Posts Tagged ‘storyslam’
Upcoming speaking events
In case you’re interested in hearing me blather, here are a few of my upcoming storytelling and speaking engagements: February 18: Literary Death Match at Laugh Boston (7:30 PM) I’ll be competing against three other authors for the title of Literary Death Match Champion. Ticketing info here. February 20: The Moth StorySLAM at Housing Works…
Read MoreLessons from another evening at The Moth: Storytellers’ reactions to a loss can differ greatly. Occasionally they suck.
On Monday some friends and I attended a Moth StorySLAM at the Bitter End in New York. After winning six StorySLAMs in a row, my luck finally ran out. I was chosen to tell my story first and finished in third place. Still, I told a good story about the time I moved my childhood…
Read MoreThe career of an author is not all angst and loneliness. Some of the time.
I am not a starry eyed author. I expect little from my publishing career. When I published my first novel, Something Missing, in 2009, I was not under the illusion that I would be quitting my day job anytime soon. I saw that book as a small, uncertain, precarious step into a new career that…
Read MoreMarital advice courtesy of a Moth StorySLAM victory
A friend and I attended The Moth’s StorySLAM at the Bitter End last night. He’s about 15 years younger than me, and while we waited in line outside the club, we talked about his recent experiences with dating in New York. I advised him that above all else, he should avoid getting married before the…
Read MoreSeptember storytelling
A few upcoming events for anyone interested: I’ll be telling a story on Friday evening at 7:00 at the Mark Twain House for The Mouth, a storytelling organization run by NPR’s Chion Wolf. The theme of the night is Luck and Serendipity. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased via the Mark Twain House’s website.…
Read MoreMy storytelling secret: I’m a small, frightened man onstage. Always.
I’m off to New York tonight to compete in another Moth StorySLAM. I have been exceptionally fortunate enough to win the last five StorySLAMs in which I have competed, including my last four in New York. I am not attempting to be humble in any way when I describe this recent streak of consecutive victories…
Read MoreCredit this blog for last night’s Moth StorySLAM victory
When I started blogging in 2004, people thought it was silly. They believed that it represented an unpolished, unprofessional form of writing that would go unread and unnoticed and eventually go away. They thought it a fad. A burst of digital narcissism. In 2007, blogging had begun to gain more mainstream acceptance, but the perception…
Read MoreMy wife played an enormous role in my recent Moth StorySLAM victory. Here’s how.
On Tuesday night I told a story at a Moth StorySLAM at Housing Works in New York City and was fortunate enough to win. On Facebook and Twitter, I expressed gratitude to my wife for the role she played in helping me to craft the story. A lot of people responded with questions like “How…
Read MoreSecond place sucks. I am a jerk.
I came in second place on Monday night at a Moth StorySLAM in New York City. I was in first place after four stories but gave up the lead to the eighth storyteller, who told an amusing and revealing story about her battle with herpes. Last week I finished second at a Moth StorySLAM in…
Read MoreThe Moth: Guys in Shower
The following is a story that I told at a Moth StorySLAM at The Bell House in Brooklyn in December of last year. The theme of the night was Courage. I told a story about being unexpectedly trapped in a shower in a woman’s dorm. I finished in third place that evening, defeated by my…
Read More