Useful Information

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 2, 2006 7:35PM

Chicagoist can sympathize with a man burdened by “complete world knowledge” since we share such an affliction. We are wowed when such a man actually tries to transcribe that “complete world knowledge” into an easily navigable almanac as author John Hodgman has done in his excellent tome, The Areas of My Expertise.

You might recognize Mr. Hodgman from his appearances as a “square” PC in those Apple ads recently, or as the “resident expert” on "The Daily Show," or, if you listen closely, his voice might sound familiar from segments on This American Life. Those frivolous side activities are ill prepared to alert the general populace’s collective intelligence to his far superior powers of mental organization and a seemingly bottomless font of data about, well, just about everything.

This book is FOR YOU if you are interested in learning: the 700 hobo names or the hidden history of hobos, the never-ending battle of cyborg versus man in a dramatic presentation, the mythical city of Chicago, and endless other interesting factoids and historical overviews.

We are indubitably pleased to announce that Mr. Hodgman will be making a personal appearance, with NO ADMISSION FEE, at 7 p.m. tonight in The Second City ETC Theatre. He will be reading informational selections from the aforementioned almanac whilst being musically accompanied by international musical sensation Jonathan Coulton. The evening promises to be memorable, especially when the inevitable werewolf invasion commences in retribution for Mr. Hodgman’s predilection for revealing their secrets.

Enjoy.