Last Thursday’s show was just what I needed. it was 90 minutes of laughs, gasps, and applause. We had two first-timers who did fantastic, and a returning teller who finally told us the end of the story she told with us back in our Olive Way Starbucks days.
We talked about falling in love with mulch, falling in love with a guy covered in blue paint, and falling in love with a culture that’s in your DNA but not your daily life. So much love!
Chris and Gretchen told stories of working with difficult bosses who surprised them in the end with their humanity. Sue told us about a prom from 45 years ago, and Deb told us about the time her mother surprised her by letting her go to Russia when she was 14.
Megan and Sam did great as our first-time tellers. I hope they come back and tell more stories with us. I’m so happy when people discover storytelling with us. I may be a little biased, but I think FGS is the best place to tell your first story. There’s a lot of love in that room.
Melissa told the sweet story of her friendship with two eagles in Sammamish, who, I’m pretty sure, are due a finder’s fee for her new place there.
Ashley continued her streak of telling stories about things you couldn’t pay me a million dollars to do. This time it was descending into the pit of hell. Well, that’s my personal take on it. Technically, she rappelled into a 600-foot hole, crawled for an hour on her belly, and then did the whole thing in reverse. Most of it in the dark. This is how some people escape Mordor. For Ashley, it’s just another weekend with friends.
Tracey showed us what life is like with twins and in the process reminded us why she’s won so many Moth slams. I’ve seen her tell dozens of times, and there hasn’t been a single story where I knew where it was going.
Our last teller was me with a story I’ve been working on for a lot of years. It stayed in my notebook for 10 years while I tried to decide what it was about. Over the years it got bigger and bigger and at one point included Monica Lewinsky, an enforcer from the Crips, a princess from the Middle East, the United Nations General Assembly, and a bowl of macaroni and cheese. I guess you can say it kind of got away from me.
But after some deep thought over the last three years, I finally figured out what it was all about. It all came together when I discovered what the last line should be. The Moth and others often say you should know your last line first. It’s good advice. If you know what your last line is, it’s easier to know what to leave in and what to leave out of a story.
But sometimes you don’t know what the last line is and you just gotta plow ahead with the story and hope it comes to you. Ten years after the story happened in real life, and three years after I told the first version of it, the line finally came to me, lying in bed a couple weeks ago and going over the story for the millionth time. I don’t know if this story was worth working on for 10 years, but I’m glad I can finally move on.
Thanks to everyone who came out and cheered for all the tellers. I met some cool new people that night. I hope they come back and tell with us. The best part of each show is meeting people afterward. Stories are just a way for us to connect. That’s my real goal for FGS. Get out of the house, hear some great stories, meet people you never would have run into otherwise, and maybe make a friend.
I hope everyone who came out that night heard one story that stayed with them on the way home and talked to one person they hope to see again next month.
If you weren’t able to make it to our show, I’ll be onstage with this Thursday with living legend Auntmama.
If you think I’m exaggerating about her being a living legend, check this out 🙂
Our next show is on July 16. The theme is Temptation. I’ll get the Meetup invite out as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy the sun, have fun watching the soccer games, and look for moments in your life that can lead to stories.
Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com
Fresh Ground Stories 