The World Cafe Live parking lot is plowed. Doug Didyoung is all set to host. And I’m sure many of you could use a night out after this snowy, housebound weekend and before the snow hits us all over again!


So I’ll see you at tonight’s Slam at World Cafe Live! 3025 Walnut St. Easily accessible via the Market-Frankford El 30th Street stop and regional rail. Doors at 7:30, Slam starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10, $8 for members, with $3 Yuengling draft specials all night!


And here is a FlashSlam of the winner of our last Slam, Alex!

Remember Chris’ winning “mailbox” story? It’s a tough one to forget!


See Chris tell another tale as guest storyteller at Monday night’s StorySlam at World Cafe Live! Doors at 7:30, Slam at 8:30. Grab a great meal off of the World Cafe Live menu – I’m a fan of their burger – or a $3 Yuengling draft, on special all night!

In his typical dry and funny style, Doug takes what could be a simply sentimental story about the search for his birth mother and makes it both touching and hilarious.


See more of Doug when he hosts our next StorySlam, Monday, February 8th at World Cafe Live. More info at storyslams.firstpersonarts.org.

First Person Salon Presenter JJ Tiziou is making big news in Philly today! His photography of Philly dancers will be the basis for an almost 50,000 square foot mural on the parking decks facing I-95 at the Philadelphia International Airport. How Philly Moves builds off of JJ’s piece in the 2008 Philly Fringe Festival, in which dancers of all ages, experience levels and styles came in for a dance/photo session with JJ. They brought the music and the moves; JJ documented it all in typical JJ style.


On March 5-7, you can dance and possibly become a part of the mural. Anyone can join in! Sign up to participate by February 19th on the How Philly Moves website.





JJ isn’t alone in this massive undertaking. He’s partnered with The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia International Airport, and the Philadelphia Park Authority.

First Personalities is a series on the First Person Arts Blog where we check up on and catch up with past Festival and Salon presenters and participants.


When I got my blogging assignment this week to cover an illustrator, an author, a TED speaker, a designer and a New York Times columnist and blogger, I thought it was awfully ambitious to be covering so many artists in just one post. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that these are in fact the many hats worn by one very busy and very talented artist. I am writing about none other than Maira Kalman who, in addition to the myriad accomplishments listed above, was an artist in our 2007 First Person Festival, presenting her book “The Principles of Uncertainty,” based on a column she wrote for the New York Times. An illustration from the book is immediately below.


Her next book, “And the Pursuit of Happiness,” will be out in October of this year, based on her New York Times blog by the same name. To find her elsewhere around the web, check out everything from her illustrated edition of Strunk and White’s classic The Elements of Style to her children’s books and New Yorker covers. I also highly recommend the video of TED talk; her humor and storytelling style make me think we should get her out to compete at our next StorySlam in February!

Here’s another illustration; this one is from her illustrated “Elements of Sykle,” illustrating the line “His first thought on getting out of bed—if he had any thought at all–was to get back in again.”
You might ask, with all of that and having already announced her upcoming book release, what else could she be up to. Well, January 15th saw Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) open at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania. This will run through June 6th and is scheduled to tour in San Fransisco, Los Angeles, and New York. It is the first major museum survey of Maira Kalman’s work and we are thrilled and proud to have it open right here in Philadelphia! Finally, on Wednesday, February 10th at 6:30 PM you will have an opportunity to see Ms. Kalman live at the ICA. Whether you loved her at the First Person Festival in 2007 and want more or are just discovering her now, we hope you’ll attend!


- J. Rudy Flesher

That’s the theme of tonight’s StorySlam at L’Etage… maybe it’ll inspire stories of seemingly mundane daily doings that are actually more meaningful than they seem, or a monthly happening amongst friends will set the stage for some drama, or the nervous but comfortable routines we go through before going on a date or meeting a new person will be shared.


January StorySlam at L’Etage
TONIGHT, Tuesday, January 26th
Doors at 7:30, Slam starts at 8:30
Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 for members. 6-packs of tickets for $55 can be bought here or at the door.


While you ponder on your own personal rituals, let’s have a Flashslam by tonight’s guest judge, Katonya Mosley. This is from last year’s Philly vs. Chicago Slam at the Free Library, with the theme of Mortified.





Our next Slam is February 8th at World Cafe Live. The theme is First Impression. Our host is Mr. Doug Didyoung.

We are surrounded by unique people that care for us, inspire us, and even perplex us.
Think about the people in your life…
First Person Arts is giving you the chance to celebrate someone special or important to you by creating a video tribute in our new class “Celebration of Life” this fall!

The class, focusing on creativity and content, will give you a chance to explore your senses, feelings, memories, fantasies and other perceptions about this person when making your video tribute. You will also participate in creating a sculpture tribute from found objects that will create instant curiosity. The final gala will conclude with a sculpture welcome area and a video screening. This is a chance to meet others, learn about others and to break out of the documentary rut.

The class will be held on Wednesdays, 6 -9 PM, from Sept. 10th through Nov. 19th at the Painted Bride Arts Center. The cost is $350. Participants should have access to and understanding of video and editing equipment. Sign up and fulfill your artistic potential this fall!

Leading the course will be Leslie Birch and Richard Gretzinger of Human+Nature.
Human +Nature is a production company geared to the non-profit, arts and education communities. Leslie has spent many years as a producer for public television and she has an interest in technology art and virtual worlds. Richard is a Director of Photography with many film and commercial credits. His downtime is spent experimenting with photography.