July will be our first show back at the Olive Way Starbucks!

To celebrate our return to a semi-almost-maybe-sorta-halfway-normal world I asked some of our regulars to come share their new favorite story on July 15th. No theme or open mic this month. Just a few folks from FGS past and present that I asked to come out and do a special show with me. It’s going to be extra special because I’ve completely forgotten how to run the PA system. 

Right now, the Olive Way Starbucks closes at 7pm. But because they love us so much they’re going to let us do our show there anyway. They’ll close the doors at 7:00 when we start the show and keep it open until we’re done. Isn’t that sweet? As of today, they’ll let us have 30-50 people in there.

I’m also going to try to figure out how to live-stream the show so more people can attend. There’s a chance Starbucks will let us have more than 50 people if the state reopens fully on June 30. I’ll let you know as soon as possible if we can pack the place or if we still need to keep the audience under 50.

We’ll go back to our usual themed open-mics in August. 

Thanks for your patience while I try to figure out how to get FGS back onstage. I love all the new people we’ve met from around the world while we were Zooming but I’m also excited to get back to telling stories in person. There’s nothing like a live show to really experience personal storytelling. If any of our tellers from outside Washington have a chance to come to Seattle, make sure you’re here on the third Thursday so you can see the show live 🙂

Stay tuned for more info on how many people we can have at the next show

That’s all for now. Try to stay cool. Remember, Starbucks has air conditioning! 

Paul

Freshgroundstories at gmail dot com

We made it! Last Thursday was our final Zoom show (probably). Next month we’re returning to our regular venue, the Olive Way Starbucks. The show will be July 15 and we’ll be able to get 30-50 people in there depending on what the governor says on June 30 and how many people Starbucks feels comfortable letting in. I’ll keep everyone updated as I know more. I’ll do my best to live stream the show if I can figure out how to do that and can find someone to work the laptop while I host the show.

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone who stuck with us over the last 15 months. I know Zoom shows are tough to connect with (both technically and emotionally) and how hard it is to tell a story staring into a little pinhole at the top of a monitor. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who kept supporting this show though all of this. 

We heard some great stories at the show last week. The most surprising thing about the show was how many people took the theme literally. The theme was “Swimming to Shore – Stories of saving yourself” and four of our tellers told stories about swimming. Good to know I’m not the only one who has almost drowned.

Kris started us off with the story of almost drowning on a rafting trip. Next time I go rafting I’m not just wearing helmet. I’m also wearing a snorkel, SCUBA tanks, swim fins, and a diving bell. And I’m wrapping myself in water willies. Are water willies a thing? If not, they should be. They sound like a good safety device.

Cara followed Kris with a story about going on a year-long solo trip around the world to make a point to herself and a couple ex-boyfriends that she is perfectly capable of being alone. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to make a point to anyone as much as Cara wanted to make this point. Naturally, it involved swimming alone across a lake in Spain and almost drowning.

Katy was up next and told a story about swimming in the Pacific Ocean and being escorted back to shore by two dolphins. I would like to add that I have never been approached by any aquatic animal bigger than a jellyfish and that jellyfish could not have cared less if I made it back to shore.

First-timer Vicki told a beautiful story of how dancing helped her recover from the loss of her husband. Of course, it wasn’t just dancing. It was also about how telling the story of her loss over and over again helped put those memories into perspective. The two things that have always helped me move through trauma are telling the story and moving my body. Thank you Vicki, for reminding us how powerful those things are.

Chris S brought us back to sea with her story of swimming out too far one day and trying to climb onto a rock to rest. Her images were so vivid I found myself wondering for a moment if she had actually died out there. It didn’t seem possible that she could have survived. 

Randi was next with a great story about talking herself out of trouble with a biker gang. Yay for quick thinking! Does anyone know when biker gangs started being known for tying teddy bears on their handlebars and driving through town promoting Toys for Tots? When I was a kid, biker gangs were the scariest thing around. Now they all look like out of work Santas. Weird!

A few weeks ago, I asked the last tellers, Paul, Bill, and Emily, if they would like to try out the stories they were going to tell at Pandamnit!, the in-person comedy storytelling show being held this Thursday in Seattle. They said they’d love to and ended up telling some fantastic stories. I won’t tell you what they’re about because some of you reading this will be seeing them at the show in a couple days. I will say that Pandamnit! Is going to be a great show 🙂

Stay tuned for more info on the next FGS show on July 15. I’ll let you know as soon as possible how many people we can have in the audience and how I’m going to decide who gets to attend. It might be the first 30-50 people who show up or it might be a list where the first 30-50 people to sign up get to show up. 

Stay cool everyone. Don’t try to mow the lawn like I just did when it’s 91 outside. It’s not worth the story.

See you soon,

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Hi All!

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our next show, a week from Thursday. Let me know if you’d like to tell a story. We have a couple of special guest tellers at this show so I hope a bunch of you can make it.

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories/events/278462707/

I also hope some of you can join me on June 24th at one of Seattle’s first in-person story shows. It has tellers you’ve heard on NPR and FGS so you know it’s going to be a great night of stories. I already have my tickets if you’re wondering how excited I am about finally leaving the house 🙂

And if you feel like staying home, there’s another cool show coming up on June 12. It’s a show full of liars. If you’ve never seen a show with stories that are complete lies you need to catch this. Liars shows are always fun and are a great way to learn a different technique for telling stories. A big bonus for this show is that Marte, one of our new regulars, will be telling a story. 

Liars Club

That’s all for now. We still have spots open for our show on June 17th so let me know if you want to share a story.

See you soon,

Paul

freshgroundstories@gmail.com

I don’t know how old I was when I realized I was the only one who was going to save me. It might have been 17 or 35 or 46, somewhere around there. It probably involved death or heartbreak because those are the only two things I can’t talk my way out of. I do know that when Life-As-I-Know-It-Is-Over I tend to lay on the ropes for a while like an old boxer waiting for the other guy to get tired and punch himself out. Only when it becomes clear that he’s never going to get tired do I stand up straight and start punching back. 

Whenever the bottom falls out of my life, my initial reaction is always, “This can’t possibly be happening. Somebody’s going to come over and tell me this is a joke.” Of course, no one ever does because it’s always real and it’s never a joke. Lovers leave. People die. Bad things happen and the kids still need to be fed. 

Come tell a story about a time when you had to save yourself. It could be about a time when you were in a plane crash or an emotional crash. Were you trapped on a mountain or trapped in a bad relationship? Maybe you had to talk your way out of a mugging. Or maybe you really were lost at sea and had to swim to shore. Whatever it is, we’d love to hear the story.

If you want to tell a story, remember to practice 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 also have to be clean in both language and content. The rest of the rules and guidelines are below:

Storytelling Rules and Guidelines

Workshops are a great way to get feedback on a story you’re working on. Here are two I highly recommend:

https://www.meetup.com/Stay-Awesome-Storytelling-Virtual-Workshop/

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop/

Both are run by experienced tellers who have performed many times at FGS. I’m also happy to help with stories. Send me an email at freshgroundstories@gmail.com and we set up a call.

If you want to tell a story at the show, email me as soon as possible so I can get you on the list.

I send out a Zoom registration link to everyone in the Meetup group the Monday before each show. You must register for the show in order to attend. 

After you register, Meetup will send you a link to the actual show. Each link is unique to the person who registered so you won’t be able to share it with anyone. 

Feel free to RSVP on Meetup if you want their automatic reminders, but I’ll be sending the registration link to everyone in the group regardless of your RSVP.

We only have 100 spots in each show so the first 98 people to register for the show will be the only ones who can attend. 

Hope to see a bunch of you on June 17th!

Paul
freshgroundstories@gmail.com

Thank you everyone who came out to the show last Thursday. It was great to have so many people show up to support our tellers. I was especially happy to see some first-timers telling that night. 

This wrap-up will be shorter than usual as I’m under the influence of a wicked mixture of pollen and various over-the-counter allergy meds. It’s almost June so I’m scheduled to spend the next few weeks on my back with a wet rag over my eyes and blowing my nose hard enough to start the neighbor dogs barking.

Luckily, the good folks at MerckoPfizerSquibbJohnson have given me a wide range of narcobenzoflamitoids to choose from. If it ends in -tec, -vert, -tin, or -dryl I probably have it in me right now. I don’t know what the active ingredients are in any of these but I’m probably flammable. 

I do want to share a couple things before I go back under the rag.

First, Silvana sent me a photo of Randy the man-eating rooster in his johnny jump-up. Thank you, Silvana! I posted it on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freshgroundstories

Second, Colleen shared a story that night about taking control of her life and how she started giving herself the love and attention that until then she’d been giving to others. The next day a friend of mine wrote to tell me that it was exactly the story she needed to hear right now in her life. 

Our stories are gifts. Not because they contain advice, but because they let others know they’re not alone. The world doesn’t need more opinions but it does need more people sharing what we’ve lived through. Thank you, Colleen, for your gift that night. A woman you’ve never met really needed it.

Ok, one more thank you to my son, Taran. Thank you for making your old man proud. You told a great story. I’m still thinking about it a week later.

Big thanks to all the tellers that night: Behnaz, Carmen, Colleen, Liz, Melody, Randi, Emily, Connie, Silvana, Taran, and Dave.

Don’t forget to take our one-question survey on how comfortable you’d be coming to see an FGS show in person. If I get enough people who want to come I’ll bring the show back to our favorite coffee shop on July 15.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MMN59SG

Our next Zoom show is June 17. The theme is, “Swimming to Share – Stories of saving yourself.” I’ll get the invite out as soon as I can see straight. Email me if you have any questions, freshgroundstories at gmail dot com (I gotta spell it this way ‘cos Meetup will hide it if I don’t).

Check out the two great workshops we partner with. They’re super helpful if you need help on a story.

https://www.meetup.com/Fresh-Ground-Stories-Storytelling-Workshop

https://www.meetup.com/Stay-Awesome-Storytelling-Virtual-Workshop

Have a great week 🙂

Paul