Thanks to everyone who came out and supported all our tellers last Thursday. We had old friends drop by to share new stories and new friends come by to share old stories. It was a joy for me to host.
Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that leave us wanting to know more. Thursday’s show was filled with stories like that. For instance, what did the dominatrix whisper to David as she sat in the back seat of his Uber? How did she know just what to say to make him so uncomfortable?! And how in the world does she make $400,000/year humiliating men over the internet while never taking her clothes off? More importantly, how can the rest of us get in on this?
Bruce told a story that left me wondering if the father of his sweetheart from 51 years ago was an executive for Arrow shirts or a CIA field operative in Africa? Did they really just barely escape from an uprising in the Belgian Congo or was that just a cover story from something more nefarious? Sabra, a first-timer, told us about joining a Korean martial arts cult and what it took to finally leave. On the way home I realized I never found out what martial art they taught. Taekwondo? Hapkido? Tang Soo Do? Hwa Rang Do? Can you tell that I read Black Belt magazine religiously as a kid? I still remember all those names.
Paul, our second first-timer, told the story of escaping from communist Poland and what it was like to leave his family behind. I really wanted to sit down with Paul after the show and learn what it was like growing up in a place like that. Based on the purple shoes he was wearing that night, it looks like he’s completely embraced America.
One of our regulars, Renata, told a story about divorcing her first husband of 35 years and how it led to going on 80 online dates before finding the true man of her dreams…who she then revealed to the audience was Paul from Poland! Surprise! Yes, I secretly planned that. I asked Renata weeks ago to share that story and when she told me a few days ago that Paul was working on his own story I asked her to surprise the audience with the last-minute reveal. Paul from Poland was date #80. If you’d like to know more about dates 1-79 you can read the book she wrote called, “Around Seattle in 80 Dates.”
There are many more stories from that night I could go on about but I’ll let you get back to your lives. Big thanks to all the tellers who walked up to the microphone that night. I say every night at the start of each show, “Opinions separate us, and stories bring us together.” Thank you for bringing us all together that night.
Our next show is November 21. The theme is “Discovering something about yourself.” I’ll get the official invite out as soon as I can.
If you’re looking for help on a story, our next free monthly workshop is Nov 3. It’s run by two of our regular tellers who volunteer their time. Thank you, Dave and Chad! You can RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/events/265468750/
Hope to see a bunch of you on the 21st 🙂
Paulfreshgroundstories@gmail.com
Fresh Ground Stories 