Summer Grand Slam
It’s Summer Grand Slam time again and we want you to meet this year’s contestants so you’ll be in the know when we crown the best storyteller in Philadelphia on Wednesday, May 25!
Todd won our Holiday Spirit Slam when he told a touching story about helping one of his students design art for an upstart skateboard company that ends with him defecating into a gift bag on the Main Line! (Of course it does!) Watch the video of the story below!
Name: Todd Marrone
Current Location: Belmont Hills, PA
Slam won: December at L’Etage (Holiday Spirit)
Favorite Philly summer activity: Waiting for the fall
What’s your dream StorySlam theme? What I Like About Todd Marrone
Tell us a summer story in 10 words: I once got my face caught in a hot tub.
What’s the best story you ever heard? My childhood best friend told me that Gene Simmons’s tongue was originally 20 feet long and he had to have it shortened to fit in his mouth.
What makes a great story? What makes a great storyteller? A point. Sincerity.
Why should your competitors watch their backs? They should backup their watches.
Look for more slammers over the next few days and don’t miss the Grand Slam!
- Laura Reeve
They are an eclectic bunch this group… lawyers, actors, bloggers. They come from as far away as South Africa and as close as Delco. And they are bringing their best storytelling to Saturday’s Summer Grand Slam. Will you be there to cheer them on?
Wayne Brinkley
Naomi Brownstein
Natala Covert
Ben Drinen
Brenda G
Tremaine Johnson
Alex Kacala
Michael McCarry
Olga Schmutz
R. Eric Thomas
Leah Walton
I have to say, I was expecting a few more submissions to our “Tell a Story About the Storyteller” contest. I mean, come on, I know that anyone in the audience at our last StorySlam walked away with at least one story about host and Grand Slam contender Alex Kacala! The blue paper onesie, anyone? Don’t tell me that story didn’t affect you in some way!
That said, congratulations to Bill Tortorelli, Nake Haken and the mysterious, one name only Alexandra (Is she a rock star perhaps? In the mold of a Madonna or a Cher?). Each of them will get one free ticket to Saturday’s Summer Grand Slam and BBQ. Check out their tales below and you can still read the great Q & A answers from all of Saturday’s storytellers.
Nate on Ben
“Yeah, I know Ben. I didn’t know him when he got suspended from school for eating a mouse. I knew him later, after he got told by a football coach that he would never amount to beans. He and I hoofed it across the country, down into Mexico. We saw a goat down there.”
Bill on Alex
“I have noticed that Alex misattributed his childhood shames in his story at the January StorySlam. He claimed that his mother’s Armenian cookery led to his bad breath, flatulence, and excessive sweat; but I daresay that he continues to exhibit these traits to this very day, without daily doses of his mother’s delicious-sounding dishes.”
Alexandra on Olga
“If you need to learn about life, Olga IS the best person to tell you about it. Regardless of what’s going on, she will have a story similar to yours that will not only make you grateful for whatever is happening to you, it will make you laugh like nothing else and I guarantee, you will even feel good about the situation. Her way of expressing herself is simply unique, it’s impossible to forget any of her stories!”
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Tre’s Life Story:
I was raised in Trenton, NJ after my original home, Krypton, was blown up. After attending private school from K-6, I enrolled in Ewing Public Schools from 7-12. I graduated, attended University of Maryland where I earned a degree in English and a hatred for Duke. After college I taught for 3 years, and have since remained in education working various positions in schools and community organizations. I’m recently married and live with my wife and two cats in Center City.
Tre’s Winning Story: Whoppers (April at L’Etage) (This was a three-way tie that Tre won after the audience tie-breaking choice theme of “Smells”)
Ever notice how old people have a funny smell? Tre certainly has- in fact he has had a lifelong battle with his uncontrollable impulse to hold his breath whenever he encounters it! This struggle came to a head when he, as a resume building senior in high school, volunteered at an assisted living community. We are all grateful that he survived the ordeal!
Storyteller Q and A
1) What was the last thing (contest, competition, etc.) you’ve won? (not counting our StorySlam)
I won 2 crappy video games at a Cherry Hill Mall video game contest back in like, 1992.
2) The theme is Show and Tell. What was the silliest/best/coolest object you took to Show and Tell in elementary school?
I went to a Lutheran private school from K-6 that didn’t have show-and-tell. If anything, we were all asked to bring in our sins.
3) What is unique about your storytelling style?
I think the most unique thing about my storytelling style is probably my sense of humor, which is pretty stream-of-consciousness-like.
4) Why should your Slam opponents be nervous about competing against you?
Because, as you can imagine based on my picture, I have Batman on my side.
5) Boring question double header- where do you live (neighborhood or town) and how old are you?
I live in Center City and I’m 32 years old.
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Wayne’s Winning StorySlam: No Way Out (May at World Cafe Live)
You have no business riding shotgun with Wayne unless you know what your doing. After driving his friends to and from a basketball game one night, they lose their toll ticket for the turnpike. Needless to say, Wayne’s co-pilot learned his lesson (walking home!) and will never make a mistake like that again.
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Leah’s Life Story:
Leah moved to Philadelphia on a whim in 2004, and is very happy she stayed. She works as an actor, acting teacher and office assistant in various local theaters. Her hobbies are cross stitching and playing mahjong with her friends on Sunday nights. Telling stories is one of her most favorite things to do, and she wishes it was her job. (Thank you to Abby for bringing Leah to her first Slam in February!)
Leah’s Winning StorySlam: Emergency! (February at L’Etage)
Leah is studying acting in Russia and its the end of the semester. She and her comrades are out for a night of revelry, when she decides to march herself home and sober up for “Firing Squad Day”- her final class critique. After a few wrong turns, she finds herself accidentally locked inside a bank’s glass antechamber, sirens blazing and pre-recorded instructions blasting unintelligible Russian overhead. If she can survive this ordeal, perhaps she can survive “Firing Squad Day.”
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Brenda’s Life Story:
Grew up in Africa, now live in Philly with my partner and son. Moved here 10 years ago. (You’d never know it. I sound just like my South Philly neighbors.) I enjoy painful things like running 30 miles and cycling 175 miles. I am a nurse….was never the class clown. Human pathophysiology turns me on. Public speaking terrifies me.
Brenda’s Winning StorySlam: Faulty Logic (May at L’Etage)
Intergenerational friendships can be as rewarding as they can be tricky. With so many decades between them, neighborly Brenda finds herself caught in a very delicate predicament with her elderly Scrabble partner whose lusty labido has failed to age!
Storyteller Q and A
1) What was the last thing (contest, competition, etc.) you’ve won? (not counting our StorySlam)
A scholarship. I am a nerd.
2) The theme is Show and Tell. What was the silliest/best/coolest object you took to Show and Tell in elementary school?
Um, there was no show and tell where I grew up.
3) What is unique about your storytelling style?
I don’t have a storytelling style, but my partner says I have a sophisticated sense of humor. I suppose that’s what you’d say if you were very kind, and wanted to say that I laugh at my own joke when nobody else is. Ah well…
4) Why should your Slam opponents be nervous about competing against you?
They shouldn’t have any fear at all. I only know one good story…and oh dear…I’ve used it.
5) Boring question double header- where do you live (neighborhood or town) and how old are you?
Bellavista. Early 30s.
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Olga’s Winning StorySlam: Home for the Holidays (January at World Cafe Live)
There’s nothing like the love between a mother and a daughter. Especially when they have a hard time expressing it to each other. In her story, Olga phones her mother after downing a bottle of wine, and the ensuing conversation is as hilarious as it is painful.
Storyteller Q and A
1) What was the last thing (contest, competition, etc.) you’ve won? (not counting our StorySlam)
I was 13 years old. I won a live radio commercial announcement promoting a name brand beverage/juice.
2) The theme is Show and Tell. What was the silliest/best/coolest object you took to Show and Tell in elementary school?
I can’t remember ever doing a show and tell, it was not customary in Spanish elementary schools.
3) What is unique about your storytelling style?
When I tell a story I bring each character to life. I vividly acted out the characters in my stories. I become the character.
4) Why should your Slam opponents be nervous about competing against you?
I’m completely uninhibited in expressing passionately every detail. The audience will “feel” my story!
5) Boring question: where do you live (neighborhood or town)?
Rittenhouse, Philadelphia.
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
Alex’s Life Story:
Alexander Kacala lives in South Philadelphia and is proud to hold the title of the only person in history to be flagged from Bob and Barbara’s. A professional Philadelphia based actor, Alex has performed at the Walnut Street Theatre, New Candlelight Theatre, Players Club of Swarthmore, The Ritz Theatre, and The Society Hill Playhouse. Also a theater educator, Alex is currently assistant directing a youth production of The Wizard of Oz and has worked at the Wallingford Elementary School and ESF Summer Camps at The Haverford School for Boys. In his spare time, he enjoys karaoke, attempting crossword puzzles, Barbra Streisand, dancing, drinking city wide specials, and dancing while drinking city wide specials. This is for Jerri … I was a boozer, a loser, and a user.
Alex’s Winning StorySlam: Rituals (January at L’Etage)
All families and cultures have their traditions. In Alex’s family they celebrated Armenian Christmas, which included a big family breakfast before school. Every January 6th, Alex’s mother would serve a special dish packed with potent ingredients like garlic or beans. The lingering aromas consistently resulted in little Alex being shunned by classmates for stinky breath, uncontrollable farts or sweaty armpits.
1) What was the last thing (contest, competition, etc.) you’ve won? (not counting our StorySlam)
The gayest thing possible. I won a Tony Awards Prediction pool where the cast of Fiddler on the Roof competed against each other to see who could guess the most winners. I won with 17 correct guesses and I got 21 bucks.
2) The theme is Show and Tell. What was the silliest/best/coolest object you took to Show and Tell in elementary school?
Probably my extra large Tina Turner concert tee. Yet again, the gayest thing possible.
3) What is unique about your storytelling style?
My storytelling style is extremely self degrading and usually includes bad impressions of my mother’s Armenian accent.
4) Why should your Slam opponents be nervous about competing against you?
My Slam opponents should be nervous about competing against me because a) I hate to lose and b) I took a course in Anger Management but did not graduate.
5) Boring question double header- where do you live (neighborhood or town) and how old are you?
I live in South Philadelphia, in the Newbold section. I am 23 years old.
Okay fans, here is where you get to have your say! Post away! And check out our other contestants by clicking here.
We want to hear from anyone and everyone that knows our contestants. Are you a Co-Worker? Best Friend? Second Cousin? Ex-lover? Or did you have a transcendent experience watching them tell a story at a Slam? Whoever you are we want your most joyful/hilarious/insane/petrifying story! Post it in the comments section for your chance to win one free ticket to our Summer Grand Slam Competition, July 24th at the Painted Bride. Winners will be chosen on July 19th.This contest is now closed but keep reading about our storytellers! See who won here.
R. Eric’s Life Story:
R. Eric Thomas is a playwright, storyteller and lethargic blogger. Previously produced plays include Welcome to the Neighborhood, Linda Davis and The Spectator. He is delighted to be competing in his second Grand Slam. He was seen earlier this week at the First Person Arts/Queer Memoir Salon reading from his essay, “Run Girl, Run”. He is currently working on a collection of non-fiction entitled “Enormously Awkward: (Mostly) True Stories + Things That Are Better Left Unsaid” and workshopping a new play. You can find more essays, videos and unflattering photos at www.enormouslyawkward.blogspot.com
R. Eric’s Winning StorySlam: First Impressions (February at World Cafe Live)
Eric prided himself on being the attractive, well-dressed gay black man of the office. Until one day He arrives. At first Eric indulges an elaborate romantic fantasy, until he discovers that the object of his affection is basically Eric 2.0, a doppelganger with the face of John Legend and the ass of a Greek god. Eric’s hilarious tale chronicles how his arduous passion was instantly transformed into self-loathing and animosity towards his better self.
Storyteller Q&A
1) What was the last thing (contest, competition, etc.) you’ve won? (not counting our StorySlam)
I’ll tell you what I didn’t win–my office’s baked goods contest, which is total BS. I made 48 cupcakes in 90 degree heat lost to a damn banana pudding. A damn banana pudding! Bananas. Pudding. Ridiculous. So, the last thing I won was the Student Council election at Columbia back in the 20th century. I was also nominated for an Oscar last year. But like my Aunt Hildy always says, “If you don’t win, you’re a loser. And you’ll never amount to much.”
2) The theme is Show and Tell. What was the silliest/best/coolest object you took to Show and Tell in elementary school?
I was a very private child and went to elementary school with a bunch of busybodies and gossips so I never brought anything for show and tell except my righteous indignation. Rude little 7-year-olds.
3) What is unique about your storytelling style?
It skirts that razor’s edge between total catastrophe and quasi-artistic. It’s completely dependent on my own chaotic misunderstanding of life. It involves a lot of squawking.
4) Why should your Slam opponents be nervous about competing against you?
Because I have an Old West sense of justice.
5) Boring question double header- where do you live (neighborhood or town) and how old are you?
I live in the wind. I am as old as the trees. (I live in South Philly. I’m 29.)
