We are putting together the 2015 season of SpeakeasyDC’s 2nd Tuesday monthly. Find out how you can vote and help pick our 2015 show themes READ MORE

Former Board Member, Storyteller extraordinaire Jeffrey Brady reflects on his experience with Tour de Telling You are invited to meet Jeffery and learn all about Tour de Telling at the launch party April 2nd, 7pm at Acre 121 (1400 Irving Street NW near the Columbia Heights Metro). Please RSVP via Facebook here or non Facebook users click here. Here's what Jeffery had to say about his experience as part of TdT  READ MORE

SpeakeasyShorts is a new type of film competition – a collaboration between filmmakers and storytellers. Eight filmmaking teams have only 5 days to write, shoot, edit-and screen a film based on stories from eight local storytellers. The kicker: none of the teams know anything about the stories before they are presented. Read more

I sat down with John Tong and my good friend Jessi Baden and we got to hear lots more about his romantic failures, his childhood fame, and his love of karaoke, among other things. Listen to his live perforamance then sit in on our conversation.  You can subscribe to the Speakeasy Storycast thru iTunes, download the Stitcher Radio app, or add this link to your RSS feed http://speakeasystorycast.com/rss.  To bring a SpeakeasyDC show and/or workshop to your town, email [email protected].

I told friends for the past 2 years “I want to do a one woman show.”  I had a vague idea about what I wanted the show to be about, but I wasn’t clear on how to approach it.  Do I come up with a theme first? Do I cobble together the stories I’ve already done and see if there is a natural story arc?  Can I use stories I’ve done before or will people get bored? I received all kinds of advice, but I have learned that for me there is only one way that works: I have to start writing.  I just have to do it and see what comes out and then seek lots of feedback. Read more

I heard my first go go beat in 1996… at a Jewish summer camp. I’m not kidding. I was a counselor at a Jewish summer camp (Habonim homies – holla!) and, at this camp, we have a ritual after almost every meal. As the dishes are collected, everyone starts to sing. But we don’t just sing, we shout and stand on the chairs, pound on the tables, and stomp our feet. It’s a kind of organized mayhem. In this particular year, there were threespeakeasy gogo4x6 guys – Benjie Porecki, Doug Silverman, and Matt Selig – who would start pounding out a go go beat on the tables. When I first heard it, I was like, what is that? I didn’t know it at the time, but I had fallen in love with go go. Read more

Guest post by Jess Solomon

For the past two weeks I’ve been having those “How did I get here?!” moments. I imagine it’s the gut reaction most builders of things have when speakeasy gogo4x6they reflect on a nearly finished work.

We are a few days out from opening night of Crank & Groove: A Go-Go Love Story and instead of looking down from the perch of the director’s chair I find myself sitting in circles with the cast; rather an ensemble of brilliant Go-Go practitioners, griots and lovers of the music and culture. My teachers. From the very beginning, this production has been rooted in collaboration, improvisation and a little scrappiness. Read more

The topic of this month’s open mic show is perfect for September – because isn’t the start of the school year really a time for renewal, upheaval and radical change? Read more

Episode #44 of SpeakeasyDC’s podcast features a story by and conversation with Katy Barrett about trapeze lessons and chimpanzees. Read, hear & watch more

Much like crabs, there are many ways to prepare the meal, but at the heart of it is dropping a living creature into boiling hot water. Standup and storytelling preparation is much the same. Read more

Last we left our heroes, they were introduced to the stage, decided what to do with the microphone and either talked the audience down from their applause or let the silence work its subtle, powerful magic. Not a word of the routine has been spoken. If all goes well, this is the apex of the crippling terror that you will feel. Read more

Much like babies and pizza, much of the difference between stand-up and storytelling is in the delivery. Some differences are subtle, such as cash or credit being the preferred method of payment; some are substantial, like the difference between 18 hours of indigestion and 18 years of financial and emotional responsibility over another human being. But unlike the delivery of pizza and babies, to which I have only been a spectator I have a decent amount of experience in the delivery of both stand-up and storytelling. Read more

In November 2012, we tried out a new idea: to pair filmmaking teams with a storyteller and give then five days to make a film inspired by their story. Thanks for our talented storytellers and the participation of some of DC’s finest filmmaking teams, the event was a huge hit.  The filmmakers talked about how challenging and fun it was to have a true story from which to build a script. Storytellers got the chance to see their stories interpreted in a new way, through a different medium. Read more

I once read about an experiment (somebody else read it and told me about it) where five gorillas were placed in a metal cage with a cement platform in the middle of it. Above the platform were bananas. Any time one gorilla climbed the platform to get the bananas, the others were administered an electric shock. Soon, anytime a gorilla would head toward the platform to get a banana, the other gorillas would swoop in and give the offending gorilla a Cesar-style beatdown. Read more

Some high school friends and I began writing a book back in the mid-90s about casual humor called “We’re So Serious about Comedy, It Isn’t Funny.” We’re still waiting to hear back from some publishers. We had dissected all comedy into what we called The Four “C”s of Comedy. Those Four “C”s are content, context, timing and delivery. Read more

First off, I don’t fancy myself an expert in either standup or storytelling, so find a few grains of salt to go with this article. I do, however, fancy myself an expert in knowing and dissecting the difference between two things that I am approximately average in. Take that with your choice of spice. Read more

I went to film school so I know a little something about the moving pictures. I work in television, so I understand how it all works. The writer weaves a tale. The director has a vision (and takes some liberties), and in an unspecified amount of time, the director comes back with film that loosely resembles its original script. SpeakeasyDC Artistic Executive Director Amy Saidman called me in October and told me about a new partnership with the DC Shorts. The idea was simple: you tell a story on stage. Read more

First of all, it should be noted that the Three Beer Rule ONLY applies to stage performances. The formulas for talking to pretty girls, dancing at weddings and religious conversations with ex-girlfriends and/or family members are much different and constantly in flux. Read more

Beer image courtesy Rodrigo Menezes, Wikimedia Commons

I decided to celebrate my 30th birthday by having a panic attack and moving to the Midwest thus beginning my three-year self-imposed prison term. Upon retrospect, I should have just gone to Georgetown Cupcake. Read more

We didn’t win. But, it’s ok, because we’re all champions. No really, it’s ok. I mean, we knew it would be hard to beat out our competition: Art Enables, FotoDC,  Life Pieces to Masterpieces, and Post-Classical Ensemble.   In the end, it was Art Enables who took the day.  Hard to beat a group that gives adults with developmental disabilities resources and support to become visual artists and exhibit and sell their work. Read more

I’ll admit it. I’m excited. I’m excited that we are a finalist for the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards in the category of Innovation in the Arts.  I was over-the-moon the day I got notice of our nomination. And on that day, I thought and said to others (with earnest sincerity), “This is awesome. I don’t care if we win. Being nominated is enough.” But dammit, the closer we get to the actual awards, the more I’m fantasizing about walking on stage to accept our award and making a grand speech. Read more

We need YOU! Yes you, you gorgeous people with fascinating, sweet, hilarious, and unbelievable life experiences that you want to share on stage in front of a room full of strangers. Read more

In my last column I talked about going to my boyfriend’s family reunion and the way we used story to connect with his family.

Well, while I was having that revelation about the power of storytelling, I was also having another revelation. Read more

I’ve grown as a performer.

The irony of this is that it was a failure, not a monster success, which allowed me to realize this. Read more

When I heard Speakeasy DC was looking for blog contributors, I asked Meredith if I could whine about my insecurities surrounding my stage anxiety. “Mike Kane already does that” said the Meredith inside my head (it’s cool, Mike and I are friends. Kinda). Then I asked if I could write about what goes on inside my head during a performance. “Sure, but it’s not like anybody will read it” said the Mike Kane inside my head. And it’s not like I’m a professional storyteller or anything – will that matter? “I don’t care. Now get over here and change your daughter” said the wife inside my living room. Read more

You could feel the same kind of electricity in the air as right before the best concert of your life–the one that had you camping out all night just to get a ticket. It was July 10, and the show’s theme was Band Camp: Stories about Music, Raves, and Rock & Roll. Read more

Have you ever had a credit card bill that was due at the end of the month?  And rather than logging on to get an idea of the damage you’ll be facing, you panic and just decide to ignore it?  Like, you literally sit down, launch your web browser and start typing in the URL for your credit card’s website, then delete it and just head to Facebook instead? Read more

If there were an emoticon to show me jumping up and down, I’d use it. (Would you know what I meant if I said JUAD?). Why? Because we have so many jump-worthy things in the works for the next few months/year. For starters, we are a finalist for the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards! (This is when I break dance on my head with a sassy cross-legged finish). After three prior attempts, we are finally getting this recognition. Mark your calendars for September 13 and plan to be at the Lincoln Theatre in your best Academy-Awards-outfit to see us (possibly) accept an award. Either way, you should come because we will either want to celebrate our win or we’ll need support while we commiserate our loss. Read more

I was talking to a fellow storyteller this weekend who said she was thinking of launching a new open mic in Washington DC.

Her reason: she felt like all of the open mics in DC are too high stakes.

Interesting. Read more

I’m telling a story at a wedding on Saturday.

I mean, on stage.

Oh, there will be alcohol there, which means I’ll crush as many beers as my feeble stomach will tolerate and then I’ll regale my table with sob stories of high school rejections and the scars that remain.  That happens at every wedding I attend.  But I’m talking about the story I am going to tell on stage. Read more