfway around the world, this time at Madame Jojo's in Soho, London, UK with our most international question yet: "Where Am I?" For Allison Pickett, the where was New York, and the part of her heart that remains there. For Steve Day, where was many of the places he wasn't, actually. Jaye Joseph was at a place in her life where she wasn't defined by cancer, or the fact that she'd beaten it. Steve Marshall was the guy remaining standing. For Jon Burgerman, he was at the place where he spends most of his time, at the drawing board, this time in five twenty-second increments. D was at the place he calls Acerbia: in this case, flavored by a Howl-style rant.

For Sam Sethi, his place was more than the places he's been and the many things he's done. It was with his family, where the happiness lies. Jen Dixon was lots of places, and remembered some, from her grandmother's house to the UK, and several points between. Andy Gallety was in an interpretive locale, where dancing lights meet the meaning behind. Diego Brown and the Good Fairy were in the world of melody, until the kazoo came to play...and that made a Good Fairy even better. For Bobby Pathak, his place was London, where prejudice took a back seat to experience. James Edwards was, presumably, in his home town. Jon Roobottom was in the world of semantics, naming choices, and the consequences therein. Ann McMeekin was bold in moving forward to new places, while remembering past ones.

We asked and Buswell delivered two minutes of a place called harmony. If you ask Gia Milinovich, the world was, at times, a narrowing place, albeit one with infinite possibilities. Frances Berriman was in a place hoping, against stalking (per Frances, "cue hysteria"). Leisa Reichelt juxtaposed her online and offline realities, courtesy of a side of beef. Gavin Strange brought the art -- hard -- with two minutes of painting, on film, and under it. And not to be outdone, Foundry ripped line art a new angle, channeling a vibe that only grew more intricate.

As did, no doubt, our understanding.

Gavin Strange answers "Where Am I?"
Andy Gallety answers "Where Am I?"

20x2 7.0: What If?

For Version 7.0, 20X2 triumphantly returned to Austin, SXSW, and The Parish, a favorite venue of ours. With a sense of whimsy, we asked our 20 folks ,"What If?" For Evan Fleishcer, What If involved the "cootie catcher" and some a quirky fortune or eight.

Cindi Li wanted to be in lights, and put her friends on the Big Screen. It's a Mad, Mad Lib, baby, and Kevin Cheng wouldn't let us, or the audience, forget it. Betsy Aoki wondered what if things were Windows Live, in living color. SouthPaw Jones wondered musically "What if Dylan were a Neo-Conservative," and it turned out to be both priceless and funny. Alex Beauchamp pondered her life's options, and determined what, if anything, was enough. Michael Lopp took his life into his own hands for 2 minutes, or at least, his own thumbs, and tried to text all his last thoughts to loved ones. For Kevin Lawver's part, he wondered, What if we turned the whole thing over to a 7 year old named Max?

Rob Maigret had to let down his best friend easy, and see if he could get out of the ghetto-pop life, yo. Darin Murphy dreamt of great big ifs set to music. Paul Lloyd considered jumping a very large puddle, indeed, while Glenda Bautista considered a stepping out of a threshold and into a brave new world. Ron Pippin wondered, visually, if James Brown's Zombie and flying Pitbulls could change the world, among many other things. Amanda Congdon asked us considerably more questions than we asked her, and we're still working on the answers. If Oprah Winfrey is the basic building block of laughter PJ Raval showed us how to build a cathedral. And in blunt and brutal fashion, as is his way, Mark Zupan let us all know that when the question is put to you, it's not about what you lose, it's about what you gain and what you give back.