The Pumpkin Pie Show
Stories written by Clay McLeod Chapman.
(1996-present)
Celebrating its second decade of performances, the Pumpkin Pie Show is a literary fist in the face. Part storytelling session, part boxing match, part shamanistic ritual, the Pumpkin Pie Show has established itself as an all-points artistic hodgepodge of theatre and literature. We pick and choose the essentials of both mediums, channeling their rocking properties in order to create a more intimate relationship between performer and audience. We want to see the whites of our audience’s eyes. Certain basic rules that we’ve set up for all our shows are: No sets. No costumes. No nothing beyond the text and the performance itself. Our goal is to strip away those elements that we find extraneous to the tale being told, conjuring up an atmosphere of “creating something out of nothing,” as well as focusing on that ethereal connective tissue between the one telling the story and our audience. Packed with enough emotional intensity to feel like a rock concert rather than just spinning a yarn, the Pumpkin Pie Show is pure bedtime stories for adults. 
“Chapman Frightens In Monologues Fit For Halloween,” All Arts, September 2018
“Death to the Pumpkin Pie Show,” Time Out New York, October 2017
“Theatre Talk: Halloween Gala,” Thirteen/PBS, October 2017
“When Clay McLeod Chapman Tells a Story, You Listen,” birth.movies.death, April 2017
“The Pumpkin Pie Show, Night of the Voting Dead,” New York Times, October 2016
“Underneath the Horror, Evidence of Some Heart,” New York Times, October 2008
“The Pie’s Piper,” Time Out New York, October 2001
Events
Overlook Film Festival »
10/1-10/2: Film on the Rocks Drive-In »
Drive-In Screening and Stories! »
Pumpkin Pie Show at the Virtual Chattanooga Film Festival! »
NYC: 10/17-10/19: The Pumpkin Pie Show: THE REMAKING »
2019 Overlook Film Fest: ONE-ON-ONES »
4/14: Chattanooga Film Festival live performance »
9/2-10/28: Pumpkin Pie Show presents: ONE-ON-ONES »
The Pumpkin Pie Show at OVERLOOK FILM FEST! »
10/12-10/28: DEATH TO THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW »
10/14-10/28: Pumpkin Pie Show: BEST OF BLITZKRIEG »
10/13-10/27: Pumpkin Pie Show: SEASICK »
10/12-10/26: Pumpkin Pie Show: COMMENCEMENT »
4/27: Pumpkin Pie at The Overlook Film Festival »
NYC: 3/24: Pumpkin Pie at Performeteria! »
NYC: 3/20: Pumpkin Pie at Performeteria! »
RVA: 2/23-2/24: The Pumpkin Pie Show: 20th Anniversary »
10/20-11/5: The Pumpkin Pie Show: STUMP SPEECHES »
9/24-10/10: NYC: PUMPKIN PIE SHOW in LABOR PAINS »
8/21-8/23: PUMPKIN PIE SHOW @ VCU »
5/3: Stanley Film Fest: THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW »
The Pumpkin Pie Show: SEASICK »
11/14-11/15: The Pumpkin Pie Show in Richmond! »
10/10-10/26: The Pumpkin Pie Show: BOOGEDY BOO »
5/4: The Pumpkin Pie Show at The Stanley Film Festival! »
4/5: Reading at Stampede Lab! »
3/11: Commencement/Pumpkin Pie Show: RIP Red Room »
9/4: Horse Trade resident salon »
10/25-10/27: The Pumpkin Pie Show: Halloween All-Stars! »
Related Blog PostDrive-In & Spooky Story! »
Chattanooga goes virtual! »
ONE-ON-ONES extends! »
L’il Loving for ONE-ON-ONES »
ONE-ON-ONES in NYC! »
Review Roundup from the 2018 Overlook Film Fest »
The Pumpkin Pie Show rises in New Orleans! »
Pumpkin Pie on Theatre Talk! »
Pumpkin Pie in Time Out NY! »
Interview from the Buxton Inn! »
Review roundup from the Overlook Film Festival »
Birth.Movies.Death eats up the Pumpkin Pie Show! »
EW plugs the Pie at Overlook! »
Review Roundup: STUMP SPEECHES »
STUMP SPEECHES is a NY Times Critics’ Pick! »
The time is nigh for Pumpkin Pie: STUMP SPEECHES »
Rants Macabre interview »
Fruits of our LABOR PAINS »
Time Out NY gets SEASICK! »
Fango is ready to get SEASICK… »
The time is nigh for Pumpkin Pie… »
TCG’s Crossing Borders {Art | People} salon »
Pumpkin Pie in the Press »
Video interview at TDF! »
All Work and No Play Makes Clay a Dull Boy »
R.I.P. Red Room… »
Pumpkin Pie blowout »
The Pumpkin Pie Show gets profiled in The Brooklyn Rail »
NYtheatre interview »
Genius? Classic? Thank you, Flavorpill! »
“[There is] a new generation of theater artists reared on a diet of vampires, zombies and charming serial killers. Call this movement the Theater of Blood… At the forefront is Clay McLeod Chapman, whose “Pumpkin Pie Show” channels the spirit of H. P. Lovecraft.”
– The New York Times