Published in the Weekly Volcano Aug. 11, 2016
On
the 16th of August, South Sound storytellers will entertain a sure-to-be packed
house at Rhythm and Rye in Olympia for the last of this year’s StoryOly story
slams before the 12 top storytellers of the year meet in the Grand Slam on
Sept. 17.
Every
month on the third Tuesday approximately 10 storytellers show off their skills
and vie for first place in the raucous storytelling event. I’ve attended all
but a few of the events this year and can attest that they truly are raucous,
and the crowd responses are fabulous. The majority of the stories are funny; many
are risqué; a few are sad, scary or touching — such as the wonderfully sweet
story Keith Eisner told in July about the birth of his now 40-year-old son.
Eisner is a professional writer, actor and director. Many of the storytellers
are professional writers or entertainers, as are co-founders Elizabeth Lord and
Amy Shephard, but even more are amateurs who mount the stage and tell their
personal stories for the first time, usually in the face of great fear. And
they are usually great.
 |
| Elizabeth Lord. Photos courtesy Story Oly |
Community
members come together every month to share, compete and tell true stories
based on a monthly theme. Past themes have included “I Got What I
Deserved,” “Family,” and “Revenge.” People who want to tell a story put their
names in a hat, and 10 names are drawn at random. Each storyteller is allowed
eight minutes. The stories must be true and personal, no rants, speeches or
religious testimony, and no reading from notes or scripts. After each story
volunteer judges from the audience hold up cards with scores from one to 10.
The judges tend to be kind; I’ve never seen a score lower than five.
The
winner from each month gets to compete in the Grand Slam in September. Winners
are: Devin Felix (Nov.), Jim Foley (Dec.), Sam Miller (Jan.), a three-way tie
between Billie Mazzei, Maggie Lott and Christian Carvajal, (Feb.), Lori Nesmith
(March), Rey White (April), Matthew Trenda (May), Anders Hornblat (June),
Eisner in July, and a final winner to be determined this month. Eisner will be
out of town the weekend of the Grand Slam and unable to participate.
Shepard
is an actor and choreographer well known for her work at Harlequin Productions,
most recently in Little Shop of Horrors as both choreographer and one of the
singing and dancing Doo-Wops. “It's been incredible to see how StoryOly events
have blossomed since we started last November,” Shephard says. “Elizabeth
and I are so grateful for the attendance and participation of our community.
With each show we get to hear stories from many different voices, perspectives
and backgrounds. If that weren't wonderful enough, there is the fact that
when a patron buys a ticket, they know that not only will they see an amazing
show but that half of their ticket price is going directly to Olympia
SafePlace. So when you come to a story slam you not only support us, you
support victims of sexual and domestic violence through wonderful organizations
like SafePlace.”
Lord,
a professional storyteller and member of the Heartsparkle Players, is also
founder and host of Lord
Franzannian's Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show. Lord says, “I
love StoryOly. I especially love how successful it's been. Full houses most
nights. Its success is a confirmation of something I've always
known to be true: live, oral storytelling is a powerful medium. Nothing
replaces a human telling you a story, right there in front of you. Plus, with
StoryOly (Like the Moth Storytelling events) the audience hears true personal
stories that resonate with the universal human experience. Oral Storytelling
makes the world smaller, more understandable, and of course entertaining.”
Story
Oly, every third
Tuesday, 5:30-8 p.m., Rhythm & Rye, 311 Capitol Way,
Olympia,
360.705.-0760. Grand Slam Sept. 17.
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