Last Angel Tour info

NEIL GAIMAN’s GUARDIAN ANGEL TOURS have always been special occasions, rare chances to spend an evening with a master storyteller. In small, intimate theatres across the country, Gaiman has mesmerized audiences with poems and tales of the macabre and the fantastic. And in the course of these tours, Gaiman has raised more than $100,000 to support the non-profit COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND.

But now it’s the end of an era: Gaiman has announced that his 2000 reading series will be THE LAST ANGEL TOUR. This October, Gaiman will give readings of his work on a cross-country tour from New York to Los Angeles in a massive benefit for the CBLDF:

October 16: The Vic Theatre, CHICAGO
(773) 472-0449, or call Ticketmaster at (312) 559-1212

October 18: St. Mark’s Church, NEW YORK
call Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171

October 24: The Aladdin Theatre, PORTLAND
(503) 233-1994, or call Ticketmaster at (503) 224-4400

October 26: Pacific Design Center, LOS ANGELES
call Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232

Tickets go on sale SEPTEMBER 1 and will also be available online
at http://www.ticketmaster.com. For complete tour information,
visit the CBLDF web-site at http://www.cbldf.org or call the
Fund at 1-800-99-CBLDF.

Gaiman first attracted critical acclaim for his graphic novels and the long-running comic series “Sandman.” In addition to his comics work, Gaiman is the author of the best-selling novels “Neverwhere” and “Stardust,” and has seen his unique vision translated for film, television, and the stage. He is the recipient of the prestigious World Fantasy Award and is noted in “The Dictionary of Literary Biography” as “one of the top ten post-modern writers” in America.

“I’ve been doing these tours since 1993,” said Gaiman. “I’ve really enjoyed returning people to the days when an author would take his work to the public, when a literary reading was something exciting, fun, and theatrical. Dickens did it. Oscar Wilde did it. And, in a much lesser way, so have I.

“I feel now like it’s time to turn over the reigns,” he continued. “We always planned for the Guardian Angel Tours to come to a conclusion. The audience wants us to keep doing it, but at the end of the day, well, I think there has to be an end of the day. I’m finishing a new novel at the moment, and I’m working on a number of different movie and television projects. Finding two weeks a year to actually get out on the road is getting harder and harder.”

On THE LAST ANGEL TOUR, Gaiman will be giving dramatic readings from his shorter fiction and poetry, including stories from his collections
“Angels & Visitations” and “Smoke & Mirrors.” He will also be debuting new, unpublished works and giving fans an early look at his new novel, “American Gods.” Each reading will be preceded by a private cocktail reception with the author for Premium Ticket holders and CBLDF Members, and followed by a question and answer session with the audience. The readings begin at 8 pm, with the private receptions starting at 6 pm.

Tickets for all tour stops cost $20, or $16 with a valid student ID.
PREMIUM TICKETS, which include seating in the front rows and admittance to the private receptions before the readings, cost $60. All proceeds from The Last Angel Tour benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

“While this will be The Last Angel Tour, it certainly won’t be the end
of my work in support of the Legal Defense Fund,” said Gaiman. “What
they’re doing is more important now than ever before, and I think we’ll continue to work closely on new ways to raise money and awareness of the Fund’s mission.”

The Last Angel Tour begins on Monday, October 16 with an evening at
Chicago’s Vic Theatre (3145 North Sheffield). New York City is the
next stop on the tour, with a reading on October 18 at St. Mark’s
Church (131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue). Portland’s Aladdin Theatre (3116 South East Street) hosts the tour on October 24. The tour concludes in Los Angeles on October 26 with a final performance at the Pacific Design Center (8687 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood).

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization protecting First Amendment rights in the comics community. Donations and inquiries should be directed to the CBLDF at P.O. Box 693, Northampton, MA 01061.

For more CBLDF news and information, pick up a copy of “Busted!,” the
Fund’s free quarterly newsletter, or visit the CBLDF web-site at
http://www.cbldf.org.

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For additional information please contact Chris Bleistein at
(413) 586-6967 or cbleistein@cbldf.org