Thursday, April 3, 2008

Triumph at the Bitter End

Disclaimer: This is a self-call.
This past Monday I competed in the Moth StorySLAM, a competition held monthly at the Bitter End (and also monthly at the Nuyorican Cafe on 3rd and B). The format is great, a usually hilarious MC welcomes ten successive amateur storytellers to the stage, where each has five minutes to narrate a good, funny story about the night's theme. The theme last Monday was 'fame'. Since everyone has their celeb story, the crowd was huge (150-200?), and 30 people entered the competition, meaning only a third would even compete. I was exhausted and sobering up when my name was called as the tenth and final storyteller. Shaking off some stagefright (it's been quite a while since I've been on a literal stage), I told the story of crashing Dick Gephardt's birthday party to great aplomb, winning the StorySLAM. This earns me a spot in the next GrandSLAM, a showdown between ten StorySLAM winners, some time this summer. Needless to say, I will be hyping the hell out of that show.
My own victory aside, I highly recommend people coming to watch and participate in these shows. The hosts, crowds and stories are great. Link is below:
http://www.themoth.org/storyslams
That is all for now. That, and Steeler legend Jerome Bettis's endorsement of Barack Obama. Carry him home, Bettis, carry him home.