Everyday People features the people who make the greater Ingleside neighborhood a special part of San Francisco.
Inglesiders Katie Tomzynski and Clayton Curtice make room for San Francisco’s poets and writers to share their work both on the page and in the neighborhood.
The couple’s Just Chugged Four Beers zine and monthly reading series at Ingleside bar and grill, Ocean Ale House, have been going strong for years, and satisfy a deeply held need to create.
“We liked the idea of making something without the pressure of it being perfect,” Tomzynski said of their zines. “We wanted to have this kind of a challenge to make something very super ephemeral but that also kind of captures the moment, maybe the flavor of the neighborhood, some of the people around and some of the people in our greater San Francisco writing community.”
Tomzynski, 32, and Curtice, 34, met at San Francisco State University as creative writing undergraduates. In 2016, Tomzynski encouraged Curtice to take a class project into the world. That meant publishing a Just Chugged Four Beers zine.
A few years later, in 2020, while Curtice was working at Ocean Ale House, they launched Just Chugged Four Beers as a reading series. The zine morphed into a smaller collage-style booklet, some of which are sold at Fabulosa Books and Dog Eared Books, and feature the work of event participants. The series is hosted every second Tuesday each month with performances by four featured readers followed by an open mic.
When they aren’t putting the event together, Tomzynski manages Mendel’s craft store and Curtice works at Laughing Monk Brewing.
“We’re just trying to make art, support people who want to make art and give people a voice,” Curtice said. “I think that’s the ethos behind Just Chugged Four Beers.”
The Ingleside Light caught up with Tomzynski and Curtice to learn more about their project.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
When hosting at Ocean Ale House, what does a typical show look like?
Tomzynski: The event starts at 7:30, but I feel like poets and writers are pretty late people, so we kind of linger for 10 minutes or so, wait for people to arrive and get seated and get their drinks. Clayton usually make an announcement like, “OK, we're going to get started soon.” Then we have our featured readers read first, and then we'll take a little break and do the open mic. If we really love their work, we ask them to be a featured reader the next time, or to contribute to the zine.
Katie Tomzynski and Clayton Curtice, founders of Just Chugged Four Beers. | Anne Marie Kristoff/Ingleside Light
Do you have a favorite memory so far?
Curtice: Just being surprised, probably, a couple of months ago, over how many people signed up for the open mic. That was kind of a reassurance, like, “OK, people want to read and people want to be here.” We had like 13 people sign up, which was the most I think we've had and it was like “OK, awesome, like people are responding to this.” It feels good, so I think that was like a core memory.
Tomzynski: There have been a few different times when readers have signed up for the open mic and have written the poem that they're reading that day. They're like, “I just wrote this today.” So it's been really exciting that people are sharing super fresh work. Last month, we only had one open mic sign-up, but he was just like a local guy who started taking writing classes at City College. I think he said he was like in his 80s.
What’s one piece you have for aspiring writers?
Tomzynski: Keep writing. Always try to do it. Sometimes I feel like “Oh, I only have 15 minutes right now, like in my lunch break or something at work and it’s like, “You know what? Whatever. I’m just going to write for 15 minutes.” I always feel really good after I write.
Curtice: Be OK with not liking it and be OK with writing something you’re not happy with because eventually you will write something that you're happy with, and you'll look back and be like, “Ah, that was just practice for this thing that's way better now.” Just be OK with bad writing.
Why should people participate in Just Chugged Four Beers?
Curtice: Just to have fun. Just to come out and be part of the community, and this is the space for it.
Tomzynski: At this time, in the grand scheme of our country and everything that’s happening, I think exercising our First Amendment rights to say what is on our mind. Writing kind of always is a little political, even when it’s not overtly political, because we are expressing ourselves, and we are people in this world that have come to be because of whatever circumstances before. I think that’s really important. There are a lot of people who are getting in trouble for speaking their mind, so I think we should do it.
Anne Marie Kristoff (she/her) is a recent graduate from San Francisco State University's journalism program. She enjoys writing about the arts, entertainment and nature.
