Excerpts of work with The Wandering Ensemble
Recent(ish) Readings & Performances
She – a poetry cycle to the music of Hauschka
From the 90s (yes we had video back then)
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I’m always trying to dig up decent video and audio footage of readings and performances, new and old. If you should have any, would you be so kind as to let me know? Thanks!
Here is a selection for your viewing pleasure. Like what you see? Click on the YouTube button while a video is running, or click here to go directly to my YouTube channel. Enjoy!
Also, you can click here to see a full list of my featured readings, and here to see a summary of my non-reading performance.
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EXCERPTS FROM WORK WITH THE WANDERING ENSEMBLE
I started working with an inclusive multidisciplinary performance group known as The Wandering Ensemble, based in the San Francisco East Bay, in August of 2025. Rather than spoken word (for the most part), I’ve been attempting to dance (i.e., move without falling over), sing (which is like speaking but different), and play violin (without hurting anyone). Here are a few excerpts from the 2025-26 season.
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Wandering Ensemble Clips – Fall 2025
Just a few minutes from three different pieces when I was just taking baby steps, that give you a glimpse of the range of stuff that the Ensemble gets into.
The first is from the show “Goodbye to Hello”, performed in Graton, CA on September 27, 2025. This clip shows a transition in this 28-minute show from an initial section of meditative movement and talking to a more…active performance.
Second is an unfortunately low-def recording of a very cool dance piece choreographed by Haonan Zhu, titled “Tea Dance”. The group had learned the piece from scratch within the hour.
Third shows a bit of singing in a later version of “Goodbye to Hello” performed at Ruth’s Table in San Francisco on October 19, 2025. The song is “Step by Step”, written originally by Pete Seeger.
videography unknown
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Excerpts from May 2, 2026 at Ruth’s Table, San Francisco
The Wandering Ensemble performed two versions of a show based on a series of pieces designed to blend together. Here are three clips from those shows in which I had some part or another. If this piques your interest, you can see more sections of the shows and one in its entirely on my YouTube Channel. Look at the playlists called “Wandering Ensemble” or “Richard Loranger – Poetry & Performance” and your curiosity will be rewarded.
The first includes three pieces that will definitely demonstrate the flow. Those are a dance duet by Ina Gonzalez and Karin Adams with percussion; a cover of the song “Cura” by Esoterica Tropical, with music and dance; and a new version of Haonan Zhu’s “Tea Dance” (also seen in the fall clip) with spoken word from Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower read by Rita Reyes. The full personnel are listed in the notes on YouTube, so please click through to read the credits.
The second is a version of “Wayfaring Stranger” by Johnny Cash, with Bonnie Baskin on ukulele and vocals, myself on violin, Martin Bayang on guitar, Eric Kupers on bass banjo, Lindsey Perry on flute, Jordon Dabney on saxophone, Haonan Zhu on djembe drum, and dance by Caity Karabensch, Ina Gonzalez, and Michael Rowley.
And third, my monolog called “The Bubbles of Resistance”, followed by the finale of the show. Again, click through to see the full personnel in the YouTube notes. Enjoy!
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RECENT READINGS & PERFORMANCES
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Repeat After Me
A semi-improve manic piece that was an excuse to bang on the balafon in public. No excuses made.
Recorded live at the Beast Crawl Literary Festival
Paschal Hunter Gallery
Oakland, CA
April 12, 2026
videography by Paul Corman-Roberts
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Advice for Going through Hell
Performance of this poem from my book Be A Bough Tit with help from my small kalimba.
Recorded live at the Beast Crawl Literary Festival
Paschal Hunter Gallery
Oakland, CA
April 12, 2026
videography by Paul Corman-Roberts
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Three Poems
Reading from my book Mammal:
“Why are you so shocked”,
“It may not be light”,
and “Taking a shit in an airplane is something”
Recorded live at All Power Books
Los Angeles, CA
February 25, 2024
videography by Matthew Cramer
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First Person Singular
Reading from my book Mammal.
Recorded live at All Power Books
Los Angeles, CA
February 25, 2024
videography by Matthew Cramer
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Full Reading for Roof Books at Segue Reading Series
This was the kickoff reading for my book Mammal from Roof Books at their Segue Reading Series.
The co-feature and first reader was R Erica Doyle, and I cannot recommend enough checking out her on-fire set.
My reading begins at 32:00 with a very kind introduction by Lonely Christopher. (Thank you again Lonely.)
Recorded live at
Artists Space
New York, NY
October 21, 2023
videography by Segue Reading Series
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Full Reading at the 11th Annual Davis Jazz & Beat Festival
with
Keith Cary on cello
Heath Proskin on bass
Introduction by Dr. Andy Jones (2:00)
Recorded live at
The 11th Annual Davis Jazz & Beat Festival
John Natsoulas Center For The Arts
Davis, CA
October 13, 2018
videography by Charles Smith
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wanna piece of
An improv piece also known as “Song to Remind Myself Not to Fall in Love,” performed at Saturday Night Special Reading Series
Recorded live at Nick’s Lounge
Berkeley, CA
February 24, 2018
videography by Somebody I Handed My Phone To
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Teeth Augury (excerpt)
I was asked to make a piece of performance art for the opening of an art show by painter Harriet Poznansky and photographer Rohan DeCosta titled Attached to Machines. I developed a humorous monolog (sadly unfilmed) called “Life by the Teeth” about the technology of dental prosthetics as a way of being an augmented human or perhaps monster. At the end of the monolog I offered to perform auguries for anyone in the audience by throwing into a baking pan their choice of either a jar of old keys or a jar of all my removed teeth and fragments (of which there are many), then, of course, reading the pattern. I was surprised by how many people were interested, even though they had to pay a nickel for each. A few minutes of that was caught on vid by Rohan, who is also the first person you see receiving an augury.
Recorded live at The Flight Deck Gallery
Oakland, CA
October 7, 2016
videography by Rohan DaCosta
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Mud Song
A new(ish) version, and much better than the one I’d had up here before.
Recorded live at The Lost Door
San Francisco, CA
January 19, 2013
videography by Eisaku Tokuyama
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nameless, unreasoning, unjustified clarity (excerpt)
I read a selection from “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified clarity”, a poem that lives on a 14-foot möbius strip. With no beginning or end, this piece is potentially endless; I read about seven feet of it here in 10 minutes or so. Prepare yourself for quite a ride. Accompanied by the awesome Michael S. Johnson on improv keyboard.
Recorded live at The Lost Door
San Francisco, CA
January 19, 2013
videography by Eisaku Tokuyama
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The Food in My Beard
Yes, I am reading from a very high pulpit, in the back room of the Swift Hibernian Lounge in New York. This surreal video was taken from just below, and offers an excellent rendition of my homage to the food chain, “The Food in My Beard”.
Swift Hibernian Lounge
New York NY
April 17, 2012
This poem is one of the Ecstatic Odes.
videography by Leigh Loranger
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Corporate Set at Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts
Here I offer advice on how to deal with the corporate oligarchy in three spoken word pieces at Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts, Round 9
Includes:
“Oh Corporation, You Are Not Immortal”,
“DIY”,
and the bubble monolog from “The Purpose of Rash Action”
(You can see a later version of the bubble monolog in the Wandering Ensemble excerpts above.)
The Beat Museum
San Francisco
October 14, 2010
videography by John Rhodes
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I Want A Poetry
Mediocre video of a good performance of this cute little diatribe.
From the Poem Dome fundraiser at
Kaleidoscope SF
April 23, 2010
videography by Evan Karp
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Laundry
Reading on San Francisco Poetry Podcast TV
Hosted by John Rhodes and Clara Hsu
April 7, 2010
This poem is one of the Ecstatic Odes.
videography by John Rhodes
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SHE
Here are three pieces from a series that I work on intermittently, putting words to pieces by the contemporary German composer Hauschka, aka Volker Bertelmann. I’d been listening to him avidly for a few years, and realized that with the music on one album in particular, I always had similar imagery running through my head of a woman going through her days. So I started writing it down, and here are the results so far.
She #1: She
Written and performed to “Alexanderplatz” from the album Foreign Landscapes by Hauschka.
Recorded live at The Lost Door
San Francisco, CA
January 19, 2013
videography by Eisaku Tokuyama
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She #2: The Life in Her House
Written and performed to “Iron Shoes” from the album Foreign Landscapes by Hauschka.
Recorded live in a quiet farmhouse
Lewisberry, PA
June 19, 2014
videography by Nieves Saah
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She #3: Winter
Written and performed to “Mount Hood” from the album Foreign Landscapes by Hauschka.
Recorded live in a quiet farmhouse
Lewisberry, PA
June 19, 2014
videography by Nieves Saah
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FROM THE 1990s
Here are a scattering of old videos of poems rescued from VHS. Mostly they’re filmed recitations in various spaces and settings, rather than documented poetry readings, as you’ll see by clicking on any one of ’em.
Permission
This poem can be found in Mammal, my collection of poetry and flash prose from Roof Books in 2023.
Recorded at ACTV (Austin Public Access Television)
Austin, TX
March 22, 1997
Videography by ACTV in studio
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Tick Tock
This poem can be found in The Orange Book, my first collection of poetry from The International Review Press in 1990.
Recorded at ACTV (Austin Public Access Television)
Austin, TX
March 22, 1997
Videography by ACTV in studio
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Lights, Camera
This poem can be found in The Orange Book, my first collection of poetry from The International Review Press in 1990.
Recorded at ACTV (Austin Public Access Television)
Austin, TX
March 22, 1997
Videography by ACTV in studio
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Sonnet for a New Home
This poem can be found in The Orange Book, my first collection of poetry from The International Review Press in 1990.
Recorded in the backyard of the Lincoln Street House, home of Thelemonade,
and appeared in We Magazine Issue 18 (the vhs issue)
Santa Cruz, CA
August 23, 1993
Videography by Marty McCutcheon
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Underneath
This is a performance of a spoken piece backed by some incredible music. It’s a piece I wrote which was billed as “A Poem” but which I later titled “Underneath”.
I’m mostly posting this for the music, which showcases several talented artists creating a soundscape unlike most anything you normally hear. I urge you to give it a listen for that. It will sweep you away, and you’ll either love it or walk away stealthily. 😀
The spoken performance leaves something to be desired, and I don’t think that’s being self-critical. It’s at times over-the-top and histrionic, though usually pretty fun I think. I blame my youth (hah!). But I’m posting it anyway because what the hell.
Musicians, left to right:
Jay Trolinger – percussion
Joe Pezillo – guitar
Trish McCarl – cello
Deborah Perry – vocals, bells, and saw
Daryl Henline – bass guitar
Recorded at Ground Zero as part of the BACstairs Performance Series
Boulder, CO
June 25, 1991
Videography unknown
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November
Filmed behind a house on Lawrence Street in Ann Arbor, MI
December, 1990
Videography by John Roberds
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Ecstatic Riddle
Filmed in a parking lot in downtown Ann Arbor, MI
December, 1990
Videography by John Roberds
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Still Life with Pomegranate
Filmed in an old kitchen on Lawrence Street in Ann Arbor, MI
to Ann Lukens Weise making tea
December, 1990
Videography by John Roberds
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BLINKLIST READINGS
In 1990, We Press released a strange chapbook of mine titled Influx Blinklists, documenting a form of writing I did briefly that led to the development of the text art pieces that I later also called blinklists. A reading was done at the Boulder Art Center in July of that year to introduce the work, comprising three multi-voice pieces, two of which were accompanied by music. Since the pieces were meant, among other things, to explore and celebrate the plasticity of words (a deft brush with language poetry, perhaps?), somehow the idea of crowdspeak seemed most appropriate for the event.
Here are the three pieces, taken from an old VHS tape and sadly blurry, but with good audio. So dive in and see what you think.
Influx Blinklist reading – part 1
BACstairs Performance series
Boulder Art Center
Boulder, CO
July 26, 1990
Readers: Richard Loranger and Chris Funkhouser
Musician: Angela Coon
Videography unknown
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Influx Blinklist reading – part 2
BACstairs Performance series
Boulder Art Center
Boulder, CO
July 26, 1990
Readers: Richard Loranger and Chris Funkhouser
Musician: Steven Taylor
Videography unknown
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Influx Blinklist reading – part 3
BACstairs Performance series
Boulder Art Center
Boulder, CO
July 26, 1990
Readers/ranters: Richard Loranger, Chris Funkhouser, Darrin Daniel, Victoria Wieners, Angela Coon, George __________, Jenny Bittner, Steven Taylor
Videography unknown
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BONUS TRACK
In case you haven’t had enough weirdness, I give you the
BACstairs Performance series with Zuzu’s Petals Art Gang
Being an unruly cabaret of sorts leading to an act with no audience participation. Most but not all of the show is here, so there are a few jumps, though the performances that do remain are intact (at least as intact as a dub from two old VHS tapes might be). I suggest opening the YouTube link both to read a bit more about the show and the personnel involved, and to chant along at the appropriate time.
BACstairs Performance Series
Boulder Art Center
Boulder, CO
June 28, 1990
Videography by Marcus If and Joy Boston
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and more to come…
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