Thanks to everyone who came out to our show last Thursday. What a night! The audience was a true star of the show. Every teller was greeted with love, applause, and laughter. Sitting at the front of the room with everyone behind me, I could feel all the energy wash over me with each new teller. 

I’m writing this away from home and don’t have my notes with me so I can’t do my usual rundown of each story. We had two wonderful first-timers tell and they both did great.  Kate and Marianna, I hope you both come back and tell more stories with us. Thanks to all the people who got up and told stories that night. We heard stories about things that happened 40 years ago and stories that were written on the way to the show about things that happened that week. That night we had everything. Thank you.

In a few days, I’m going back to my hometown for the first time in 25 years. When I told my buddy Hans, he said, “So you’ll be doing a lot of journaling, then.” Yeah, I’ll be doing a lot of writing on this trip. Twenty-five years ago I left Alaska and swore I’d never go back. I wanted to move on and put all that behind me. Now, for some reason, it’s time to go back and chase down the ghosts and get a new perspective on the past. That’s why one of next month’s themes is “Hometowns.” I’d love to hear stories from you about your hometown. You can tell the story of why you left, why you stayed, or about anything that ever happened to you there. The other theme you can choose to tell on is, “Finding where you belong.” I had to leave my hometown to find out where I belonged. I’d love to hear a story about how you found out where you belonged.

In the meantime, there are some fantastic shows coming up I want to tell you about.

Last Friday, I told a story at 7 Stories in Burien. I had a blast. This show is going on my list of places to work on new material. It’s an intimate gathering but very welcoming. Join their meetup group if you’d like to get their invites.

https://www.meetup.com/7-stories

This Tuesday, March 26, there’s a staged reading of “Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down” a play written by FGS regular Gretchen Douma. I love that we have playwrights telling at our show. Gretchen is a great writer so you should catch any play she’s working on. Click the link for details on how to attend the free reading. asiftheatre.com/the-works/

Bar Stories Is happening April 8. This is a new show but is attracting some of the best tellers in the area. You should check them out. Maybe even tell a story yourself 🙂

https://www.facebook.com/BarStoriesLiveOnStage

FGS tellers, Emily Pitts and Nick Vega are producing “My Comedian Teacher”, a storytelling/comedy/PowerPoint show at Jewelbox Theater April 11. They are both amazing tellers and you should go see whatever they’re doing.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1515101765733910

Wild Stories produced by KUOW and Story Collider is happening April 12. This is going to be a great show. It features three tellers, two of whom are FGS’ers, Paul Barach and Lisa Yeager.

https://www.storycollider.org/tickets/2024/4/12/seattle-wa-wild-stories

Don’t forget our free online workshop is coming up Sunday, April 7 https://www.meetup.com/fresh-ground-stories-storytelling-workshop/

It’s a great place to get feedback on a story you’re working on. 

I’m also free to help anyone on a story. Write me at freshgroundstories at gmail dot com and we can set up a phone call.

That’s all for now. I’ll get the invite out soon for our next show April 18.

Paul