Please note that there is a change to our schedule and our two presenters this evening will be Will Averill and Skyler Rehm. Thanks and we are looking forward to seeing all you Nerds!

Mark your calendars, because Nerd Nite Lawrence is excited to be back large, in charge and IN PERSON with our monthly nerd-genda! Our first live event in almost 3 years will take place on March 8, 2023! We will feature live presentations from Will Averill, Skyler Rehm and Joann F, our ever popular raffle, trivia and who the heck knows what else!
Presentations start at 8:00pm and if you want to grab a drink and chill with friends, we’re opening the doors at 7:30. $1 cover at the door.
Join us at Maceli’s Banquet Hall in downtown Lawrence for a nerdy good time!

Maceli’s is located at 1031 New Hampshire St, Lawrence, KS, United States, 66044

Our Presentations:

“Richard III was an Inside Job: The Truth Behind the Worst Uncle Ever.”

Will’s talk will focus on Shakespeare’s most famous villain, Richard III. Accused of murdering his nephews to steal the throne, Richard is portrayed as an evil, disfigured menace. But apart from the obvious ableism, why has Richard earned that reputation, does he deserve it, and what if The Bard’s propaganda obscures the truth? We’ll explore who Richard III was, what he was accused of, and who might have committed the most dastardly regicide in English history.

“Little Ladies of Liberty”

Did you know there are 25 Statue of Liberty replicas in Kansas alone? 

In 1950, the Boy Scouts of America commissioned approximately 200 miniature replicas of the Statue of Liberty and donated them across the country to celebrate their 40th anniversary. The project started in Kansas City and is spread across 30 states. Skyler has mapped out over 150 statues that he has found record of and has visited 38 of them since discovering their existence in 2021. 

Join us for the triumphant return of Nerd Nite Lawrence to hear the history of these statues, how he found them, why he cares, and why you should too!

“Polio — Interesting Facts and Unintended Consequences.“

We all know people who lived through the terrifying polio epidemic, but few understand the fascinating picture of its history and science. Did human interventions contribute to turning what had been a widespread, usually benign infection into epidemics of paralysis?

Our Presenters:

  • Will Averill is a writer, producer, director, puppeteer, and proud Communications guy behind Community Children’s Center. Will co-founded Card Table Theatre in 1998, is the founder of Sh*tty Deal Puppet Theatre, a Massholes comedy quiz show producer, and author of several published children’s plays through Playscripts, Inc. A proud member of the Richard III society, Will DOES believe Richard III was an inside job.
  • Skyler Rehm has lived in Lawrence since 2010 and is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Professionally, he is a Data Analyst who is passionate about visualizing the stories hidden in the numbers. Outside of work, he is a LEGO enthusiast, cat dad, and long-time Nerd Nite attendee cursed with never winning the raffle. He is known among his friends for making spreadsheets and graphs for fun, collecting tacky knick knacks, and loving road trips but only when he’s the one driving. While he is admittedly terrible at remembering to post on social media, Skyler did remake his Twitter @vanteaux specifically for Nerd Nite’s return. You can also find him at the Lawrence Public Library’s first-ever LPL Con (March 10-11) where he will be displaying some of his LEGO builds and at Planet Comicon in Kansas City (March 17-19) where he will be volunteering with the 501st Legion. 
  • JoAnn Farb is a former microbiologist with a global pharmaceutical company, and currently a nutrition educator. She has spent the past twenty years reading a lot of published science while discovering that the story of polio is more nuanced than it’s typically portrayed.