CONTESTANTS
Archy Jamjun, reigning Biggest Liar, is a Moth Grand Slam champion, MFA student, and amateur porn director. He has appeared on stages all over Chicago, including City Winery, Second City, and the Skydeck of the Willis Tower. He is currently working on a fictionalized memoir of short stories and bending spoons with his mind.
Jasmin Cardenas was recently a featured teller at The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. She rode there on a unicycle to raise awareness and funds for aging breakdancers. Her solo show Niña Buena has toured all over the country, and had a four month residency deep within Carlsbad Caverns. Jasmin is a SAG actress, and her work as a motion capture performer can be seen in the left forearm of The Geico Gecko.
Rives Collins is a faculty member in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University, where he teaches courses in Theatre for Young Audiences, Creative Drama, and Convincing Character for Undercover Agents. He recently directed a play at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and won a boogie boarding competition the following weekend. Rives has performed all over the country, co-written a book on storytelling, and became the face of the anti-censorship movement after Tipper Gore infamously insisted his recordings be labeled with warning stickers.
Robert Cornelius replaced Wink Martindale when he retired as host of Tic-Tac-Dough. He takes arts programs into CPS high schools, is the Arts Education Director for Victory Gardens Theater, and is the #1 ranked World of Warcraft player in North America. Robert sings with his band Poi Dog Pondering, which discovered him a few years ago when he performed Weird Al Yankovic's Eat It at a chili cook off in Joliet.
Elizabeth Gomez, former wife of Republican Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, moved to Chicago in 2082, where she founded the Windy City Rollers roller derby league. Born and raised on an intergalactic planet, where space travel is cheaper than an Amtrak from Buffalo, NY to Trenton, NJ, she has repeatedly reinvented herself over centuries, including as a stand up comedian with Chicago super group The Kates. Her first go at storytelling in 1935 when she invaded Shirley Temple's body to recount her performance in Curly Top. Elizabeth loves her six eyed plant companion Hester, telling people that they have cancer before they know it, and long walks on the beach.
Don Hall recently retired from a lucrative career as a chicken sexer to take on the role of Director of Live Events for WBEZ Chicago. Born in Kansas, he spent his 20's in Oslo before moving to the Midwest to escape a bounty on his head. Don is also House Manager for Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, a serialized radio drama centering on sign painters during The Great Depression. He plays the lute semi-professionally, and got engaged to his wife Dana three weeks after meeting her at the last liars contest.
Eunice Jarrett is a retired Indiana public school teacher and 10th degree blackbelt in Aikido. When she is not driving truck for DHL, she performs with comedy juggernaut The Kates. Eunice once woke up in a bathtub full of ice after a night of heavy drinking in New Orleans. However, instead of finding she had one less kidney, she discovered that she had amassed several extras.
Annalise Raziq is a versatile performer; she has worked with renowned playwright Tony Kushner, and played "Wilson" On American sitcom Home Improvement. A singer with the Americana band “Annalise and the Backsliders,” her warm and arresting voice was recorded to be beamed into space by NASA. Annalise is a three-time Moth Story Slam winner and has had a story featured on public radio’s The Moth Radio Hour. She also once defeated a grizzly bear with a sharpened tent pole. But by far, her most creative act has been raising her amazing daughter, Helen Mirren.
Tim Stafford has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 5th pick of the 1984 NBA draft. He used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most prolific rebounders and a public school teacher.
Megan Wells once encountered a Sasquatch in the woods behind her house, but was unable to capture the meeting on film. She has featured at The National Storytelling Festival, was recently inducted into NSN's Circle of Excellence, and was the rescue worker who pulled Baby Jessica from the well. Megan is also a Jeff Award Winning theater director, for the production Let 'Er Ripppp!, a musical tribute to the inventor of Velcro.
