About
UPCOMING SHOWS:
London Cringe:
2017: Wednesday, Nov 1, doors at 6 pm
37 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PP
New York Cringe:
2017: New York Cringe is on indefinite hiatus, as your host had a baby and then moved away. But it'll be back, someday.
Follow Cringe UK on Twitter
Follow Cringe NY on Twitter
Tweets by @CringeNYJoin the London Cringe Facebook group
Join the Cringe New York Facebook group
Cringe is a monthly reading series hosted by Sarah Brown, originating in Brooklyn and now in London as well. Once a month, brave souls come forward and read aloud from their teenage diaries, journals, notes, letters, poems, abandoned rock operas, and other general representations of the crushing misery of their humiliating adolescence. It’s better and cheaper than therapy.
Why & How:
The first inklings of Cringe came about back in 2001, when Sarah Brown found her old diaries at her parents’ house, and decided it would be a good idea to send the most painful excerpts to her friends in a weekly email. Two years later, she moved to Brooklyn and told roommate Liz Schroeter about this endeavor, prompting Liz to dig out some old teenage zines of her own. The first Cringe Reading Night was held April 6, 2005, at Freddy’s Bar & Backroom. Since then, Cringe has traveled around the U.S. and across the ocean as well, and is currently held once a month in London, England and Brooklyn, New York.
The U.S. Cringe book was published by The Crown Publishing Group on August 26, 2008. You can order it at Amazon.The UK Cringe book was published by Michael O'Mara Books, on October 1, 2009. You can order it at Amazon.
We are aware that there are similar shows out there. Ours is funnier. Also, free-er. But most of all, Cringe doesn't audition, and doesn't edit material. It's a straight reading. Anyone can tell a funny story about something that happened when they were fourteen, but to actually read it how you wrote it when you were fourteen is a different level of funny. This is the level of funny Cringe that is about.
Cringe is always looking for new readers. We try to book a month in advance. A good test to determine whether or not your material is Cringe-worthy: when you read it to yourself, do you physically cringe? Then it’s funny. If you’re still unsure about baring your sad teenage soul in public, bring your material with you and consider volunteering at the end of the show.
If you’re interested in reading at Cringe, or you’d just like to be added to the mailing list about upcoming shows, please email Sarah Brown at cringe.reading [at] gmail.com (NY), or londoncringe [at] gmail.com (UK)
If you’re interested in writing about Cringe, please email Sarah at cringe.press [at] gmail.com
If you're interested in starting a Cringe-like event in your own town, go for it! Just please don't call it Cringe. It's not a franchise, and has both a trademark and copyright.
Where & When:
In London, Cringe is held at The George Pub, located at 213 The Strand, London WC2R 1AP.
In New York, Cringe is held at Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, located at 627 5th Avenue (between 17th and 18th Streets) in Brooklyn.
Admission is always free.
Cringe in the Media:
Time Out London listed Cringe at #8 in its 101 Things to do in London - Ultimate Guide in July 2011.
French expat website lepetitjournal.com covered London Cringe nights on October 2, 2010.
The Guardian excerpted the Cringe book in the Family section of its weekend edition on May 16, 2010.
The Times featured the Cringe craze in its Sunday Style magazine on May 9, 2010.
The Independent mentioned Cringe in the same article as Samuel Pepys on December 30, 2009.
GRAZIA magazine ran a story about Cringe in their October 13, 2009 issue.
The Times (of London) put Cringe on the cover of its T2 magazine, plus four pages of serialization of the UK Cringe book, on September 23, 2009.
The Rocky Mountain News included the Cringe book in their Favorite Books of 2008 list.
The Boston Globe reviewed the Cringe book on October 5, 2008.
The Miami Herald reviewed the Cringe book on September 11, 2008.
The New Yorker reviewed the Cringe book on September 2, 2008 in the Book Bench.
Bitch featured Cringe in the article "The Shame Show" in its Winter 2008 issue, Lost & Found.
The London Paper printed both a four-star review and an article about Cringe on December 13, 2007.
NPR Weekend Edition Sunday aired a segment about Cringe on July 15, 2007.
The Los Angeles Times put Cringe on the front page of their April 14, 2007 issue.
Paste Magazine featured a story on Cringe in their April 2007 issue.
ABC Nightline did a segment on Cringe on August 11, 2006, and put five minutes of bonus footage on their website.
Time Out New York wrote about Cringe in the "New Dork City" issue, August 2006.
Newsweek mentioned Cringe in an article about diary readings in July 2006.
Spin called Cringe "the funniest night out in New York" in its June 2006 issue.
Time Out New York covered Cringe in an article called "Discomfort Zone" in December 2005.