Enough with taking classes. At some point you have to get out there and do. With that in mind I headed out for my first Storyslam.
The topic for the evening was sales -- there was a lot more verbiage to the prompt, but it comes down to sales. Phil pointed it to me, noting that the Angry Bob story I told at a class show could be adapted. I'd have to make some changes of course, since my story was eight minutes, and Moth Storyslam events have a six-minute time limit. And I'd have to refocus it. But I could manage.
And so I went with Phil, dragging Ethan along and planning to meet Blair there.
Since this is my first post about a Moth Storyslam, I'll take the opportunity to describe the proceedings. In follow-up posts I will assume this knowledge as background. Everyone who wants to tell their story fills out a form. Through the course of the evening, these forms are drawn from a bag to choose who gets to tell a story. In all, ten people get called. So if twenty people put their names in, each has a 50% chance of going up. At the end of the night, all those who weren't called get to come up and deliver their opening lines.
I had a fun evening, but it was anticlimactic, since I didn't get picked. But I could see that I can compete in this space.
Ethan and I have now finished our second storytelling class, studying under Adam Wade at the Magnet Theater. The last one ran from the summer into the fall. I posted videos of Ethan's and my performances here.
This class was a bit different than the first. It was billed as a "solo show" class, and I didn't quite understand what it meant. Whereas the earlier class consisted of coming up with and refining stories based on prompts, this was geared around considering what one would do if one were planning to do a solo show. So we started with a premise: If you were doing solo show, and anything were possible -- cost and practicality don't matter -- what would you do. For one assignment we had to bring in soundclips to go with a story that would be part of the show. For another assignment we had to create some original artwork related to a story that would be part of the show. All of this confused me at first. I was thinking of this as another storytelling class, and I didn't understand why we were creating art, bringing in music, and doing show and tell. Eventually, I got it -- Adam was going into different things that a solo show might include, as a way of helping us visualize a solo show. I don't actually have plans to ever do a solo show, but...well, who knows?
Anyway, Ethan told us about his experience with StackUp and I told about how Ducks Deluxe become my rock and roll ground zero.
I was glad to see Ethan really getting into it -- more than I expected him to. In fact, he's into it enough that he suggested we sign up for the advanced storytelling class. I'll post about that in a month and a half or so.
I have a colleague who takes a variety of performing arts classes at a place called The Magnet Theater in Manhattan. Well, it seems to me like a variety. Maybe it's not so many. But when he and I were in the same unit, and that unit would occasionally get together for lunch, it seemed he always had stories about some new class he was taking. At any rate, these classes include storytelling, improv...I'm not sure what else. Whatever.
I've seen videos of him performing as a storyteller. He crafts eight (or so) minute personal tales. A tale can span years when you consider the background exposition. But, while these stories cover ground that seems mundane, he makes them interesting. So, when he mentioned last fall that he was going to be in a storyteller showcase, I wanted to go see it.
Actually, I had three reasons for wanting to see the showcase. First, I thought it would be interesting. Second, I wanted to support a friend and colleague in his extra-curricular activities -- the way friends and colleagues went to see me perform when I was acting in black-box theater productions (20-plus years ago). And third, I wondered if something like that would interest Ethan, but I needed to see the guy who teaches these classes and see some people other than my colleague perform.
Blair and I went, and we liked what we saw. So, this past Tuesday, Ethan and I started a storytelling class with Adam Wade at the Magnet Theater.*
I didn't really know what to expect going in. The only thing I knew for sure was that the class would be spent working toward a final showcase in which each of us would, in turn, present a story which we will have developed and crafted in class. That's scheduled for late April. So clearly a lot of the class' six sessions are to be devoted to developing that story.
After some administrative items, Adam started us off with a story -- how he got into professional storytelling. I'm not sure how long it lasted, but it was really touching and he managed to connect with the class. Other things we did in class included:
Adam played us an audio recording of one of his former students telling a personal story, and we then each commented (see video below);
Each of us had to pick a personal item from our childhood, and talk about it -- what it is, how we got it, where it is now. I talked about a sign I swiped from the subway system when I was in high school. Ethan talked about a demented two-headed baby doll he got years ago at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore.
Adam demonstrated how to list the essential elements of a story, showing a long list of seemingly disconnected words and phrases, and then telling a story that involved all of them, in order.
One thing that is clear is that a lot of the people in the class have more experience with this kind of thing than Ethan or I do. It's a beginner class, but a lot of people talked about doing acting, improv or standup comedy. So their polished performance styles showed when it was their turn to talk about personal items.
For homework, we are to come back to the second class with two or three story idea pitches, from which we will ultimately pick the stories we construct for the final project. Oh, and we are to do something enjoyable. I don't know why.
I'm not sure yet what my story pitches will be, but I have a few thoughts:
My experience with two neurotic cats, one of whom would fling his food around the kitchen when I tried hiding antidepressants in it;
How Blair and I got engaged (without my ever proposing marriage);
My 35-year songwriting project -- how, though multiple rewrites, it took me 35 years to write the song, "Music No One Else Can Hear," while an interim version (which I don't actually like) got me into ASCAP
I've always been a bit of a ham, and I love the spotlight, so I'm looking forward to the showcase performance. Ethan isn;t quite as comfortable as the center of attention, but he likes the idea of anything that helps him with his public speaking skills. He had done quite a bit of that when he was volunteering for Stack-Up, but that ended and he hasn't done much public speaking since.
*This evening the class was postponed indefinitely because of COVID-19. But that's another matter. Since I was planning to blog about the class, my impressions and thoughts, etc, I figure I'll write this post as if I don;t know yet that it's cancelled. Now, instead of getting annoyed, keep in mind that I could write this as if I don't know yet, then afterwards post a follow-up as if I truly didn't know when I wrote the post. But that would be dishonest.
