You know when you're talking to someone, and for some reason, you just cannot stop interrupting each other? And it's not even dramatic. It’s almost like a comedy of errors. I had a conversation like that recently with a new friend of mine: I start telling a story, she jumps in with a point, I jump back in to clarify, she interrupts my clarification, and suddenly we're both mid-sentence gesturing at each other like wild animals, and no one's really listening. It became pretty clear that neither of us had any idea what we were actually saying, but somehow we were really nailing the performance. Like a Broadway-type production. And not the one in Nashville, the real one in NY.

And then, out of nowhere, we both stop and look at each other and we do that whole classic, “Sorry, go ahead. No, you go! No, you go!"“ and obviously the conversation did not come to a closing point, but we did start to understand the real lesson here. If you keep talking over each other long enough, especially in public, eventually it looks like pretty deep conversation and like you’re saying something kinda important. And honestly, with performative activities gaining so much popularity these days (you know, like carrying a feminist literature book and sipping an iced matcha while sitting on a park bench and gazing around to make sure other people can see you, but never actually turning a page), we figured, you know, why not take it to the next level?

So anyway, we've officially started a Performative Conversationalist Group here in Austin, TX, for people who are new to the city and looking to connect with others. I honestly don’t know of a better place to do that. So hope to see you at our next event. See our flyer right over here. —>