We sat around the tables at Mighty Writers last Wednesday night, telling our favorite stories. My friend Lillian and I had been talking about a StorySlam workshop at Teen Lounge — Mighty Writers’ new weekly hang-out session/workshop for high schoolers — for some time, and we were finally doing it. The evening all started with questions like, What’s the story you always tell to your friends or family? What makes a good story? Why do we tell stories, and why do we listen to them? We didn’t have to answer the last question; the students, a mix of Teen Lounge regulars and newcomers, were already showing each other why. We connect with one another when we share stories.


After an introduction to First Person Arts, we watched some of my favorite storytellers from this year–Twain’s story about mowing his grandmother’s lawn and Olga’s explanation of why she refuses to go home for the holidays. This led to some discussion (Can you relate with these stories? What did the storytellers do to make their stories engaging?) and then it was time to start the Slam. The group came up with three themes, “Family,” “Most Embarrassing Moment,” and “Strange Encounters,” and the students took five minutes to brainstorm on one of those themes. The rules were the same as any First Person StorySlam–drop your name in a bucket, wait to tell a five minute, true story. Simple as that. By the time I drew the first name out of the bucket, we all felt comfortable talking about almost anything. The teen-slam was full of energy; stories were moving, honest, and hilarious. Everyone left feeling a little closer to one another, eager to start thinking about their next story.


Many thanks to Lillian, Alex and Laura, Mighty Writers instructors and Teen Lounge leaders. Teen Lounge happens every Wednesday at 6pm, no sign up needed.


- Nick Forrest

It took a three-way Story-Off to determine the winner of last night’s StorySlam at L’Etage. The night’s predetermined theme was “Whoppers” but the audience quickly chose the theme of “Smells” and our storytellers had a mere two minutes to make up the judges’ minds during the Story-Off.


Tremaine Johnson walked away as the overall winner but his story-off opponent Natala Covert won the audience vote. Check out both of their original “Whopper” stories and their story-off “Smells” stories and judge for yourself.


Tremaine…





Natala…

Put your overshares to good use! For the next two weeks, add the tag #SpillYrGuts to any tweet about your personal life. Tell us what you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, where you’re going, who you love, who you hate. We want all the dirt!


You’re writing about this stuff anyway, you might as well win something!


We’ll randomly choose one gut spiller each Friday to win two free tickets to the May 11th Salon, Spilling Your Guts and a copy of either Emily Gould’s new memoir, And the Heart Says Whatever, or Emily Steinberg’s Graphic Therapy. The more often you share, the better your chances of winning!


Share away!

Self-described as “the world’s first street art disaster movie,” Exit Through the Gift Shop follows the adventures of notorious street graffiti artist Banksy. Or does it? It’s by Banksy, about Banksy, but not really, as the five minute sneak peek below demonstrates. Although Banksy’s rep for hoaxes makes me wonder if this is really the first five minutes of the film. Find out for yourself this weekend when it opens at the Ritz 5.





A less cheeky intro to Banksy’s work can be found in this mini-doc by Tom Pickard.

When Karina gave me my blogging assignment for this week, I knew I was in for a treat as soon as I clicked over to The Best Day of my Life (So Far). Clearly, as a member of First Person Arts and having interned here for the last four months, I have a love for memoir and documentary art. I have also always been drawn to elders in my family and community, eager to hear their first person accounts of a time gone by. The Best Day of my Life (So Far) combines these passions beautifully, providing a forum for seniors to share their stories with their families (and blog readers the world over).


As bowled over as I was by such an inspired project, I was really wowed when I got to sit down and chat with the blog’s creator, Benita Cooper. Inspiration struck when Benita moved away from her family for the first time and suddenly she couldn’t take their presence and their stories for granted anymore. For the first time in her life, she called her grandmother just to talk. Those conversations sparked something in her, and she can remember the exact day in June 2006 that she sat down to start writing because, as she puts it, “a book had to be done.”


The book, which she continues to work on, was just the beginning. Lightning struck twice and one day in 2009 she knew what the next leg of the journey had to be. She immediately walked down to a nearby senior center to announce that she wanted to do a writing class with the residents. Thus the blog was born.


A blog was settled on as the medium for sharing the senior’s stories so that out of town family members could see what their loved ones were writing for class. Seniors wrote and edited, volunteers transcribed, and Benita posted. Soon, a Facebook page and a Twitter account were deployed to help connect family and friends to the blog, and that’s when the project started to go viral. As Benita puts it, “I am the most unlikely person to be doing this, and I never imagined it would grow like it has.”


Volunteers, in fact, have started popping up not just all over the country, but all over the world. One is working with Benita to launch a chapter in Hong Kong. What else are they up to? From the blog, “our team is also seeking funding to launch additional classes at other senior centers, a public reading series at local theaters and high schools, a video documentary in collaboration with high-school filmmakers, and a more collaborative and interactive website.” Benita touched on the high school filmmakers idea in our interview and describes a program that would help at-risk teens become the next generation of story tellers, moving from a traditional in-class format, to a face-to-face experience that would translate to video and web to share their stories.


The energy around these projects continues to grow and grow. The book that inspired the blog has inspire a whole new concept (and thus rewriting) of the book. As Benita balances writing and editing with memoir class at the senior center, blogging and developing further projects, the blog continues to pick up steam, readers, and volunteers around the world. More importantly, it continues to give a voice to those too often forgotten in our society, and to break down the stereotype of seniors as technophobes who wouldn’t see a blog as an outlet for their words.


Please check out the blog and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. You will no doubt be in awe of the community flourishing under the passion of Benita Cooper and her many volunteers. Don’t be surprised if you get inspired to start writing yourself, lend a hand or even just start telling your friends and neighbors about this must-read blog. I know that’s how I felt!


-J. Rudy Flesher

Maybe you’ve picked up on the buzz about First Person Arts being one of eight art organizations to win the $75,000 Engage 2020 Grant. First Philebrity gave us props, followed by City Paper’s Critical Mass blog.


Well, that’s actually only half the story. We also won a $86,250 Interpretation Planning Grant from the Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. Both grants will enable the development of a museum of the people, to be installed at the Painted Bride during the 2010 First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art. That’s nothing but a tease, I know. Stay tuned as we roll out more details on the project over the summer.


We have such amazing company among our co-grantees, plus we were selected by a national review panel for both grants. It’s really an honor. So yeah, it’s been a good couple weeks on the 17th floor of 1 S. Broad. There’s even been dancing. Seriously. And if you want to come celebrate with us, we’ll all be at APO tonight, 5-6pm. (102 South 13th Street) Come grab a drink with us! (Disclaimer: no grant money will be spent on fancy cocktails.)

Close to 400 people packed the main auditorium of the Free Library this past Saturday for the 2nd Annual Inter-City StorySlam: Philly vs. DC. Our illustrious judges included Citizen Mom, NYT’s best-selling author Leslie Banks, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson and the Inquirer’s fashion writer Elizabeth Wellington. And while the storytellers from Speakeasy DC claimed the title of Best Storytelling City, it was First Person Arts’ own Michael McCarry who claimed the title of Best Overall Storyteller AND Audience Favorite. Enjoy his video below!


UPDATED May 19th: We need your help to send Mike to the National StorySlam in Chicago. DONATE HERE!

Dear Washington D.C.,


I think you’re great, I really do. But things aren’t going that well between us. I knew going into this relationship that it would be hard. Long distance is never a walk in the park, but our problems are greater than the few hours between us along I-95. I guess it all started in 1800 (I never said I didn’t hold a grudge). I thought I was doing a great job as our federal capital, but apparently your swamplands seemed more enticing at the time. You stole my thunder, D.C., and I haven’t been able to get past it.


I gained some solace recently when my hometown baseball team kicked your butt over. and over. and over. again. (You got lucky at yesterday’s game!) But now you’re back in my grill on Saturday for the 2nd Annual Inter-City StorySlam at the Free Library Festival. A bunch of your storytellers are gonna challenge some of mine. You would think we would bond over these shared experiences but they just seem to be driving us a part.


Ah D.C., I can’t quit you. But I can kick your ass. See you Saturday!


Hugs!
Philadelphia

There’s been a lot of DC v. Philly animosity lately, what with our darling Phillies wrecking the Nationals on a regular basis this past week. Oh, and the fact that Phils phans went down en masse to last week’s season opener didn’t make Nationals fans too happy either. And when they weren’t crying into their hot dog buns, they were fainting in shock at our raucous behavior. I’m sorry DC, but did you expect us to shower youse guys with rose petals and feed youse grapes? We aren’t even that nice to other Philadelphians!





But the feuding isn’t over after today’s final game. Cause Saturday is the 2nd Annual Inter-City StorySlam at the Free Library Festival: Philly vs. DC. Our First Person Arts line-up of former DC-er Brady Russell, Ryan T. Barlow, Michael McCarry, and Douglas Changstein Didyoung will be taking on some chumps from Speakeasy DC. I really hope these guys aren’t as delicate as all the whiny Nationals fans. They better a) bring it and b) not get all mopey when they lose.


So now we need all of you to bring that Phillies spirit (with fewer obscenities please) this Saturday to the Central Branch of the Free Library, 5pm, FREE.


- Karina

Tonight! Story Circle with the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild.


Wednesday, April 14th at 7:30, join the Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild at 7 East Fourth St in Bethlehem, Pa. The theme you ask? Nothing. I’m sure you can think of a story that doesn’t exactly fit into a theme that you’d love to share. This is your time. So go and tell a story or listen to a few yourself. The event lasts two hours or so and the admission is free. For more information, contact Charles Kiernan at 
 cjkierna[at]toast[dot]net.

The Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild is a group of professional and amateur storytellers, poets, actors, and others with a love for the art of storytelling. The guild was created to promote the art of storytelling in the Lehigh Valley, and to refine the member’s storytelling skills. Each month, except for August, they hold story open mic’s at Godfrey Daniels Listening Club.

-Tiffany Thwaites