The Whole Story Podcast

In our season 2 finale, we talk to three of the foremost experts and pros at producing.  We talk curation, pitches, honesty, listening, and all things that go into a story, a show, and well, people.

Peter Michael Marino just returned from a triumphant run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where he performed his one-man improvised comedy Show Up for 23 days straight. For upcoming dates, visit www.showuptheshow.com.

He is currently co-producing the new festival TrumpCON (http://www.horsetrade.info/) and SoloCom (https://thepit-nyc.com/festivals/solocom-2017)

Elna Baker is a writer and comedic storyteller. She’s a regular contributor on This American Life and has appeared on The Moth Radio Hour, Prairie Home Companion, BBC Radio 4, All Things Considered, WTF with Marc Maron, Studio 360, The Joy Behar Show and in the book The Moth: 50 true stories. She’s written for The New York Times, ELLE, Glamour, Men’s Journal, O Magazine, Rookie, Refinery29, and More Magazine.

Her memoir The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance was published by Penguin, earning four stars in People Magazine and the 2010 AML award for best humor writing. She currently scouts stories for This American Life and performs throughout NYC.

Robin Gelfenbien is a NYC-based storyteller, writer and comedian who’s performed at The Moth, RISK! and Mortified. She’s the Creator and Host of the storytelling series and podcast, “Yum’s the Word,” that features her homemade ice cream cakes.

The show has been named one of the “5 Best Storytelling Series in NYC” by CBS, a New York Times and Time Out New York Critic’s Pick and Bon Appetit raved, “We love Yum’s the Word.” Guests have included Tim Gunn, Jason Biggs, The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi, Joy Behar and stars from “Orange is the New Black.” Robin has written jokes for emcee Rosie O’Donnell at The Matrix Awards where featured presenters included Martha Stewart, Rupert Murdoch, Hillary Clinton and more.

This episode we get inside this thing we call storytelling and mess around with its form.  Anita Flores and Brad Lawrence talk to us about how they like playing around and challenge this thing called “storytelling.”  We talk about long form, animation, interviews, pacing, and all kinds of tips and tricks and tactics that we use in performances.  How can we keep challenging what stories are, how we tell them, and all of those things?  Anita and Brad tell us their takes on all of this and much more!

Brad Lawrence is a critically acclaimed storyteller and solo performer. He has appeared on the Moth Mainstage, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and before audiences all over the United States. Most recently he has joined the production team of RISK! The show where people tell stories they never thought they’d dare to share.

Anita co-hosts a monthly show called Party of Two where comedians tell stories about dating in the modern world. She has a Youtube channel called Queso where she and her friends make comedy videos. Follow her on Twitter at @anitajewtina for important updates on pizza and Kelsey Grammar’s career.

This episode we talked to four members of the DPC (Dead Parent Club) at a live panel.  Susan, Marc, Sharon, and Robert all share pieces of their lives that are the most vulnerable and hardest to share.  We talk about the origins of the DPC storytelling community, how dealing with loss through storytelling helps, and advice to all of us who aren’t part of the club - but will be one day.  We also chant “Susan Kent!” a few times for good measure.

Robert Commiskey is a writer and storyteller, having performed in the UK and New York. He can currently be seen around New York and is less poor than he was last year.

Susan Kent is a Brooklyn-based writer and storyteller whose work has appeared on Snap Judgment, RISK!, and The Moth Radio Hour and podcast. She is the founder of the Dead Parents Club Storytelling Series and Festival, and the host and curator of Tell It: Brooklyn, which is coming to the Cinder Block Festival on September 9 at Hell Phone in Bushwick.

Sharon Spell ​is the author of a hilarious show about the heartbreaking loss of her parents​. “You’re Doing Great!” played to a full house at the Tank’s Dead Parents Club Solo Show Festival in 2016. She’s appeared on the Moth Mainstage and ​is the ​host of The Sharon Spell Show comedy podcast​. She can be seen on stage at U​pright ​C​itizens ​B​rigade​ and ​on shows ​around NYC. Her visual art is also out about town. She’s into jokes, art and joie de vivre. No bummers!

Marc L Abbott is the author of the YA novel The Hooky Party and the children’s book Etienne and the Stardust Express. He is the director of the horror short SNAP and the online horror series Anthorrorgy. A two-time nominated actor, a 2015 Moth StorySlam and GrandSlam winner. He is the host of the monthly open mic Maaan, You’ve got to hear this! at Precious Metal in Bushwick, Brooklyn. He has written and performed two one man shows; Of Cats and Men: A Storytellers Journey and Love: African-American Style which was featured at the EATS festival at the TADA Theatre. He is also co-host of the podcast Beef, Wine and Shenanigans which airs twice a month and a member of the HWA.

This week, Julia and Asher go behind the bar.  Or rather, talk to people who do.  Amy and Sean are seasoned bartenders in NYC, which means they hear all kinds of stories, give out all kinds of advice, and meet all kinds of weird people.  We talk about what a regular means, what starting off in bartending is like, and just how much people are willing to expose to people serving them booze.  

Sean O’Brien is a comic/storyteller originally from Lavallette, New Jersey.   He runs a monthly comedy show  Titled Dummies&Company in Brooklyn NY. sean is a Moth Grandslam champion and can be seen at various comedy clubs all around the Tri-State Area.

Amy Whitehouse is a New York City native working in the restaurant industry for almost 10 years.  

In a surprise mini episode, Julia asks Asher about the storytelling festival he’s producing.  Speak Up, Rise Up kicks off on Monday, August 14th and will showcase a week of stories from communities and people we don’t get to hear from.  Featuring shows from Ophira Eisenberg, Josh Johnson, Aparna Nancherla, Aisha Harris, Shannon Cason, and so many more.  

Check out www.speakupriseup.com for more info and check out some shows, especially because Julia will be in Mexico.  

A cartoonist, a journalist, and a bi-sexual filmmaker walk into a bar.  Or wait, a recording studio.  Wait, one of them is also a rabbi.  No…nevermind.  This week we got to talk all about storytelling in different mediums.  From online videos to personal essays to film to animation to podcasts and everything in between.  Be sure to check out all their respective work too!

Lilly Dancyger is the Deputy Editor of Narratively, where she mostly edits memoir. She also teaches memoir writing at Gotham Writers’ Workshop, and her first book, “Hunted: A memoir of art and addiction” is forthcoming from Shanti Arts Press in summer 2018.

Tim Manley is a writer, storyteller, and educator. 

Co-creator, co-director, and writer of The Feels, online show about a bi guy with way too many feelings. Writer and illustrator of Alice in Tumblr-land, published by Penguin and optioned for TV by 20th Century Fox. Storyteller featured on HBO’s Girls, The Moth Radio Hour, Gimlet’s Surprisingly Awesome, and in his FringeFAVE solo show, Feelings. Educator with New York City’s Showcase Schools program, and elsewhere.

Anoush Froundjian is a writer, cartoonist and improvisor, who knows her way around a Sharpie. When she isn’t telling stories, she draws her online comic, “Anoush Talks to Stuff,” and designs clothing with her own monster illustrations. Please stop by! https://anoushtalkstostuff.wordpress.com

https://artofwhere.com/artists/anoush

Have you ever told a story about someone and wondered, “I wonder what they thought about that?” Have you ever told a story about a significant other with them in the room?  Have they ever corrected you?  Julia and Asher got to talk to Matt and Elysha Dicks about storytelling and storylistening, what it’s like on the other side of stories, and the importance of frozen corn.

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, Unexpectedly, Milo, The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs, and the upcoming The Other Mother.

Matthew is married to friend and fellow teacher, Elysha, and they have two children, Clara and Charlie. He grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he made a name for himself by dying twice before the age of eighteen and becoming the first student in his high school to be suspended for inciting riot upon himself.

This week Julia and Asher sit with two of their favorite teachers, coaches, and friends.  Cyndi Freeman and Adam Wade both teach, coach, and all around help guide people through their storytelling journey.  We chat about what teaching a class is like, what they’ve learned about themselves through helping others, and about lesbian vampires…of course.   

Adam Wade has been a fixture in both the New York City storytelling and comedy scenes. He is the winner of 20 SLAMS at The Moth (18 StorySLAM victories and 2 GrandSLAM Championships) with 20 different winning stories. He has toured across North America with The Moth Main Stage and has appeared on The Moth Radio Hour Episode 1305, Episode 1410 and The Moth Podcast.  Adam is a seasoned teacher of his craft. Since 2010, Adam has been teaching a variety of 6-week Storytelling Classes at NYC’s Magnet Theater. 

Cyndi Freeman is a two-time NY Fringe Festival award winning solo performer. Her solo shows have been presented in Boston, Amsterdam, Ireland, The UK, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and The Frigid Festival in NYC. Ms Freeman is a recipient of a grand prize playwriting fellowship award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Her  storytelling credits include: The Moth, The Liar Show, Adam Wade’s Super Stories, Seth Lind’s Told, Risk, Stripped Stories, And I Am Not Lying & RISK! Other performing credits include: HBO, Showtime and the Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

Are you in therapy?  If not, we’ll convince you to by the end of this episode.  Julia and Asher sat down in a panel discussion with Julie Threlkeld, Sara Shelton, and Lori Baird to talk about the venn diagram between therapy and storytelling.

Storytelling provides us an opportunity to explore feelings and experiences that are unique, as does therapy.  Let’s talk about it!

In this episode we heard from:

Julie Threlkeld is a writer, storyteller, and the producer and host of the podcast Modern Stories Mix, which presents one lovingly recorded and engineered story each episode from some of New York City’s best storytellers. She also runs the city’s most comprehensive calendar of storytelling events, found at ModernStories.com. She has written about anxiety for The New York Times and about the strange, obsessive world of professional distance running for Runner’s World and Running Times. Her own stories have been featured on the RISK! Show (and podcast), Talk Therapy Stories, The How I Learned Series and many others. She’ll be appearing next on June 6th in the NoName Super Storytellers Edition show at WordUp in Washington Heights, and on July 9th at Badyhouse Storytelling Concert in Brooklyn.

Lori Baird is a writer, editor, and storyteller. She’s currently enrolled in the Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Science Writing program in preparation for bringing down Trump and his science-denying ilk. A two-time Moth StorySlam winner and Moth podcast featured storyteller, she believes there are only two acceptable answers to the question, “Are you in therapy?”: “Yes,” and “Not yet.”

Sara Shelton is a writer, director, and founder of We Get Depressed. She’s performed improv and storytelling for the last eight years, and has worked in the advertising industry for over a decade. She’s passionate about breaking the stigma of mental health which is why she wants you to know she suffers from depression and is currently back on medication.

Have you ever thought to yourself: “hey, I could write a book about myself!”  Well…let’s re-examine that.  We sat down with Ophira Eisenberg, David Crabb, and Jamie Brickhouse to talk about their memoirs, their stories, their writing practices, and their favorite places to write.