Sorry I didn’t get the thank you/wrap-up message out this month. I’m hip-deep in a big video storytelling project that I’m spending 12-hour days on. It’s gratifying but exhausting.
But I’ll be ready for our show next Thursday! The theme is “Escape – Stories of breaking free.”
I also want to share two events with you. The first is a storytelling event called “Community Speaks: Frames of Mind”. It’s a mental health show from the South Asian community. One of the people facilitating the event is Abhishek Kulkarni, a man I met when I hosted NAMI’s Brainpower Chronicles last year. He’s a wonderful storyteller and will be sharing stories with us at FGS soon.
The other event is 7 Stories in Burien. We’ve had a number of FGS folks tell at this show and you’ve seen 7 Stories people tell at our show. Their next show is Friday, May 26 at 7pm. The theme is “Disconnecting. Unplugging. Uncoupling.”
I hope you’re all having a great week. I’m off to Spokane for a few days to record more people sharing stories of their lives. I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity if someone hadn’t come to our show, seen what we do, and asked me to be a part of it. So keep telling stories and asking others to share theirs. It can lead you to great places.
≈ Comments Off on FGS: Escape – Stories of breaking free
When I was a kid there were two things I wanted to escape from, my family and Alaska. I broke free from my family at 17 but it wasn’t until I was 19 that I managed to escape Alaska and go to LA, chasing the ghost of my mother. In one way I was escaping the place I grew up, but in another way I was escaping the shy, timid kid everyone thought I was and trying to become the person I thought I might be.I told this story at FGS a few years ago so I won’t take up your time repeating here. What I’d love to hear now are stories from you about a time when you broke free.
Come tell a story about a time when you escaped from something. It could have been a place, a relationship, a state of mind. Maybe you escaped from a burning building or an overturned car. Or maybe what you escaped from was your past. Remember, we’re not here to badmouth people or places in our lives. This is a chance to focus on what you became, where you ended up, and what you learned along the way.
Come tell a story about a time you broke free. Remember to practice your story out loud on as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing 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.
I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Send me an email and we can set up a phone call.
Unfortunately, we’re not able to keep the doors open past 7 pm so if you come after that you probably won’t be able to get in.
See you on Thursday, May 18 at the Chabad of Queen Anne – Magnolia! 1825 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 (Remember, no non-kosher food in the building)
Write me directly at freshgroundstories@gmail.com if you have any questions. If you want to tell a story just show up before we start at 7pm and put your name in Mr. Coffee.
Here are the rules and guidelines for telling at FGS:
April’s theme is, “Did I Do That? – Stories of surprising yourself.” When was the last time you really surprised yourself? Was it something good you did? Something bad? Embarrassing? What did you learn about yourself afterward? Did you hide it from others or tell the world? Whatever it was, we’d love to hear the story behind it.
Remember to practice your story out loud on as many people as possible and time yourself when you’re doing 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.
I’m also happy to help anyone with a story they’re working on. Send me an email and we can set up a phone call.
See you on Thursday, April 20 at 7 pm at the Chabad of Queen Anne – Magnolia! 1825 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109 (Remember, no non-kosher food in the building)
What a great show we had Thursday! Even the rabbi got up and told a story. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like for a rabbinical student to be arrested in Russia by the KGB, now you know. Well, you’d know if you were at the show. To be honest, I don’t remember if it was the KGB or the regular GB. Either way, it’s no fun getting thrown in jail in Russia. Aren’t you sad you missed that story?
We also had our first near-death experience story. I’ve always been on the fence about near-death experiences, but the way Todd told his story made me want to know more. One of my favorite things about FGS is that I meet so many people I want to talk to after the show. Many of those people have become good friends of mine. One more reason to come hang out with us on third Thursdays.
We had three first-timers that night and you know that I always love to see new people discover storytelling. One of the sweetest moments of the evening was when Mark, a first-timer, walked up to the mic and suddenly couldn’t remember how to start his story. After a few seconds, he apologized and went to sit back down. But the audience wouldn’t let him. People started yelling, “You can do it!” and “Just start anywhere!” It was one of the best moments of mass kindness I’ve ever been a part of. Mark turned around, began his story, and did a great job. I just found out today that the next night Mark went onstage at The Moth and won. Congratulations Mark! I’m always happy when I see people practice stories for The Moth at FGS.
Two of the tellers from that night are performing in The Moth grandslam on March 23 at Town Hall. I hope some of you can get tickets and support them. Good luck Melissa, Gretchen, and Kent (who wasn’t able to make it to our show that night).
Normally, I do a short write-up of each story letting you know how they affected me but I’m not able to do that this time because both of my recorders died on me. I was very upset to find them both dead when I went to hit stop at the end of the show. So not only can I not review them for this thank you email, I also can’t send copies to the tellers. That part hurts the most. Hopefully, I’ve figured out what the issue is and after nine batteries and a new cable, we’ll be back to recording again. Forgive me for not writing in detail about some of the stories we heard that night.
What I can tell you is that in addition to the stories above, we also heard stories about walking through Spain, America, and Thailand. Are all storytellers seekers? Maybe. Stories are how I make sense of my life. I think stories are an important part of whatever journey you’re on. After all, how do we make sense of what we’ve seen if not through the story we tell afterward?
Rich, one of our first-timers, told a very funny story about crashing his car on the way to a first date. I’ve had some first dates that felt like a car crash but never had one on the way to a date. I’m happy to say that he now has a sweetheart and probably really good insurance.
Special thanks to Chris and Gretchen who always say yes when I ask them to go first. They’re both wonderful tellers and they always start the evening off right. I’m going to start asking other folks to open our shows because they deserve a break.
One teller I want to thank specifically, though, is Bill B. Bill has been telling with us for about a decade now and that night he closed the show with a funny, touching, heartbreaking-and-then-heartmending story that none of us will ever forget. Bill is moving to the UK in a couple weeks so we won’t see him for a while. He’s been a big part of Seattle storytelling for a long time and is one of the best tellers I’ve ever seen. I’m going to miss him.
Our next show is April 20. The theme is “Surprising yourself.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can.
Remember to support all the other great storytelling shows in the area.
7Stories needs more tellers for their show this Friday in Burien. The theme is “Advice to my younger self / Rearview mirrors”
Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday and supported all the folks who walked up to the mic that night. FGS will always be free for anyone to attend or tell a story. If you’d like to help pay for the room rental you can donate a couple of bucks here:
Also, if anyone knows where to get a kosher scone, let me know. We can only bring kosher food into the venue and I always give away a Scone of Courage to the first first-timer of the night. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find a scone with a K inside a circle on the package. I can’t bake one because it would have to come from a kosher kitchen. So let me know if you find a good Jewish deli.
Fresh Ground Stories 