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NARR: It's a crowded night at Angels and Kings, a bar on the lower east side. It's Nerd Nite, a monthly evening of drinking and learning. Organizers say it's "like the Discovery Channel… with beer." But what exactly is a nerd? Brian, a nurse who didn't want to provide his last name, explains.
ACT: Brian: 8 seconds: If you're curious about the world around you, you're fascinated and learning, and about living the life around you, I guess you could call yourself a nerd.
NARR: It's his fourth nerd nite. He explains why he keeps coming back.
ACT: Brian: 8 seconds: You find yourself really captivated by it. You can drink, and it's not as pretentious as a formal lecture at a university.
NARR: Volunteers have given lectures on everything from the creation and evolution of the video game Tetris to the extinction of dinosaurs. Tonight, there is a discussion of New York City history. Michael Miscione, Manhattan Burough Historian had a presentation called, "The Battle to Bind the Burroughs: the Consolidation of 1898." He discussed the period when the five burroughs became New York City.
ACT: Mike Miscione: 15 seconds and fade under: Hi there, thank you for having me here at Nerd Night. I understand we're a little pressed for time, so I'm going to try to get through this as quickly as possible. First of all, how many people here are from New York City?
NARR: Other presentations on this nerd nite included "Everything You Thought You Knew About Dinosaurs—And you were Wrong!" and one about the role of inebriation in the mythology of New York City. Presenter Ryan Hagen explains
ACT: Ryan Hagen: 11 seconds: The title of my talk was "Drunks with Power, New York mythology from Dietrich Knickerbocker to Peter Venckman." And the idea is that drunkenness has a long pedigree in the history of New York.
NARR: Hagen attended four nerd nights before he decided to present. He says the night allows people to be themselves and learn about wide ranging and obscure topics.
ACT: Ryan Hagen: 16 seconds: You know, the second nerd night I went to was about art forgery, and I learned more about how to forge a 16th centry oil painting than I ever thought I'd learn in my life.
NARR: Nerd nite started in Boston in 2003 and came to New York last year. Last night, the event was packed wall to wall wth people from their twenties to their sixties. The curatorial process is fairly simple. Organizers pass around an email sigun up sheet and interested presenters put a star next to their name. The only requirements for presenting are expertise in a subject and a willingness to be funny. Rena Piccolo, a cartoonist at her first nerd night, says she was impressed with the presenters, but is not interesting in presenting herself.
ACT: Rena Piccolo: 9 seconds: They both had a lot of stage presence and they knew a lot about what they were talking about, so, I don't know if I could match that. For now, I'll just be an observer.
NARR: This isn't the only event in the city of its kind. Nerdy New Yorkers can now choose from weekly spelling bees, quiz bowls, and even a science fiction reading night.
Rafael Cohen, Columbia Radio News