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FGS: First Love
Ah, first love. I remember it like it was yesterday. The flush of new emotions. The heartbreak when it ended. The despair and conviction that I’d never find love again. Who doesn’t want to go back to that?
Come tell a story about your first love. How did it start? Did it end with a hug and a sigh or two years of clinical depression? Maybe you’re still together 50 years later! We’d love to hear how that turned out.
Remember, all stories need to have something at stake. Ask yourself what obstacle you were trying to overcome, and build the story from there. Practice the story out loud on as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing it. Please don’t get onstage if you haven’t practiced your story. The audience is giving you their time and attention. It’s not fair to them if you get up there and try to wing it.
All stories have to be under 8 minutes. Stories can be as short as you want, but not over 8 minutes. Stories also have to be clean in both language and content. Send me an email if you have any questions about that.
We had some money left over in Mr. Coffee last week so I’m able to offer one more Swedish Club membership to the first person who writes me at freshgroundstories at gmail dot com. Meetup rarely gets replies to me so you’ll have to start a new email.
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I’ve always known we have some great storytellers at FGS, and every now and then the world catches onto that. Last month, Bill Bernat, who has been telling with us for many years, was featured in The Moth’s “Oh, Brother” episode. You can listen to it here:
Jeff Birdsall who just started telling with us in the past year or so, will be on next week’s Moth telling a story he told with us a few months ago. You can catch his story next Sunday, the 27th at 1pm on KUOW, and Monday the 28th at 10 pm.
We’ve had over 20 of our tellers end up on The Moth and other NPR shows over the years. I am constantly amazed at the talent that shows up at FGS every month. I hope you’re making plans to join us next month on August 21!
What a night we had Thursday! The view from the top floor of the Swedish Club was superb and the stories were just what I needed. Sun, friends, and stories. It’s a perfect day for me.
In all the years I’ve been running FGS, I’ve never been able to relax and enjoy a few minutes of quiet before the show. I’ve always been driving in circles looking for parking, running around setting up chairs, and wrestling with a PA system. But ever since we moved to the Swedish Club, things have been…kinda perfect.
There are tons of free parking. The PA system must be some kind of Scandinavian because it hasn’t given me hardly any trouble, and the chairs are magically in place when I get there. That means I can sit on the deck of the club and stare quietly over Lake Union before everyone gets there. What a treat.
The stories, of course, were wonderful. We had everything from the importance of following your moral compass, to a personal living room concert from Jimi Hendrix, to the joys of seeing your sweetheart on a dating site a few days after she dumps you.
As always, the best of the evening was talking afterward to everyone. FGS is a great place to learn how to tell a compelling story, but the real-and-not-so-secret reason I keep this thing running is the people I get to meet. A lot of friendships have started at our show and that’s the real reason for telling any story, really. We tell stories to connect and there’s no better way to do that live, in front of a room full of people who are rooting for you.
FGS isn’t the only place this happens. There are some great places around here to tell or just listen to stories. Here are three of my favorites:
7 Stories – This Friday – suggested theme is “Letting Go”
Artist’s Way open mic – You get 10 minutes to tell a story, sing a song, read a poem, or tell the audience how much you love quantum physics. Yes, that really happened when I was there Monday. I love this show. It’s now on my list of places to work on new material. The audience was full of kind, patient folks who laughed, smiled, and applauded for everyone who walked on stage.
If you feel like singing instead of telling stories, come out to the Swedish Club Friday for Beserkaraoke! I’ll be in Olympia that night but I’d love for some of you to go to beserker karaoke and tell me what it’s like. There will also be a taco bar so it’ll be guaranteed fun watching people hit the high note in Unchained Melody with a tummy full of ground beef.
The next FGS is Thursday, August 21. The theme is “First Love” but you can tell a story about anything as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.
Just a quick reminder that our next show is coming up this Thursday. The theme is “It’s Never Too Late – Stories of doing it anyway.” Themes are just a suggestion, though. You can tell a story on any theme as long as it follows our usual rules and guidelines.
If you’re looking to practice your story in front of a live audience, the wonderful folks at Bar Stories are hosting their show in Tacoma tomorrow. I told a story there a couple months ago and had a great time. It’s in a brewery and they let you use notes. What more could you want?
Also, one of our new members just started her own open mic in Columbia City that I’ll be going to next Monday on the 21st. Come hang out with me and check out the new show! It’s an open mic for anything. They give you 10 minutes to tell a story, sing a song, recite a poem, paint yourself blue and dance the Mazurka, whatever you want. I can’t wait to see what Columbia City people have been cooking up.
Lastly, our friends at 7 Stories are having their show a week from this Friday on the 28th. The suggested theme is “Letting Go.” The folks here are super supportive, and I always enjoy going there. Plus, it’s held at the Burien Heritage Museum, so if you tell a story, you’ll get to stand next to a replica of a 737 and the DB Cooper display.
Hope to see a bunch of you this Thursday at the Swedish Club. Oh, I just discovered where the mysterious third parking lot is. It’s across the street from the club and with a giant mural of dinosaurs. All total, we have over 100 spots of free parking, so there’s no reason not to come. Seriously, when was the last time you went to something in Seattle with free parking? The last time I found free parking, I was driving a covered wagon and coming to town to buy hard tack and gingham.
Fresh Ground Stories 