There is / There are A (singular) or B (plural)

[herbivorie]

I’m explaining a Japanese word to a native English speaker.

"This word means a pre-arranged talk between famous two people, and there is usually an audience or readers there."

In the above sentence, is “there is” correct? If it is “readers or an audience”, should I say “there are”?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

'There is (singular) X or Y...' is correct. '...there is usually an audience or readers there.'
'There are (plural) Xs or Y...' is also correct. '...there are usually readers or an audience there.'

BTW it should be 'two famous people' not 'famous two people'.

 

[tzfujimino]

For more information about the proximity rule/principle of proximity, please see:
http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/proximityagreement.htm
http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/either_or_plural_or_singular_verb.htm

:-D