The Moth StorySlam
After accidentally taking a storytelling class, I figured I should take the advice of the instructor and throw my name into the hat at a StorySLAM (an open-mic storytelling competition). It was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. My little story about the “patterns” in online dating came in first place, which meant I had to come up with a whole new story for The Moth GrandSLAM.
The Moth GrandSLAM
After ten StorySLAMs the winners compete for the title of GrandSLAM Champion in “the ultimate battle of wits and words”. I had been assigned to the Boston GrandSLAM at The Cutler Theatre which seats about 1200, no big deal. Oh, and I had to come up with a whole new story. And yeah, some of the other storytellers were professional storytellers (who even knew that was a thing!?) with podcasts and their own shows and such.
I figured I would just enjoy the experience with zero expectation of winning. I invited all my friends and made a reservation for after-show drinks at a local bar. I came up with another story about more bad dates (so much material!) and told my story to Larry Rosen (each GrandSLAM teller gets a conference call with a director from The Moth). Larry told me it wasn’t working and I needed to dig deeper. With just 4 days to go until the GrandSLAM, this was not ideal. The rest of our call turned into a pseudo-therapy session with Larry pushing me on why I was even dating and why I had so many disastrous dates. At one point in our chat, he was like “That! That’s the line! Build the rest of the story around that!” and it magically came together, leading to an unexpected win.
The Moth Ball 2019
With my storytelling experience now complete, I focused on my writing when I got an unexpected email asking if I’d travel to NYC to tell a 2-minute version of my GrandSLAM winning story. Roxane Gay, my literary hero, would be honored with an award on the same stage, how could I say no? I shoe-horned myself into a sequined dress from Rent The Runway and tried to pretend like I was the kind of person who randomly attended mid-week galas in Manhattan. Monica Lewinsky laughed hard at my story. And I got to chat with Rachel Dratch over pigs in blankets so I’d say it was a success.
