Guys, you really surprised me last week. When it was 6:15 and there was only a dozen people in the entire coffee shop I figured I would have to either cancel the show or push a few chairs into a circle and call it a workshop. But suddenly, at 6:30, 50 people walked in! What happened? Did you all come on the same bus? By the time 7:00 rolled around  we had a full house.

If you’ve been following the show for a while, you know how much I love it when first-timers walk up to the mic. Last Thursday we had a number of them and I’m very happy they finally got up there. Gia has been coming to the show since 2010 and last week she finally decided to share a story. The story was about how watching her sister go through cancer treatment inspired her to become a radiation technician. Two weeks earlier, Gia and I talked briefly about how nervous she was about talking to a room full of strangers. As she walked onstage I was nervous for her. Afterward I asked her how she felt. She said she was excited to do it again! I hope she does. There was a moment toward the end of her story where she talked about how important it is to connect with people, especially if you have patients. Right after she said it the audience burst into applause. I think Gia’s future patients will be happy that she knows much healing is helped my feeling connected.

Maryanne told a very moving story about growing up with a classmate who was bullied in school. I’m guessing they went to school together in the 50s because it was heartbreaking to hear what teachers allowed and even encouraged back then. Maryanne is an amazing southern storyteller who has been performing for decades and her touch with this delicate story was perfect.

I’ve been hoping Maryanne would come by FGS since I met her a few years ago and I’m thrilled she finally made it. She hosts her own monthly story show which often happens on the same day and time as our show so I haven’t gotten to see hers yet. But that will change this week. I’m going to finally catch her show this Thursday at the Starbucks in Madison Park. She has all kinds of stories and guest tellers at her show so you never know what you’re going to get. I’m excited I finally get to see it and I hope some of you will join me. Click on the links below for more info:

http://seattlestorytellers.org/ssg/events/event-7400.html

https://www.maryannemoorman.com/

Chris, one of our regulars, told a story that I think is one of her best. I remember the first time she ever told a story and I can’t believe she’s gotten this good in such a short period of time. Her story Thursday was about the time she and two friends visited the AIDS quilt Washington DC. I’ve known Chris for a few years now but this was a part of her life I never heard her talk about. She talked about how the quilt affected her friends and the promise she made to them that day. It was a beautiful story. Listening to it made me feel even closer to her. That feeling echoed what Gia said about connection earlier in the show and it made me feel like the whole night had come full circle.

Thanks to all the tellers who told that night and to everyone in the audience who gave them their patience and attention. FGS is where people learn how to tell stories and the audience is always so supportive in that. We get folks who have been telling stories all over the world for years and people who have never spoken in front of an audience before. It’s an inspiring mix for me and I hope it is for everyone else.

Our next show is June 28. The theme is “Not What I Thought it Was – Stories of being under the illusion.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can.

If you’re interested in seeing what kinds of other story shows are going on in Seattle check out the Seattle Storytelling group at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/198209904060632/

The woman who runs it does a great job of keeping track of all the storytelling events in or near Seattle.

Have a great June. Hope to see you all on the 28th 🙂

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi All,

I was out of town this weekend and haven’t had time to write my usual wrap-up and thank you email. I’ll get to that soon, but want to tell you about two great story shows coming up so you’ll have a chance to get tickets.

The wise and wonderful Danielle K.L. Gregoire will be doing one of her last shows in America this weekend and I hope a big pile of you can go catch it this Saturday, June 2.

She is one of my favorite people and a supporter of FGS (as well as former producer of The Moth and many other storytelling shows)

She’s doing something I’ve never seen done before, live improvised personal storytelling based on suggestions from the audience. I love this idea, and of all the tellers I know, Danielle is the only one who could pull it off. So go see her before she moves back to Canada!

https://thepocket.vbotickets.com/…/Soap_and_Other_Sto…/27489

The second show is the annual PowellsWood Storytelling Festival which I volunteer at every year. You know how hard it is to get me out of the house so it must be a pretty great show if I’m willing to drive up to Tacoma to see it.

Some of the greatest tellers in the county come out every year to perform in a beautiful garden setting. You could see these tellers at Benaroya Hall for a ton of money or see them up close and personal for $20. They also give workshops if you’re interested.

The all-day event is July 21 and the workshops are on the 20th. Click here for more info: http://powellswoodfestival.com/

Remember, if you go to the show Saturday, not only will you get to see world-class storytelling, you’ll also get to see me and my son wandering through the garden emptying garbage cans. That is the job the good folks at PowellsWood give us every year and we are happy to have it.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I spent 12 miles of it paddling a kayak that might have been a bit too small for me. Do kayaks have sizes?? Am I an XL? I’m finally able to walk in a straight line now but it was touch and go for a while. Next year I might make an offer on the leaky, weathered rowboat I saw on the way to the marina. Right now, leg room seems more important than speed or seaworthiness.

Next FGS is June 28. The theme is “Not What I Thought it Was: Stories of being under the illusion.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can. See you then!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi Everyone,

I hope to see you this Thursday at the next Fresh Ground Stories. We have two themes this month so if you want to tell a story you have a couple of topics to choose from. The first is “Keep on keeping on: Stories of not giving up” and the second is “Courage.” Choose one of those themes to tell a story about or just hang out and enjoy the show from the audience 🙂

FGS: Keep on Keeping On – Stories of not giving up

Thursday, May 24, 2018, 7:00 PM

Roy Street Coffee & Tea
700 Broadway East – Seattle, WA

32 Story Fans Attending

This month’s show is going to have two themes because I apparently I can’t keep track of even the simplest things in my life. But that is ok! Mistakes lead to stories so I’m not going to worry about it. Last week at the show I couldn’t remember the theme I had chosen so I told everyone at Roy St that the theme was “Courage.” When I got home that n…

Check out this Meetup →

Here’s a Moth story to put you in the mood: https://youtu.be/ayYMNb1H-Y8

I don’t know who Diana Spechler is but she tells a lot of stories that really resonate with me. Sometimes it feels like she’s been reading my journal. It’s a little unnerving.

Also, I just discovered a storytelling podcast that I instantly loved so I want to share it with you guys. It’s from multiple-Moth-StorySlam winner Matthew Dicks and his wife Elysia who give storytelling tips and then break down a story they like and explain what the teller did well. The podcast is called “SpeakUp Storytelling” and you can find it on iTunes here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/speak-up-storytelling/id1386552794?mt=2&i=411803636

Did that sound like an advertisement for them? I hope not. It’s just a cool thing I found that I know will help me with my own storytelling so I wanted to pass it on to anyone else who might be interested.

The last thing I want to tell you about are two live story shows coming up that are worth seeing.

One is Folklife. There are a number of FGS alumni in the festival this year and I hope some of you can go check out their performances  http://seattlestorytellers.org/ssg/images/folklife18revtimes.pdf

The other is Auntmama’s Storytable, which usually runs at the same time and day as our show. This month, we’re lucky. She’s running her show a week after ours, May 31. I’ve been trying for a long time to get her to tell a story at FGS because she is amazing and I love sharing a stage with her. Until that happens you can see her show at her own show  http://seattlestorytellers.org/ssg/events/event-7400.html

That’s all I got. Enjoy the sun. Hope to see you in a few days at Roy Street!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

This month’s show is going to have two themes because I apparently I can’t keep track of even the simplest things in my life. But that is ok! Mistakes lead to stories so I’m not going to worry about it.

Last week at the show I couldn’t remember the theme I had chosen so I told everyone at Roy St that the theme was “Courage.” When I got home that night I found my notes and discovered the theme was actually, “Keep on Keeping On – Stories of not giving up.” So we get to have two themes this month and you can tell a story on whichever one you like.

Remember to keep it clean, practice out loud and on friends as much as possible, and time yourself so you know it’s under 8 minutes.

Also, meetup.com didn’t send the thank you & wrap-up email I wrote to you guys earlier this week. I sent it three different times and wrote the help desk twice but nothing has changed. So if you’d like to read my wrap-up of last week’s show you can find it here:

https://freshgroundstories.com/2018/05/02/thank-you-35/

Here are the rules and guidelines for telling a story if you haven’t seen them in a while.

https://freshgroundstories.com/2013/01/22/storytelling-rules-and-guidelines/

I hope to see a bunch of you on Thursday, May 24 at Roy Street Coffee and Tea

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Thanks everyone who came out to the show last week on such a sunny day. We had way more people than I thought we’d get and I’m grateful to every person who came out.

I was trying to explain to someone the other day why it’s more fun for me to host than to tell my own stories and all I could say was that your stories keep me company. The next time I’m walking through the woods I’m going to remember David K and his story from Thursday about the time he and his brother found a pit full of snakes in the forest. They couldn’t understand what the fuss was about when they walked back to their family with handfuls of live snakes. I’m also going to remember what he said to me in an email this weekend. He lost his brother a few years ago and telling stories about him is one of the ways he stays connected to his memory. Thank you, Dave, for giving me one more reason to keep this show going.

Today at the grocery store I was putting a bag of apples in the cart and I thought back to Chris’s story about bonding with some friends in high school by passing an apple around in a circle and each one taking a bit until it was gone. The sisterhood of the traveling apple! It made me think back to my early 20s when the only bonding I did with my friends was by sharing bottles of whiskey. Those nights definitely had an aura of ritual and bonding to them. Maybe if we had shared apples instead of alcohol those bonds would have lasted longer.

David Schumer’s touching story of holding support groups for the young doctors in his hospital began and ended by quoting the title song from the musical Camelot. I’ve never told anyone how much I love that soundtrack. Camelot was a huge part of my childhood. Why did David choose that song to put in his story? I have no idea, but now I have something to ask him the next time I see him. Tonight I’m listening to that soundtrack for the first time in years and wondering why I ever stopped.

One of the most surprising stories of the night was from Lauree. It was a wonderfully honest story about how she finally learned the reasons behind some behaviors she’s lived with all her life. She talked about how she went from feeling alone to feeling like she belonged to this group of people who shared her experiences. At the end of her story, she said she felt like she had found a family even if that family was very different from the rest of the world. Man, who hasn’t wished they could find that family? How many of us grow up in biological families we had nothing in common with and don’t find our real families until decades later? Maybe instead of paying 23andMe to find my family I should have gone to WebMD. Actually, you want to know how I found my true family? I started going onstage and telling stories. After a while, people starting coming up to me after shows and saying that they had the same feelings about stuff that I did. I’m a little sad that it took me until I was in my 40s to find those people but I’m glad I can finally say that I may be weird but I’m not alone. If I ever write a memoir I will probably call it Weird But Not Alone.

Special thanks to everyone who told a story that night: Bruce, Connie, David K, David S, Chris, Morgan, Michael, Lauree, and Marjorie. The tape recorder did its job so if any of the tellers want the audio of their story just send me an email. Most of the stories we hear at FGS are very personal so I only send audio to the people who told a story and it’s only of the story they told.

We have an unusual circumstance surrounding next month’s theme. I left my notes at home that night and I couldn’t remember the theme I had settled on by the time I had to announce it. So told everyone at the show that May’s theme was “Courage”. When I got home I discovered the theme I’d been trying to remember which was “Keep on Keeping On – Stories of not giving up.” So for the first time, we’re going to have two themes next month. You can choose whichever one you want to tell a story about. I’ll get the official invite out as soon as you can. The show will be May 24.

Thanks again to everyone who came out. You’re all on my gratitude list this week 🙂

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com