I’m thinking a lot about how stories we tell ourselves affect our paths. What we say are our strengths and weaknesses, gifts and shortcomings, triumphs and regrets. If we change our stories, we can change our minds. And if we change our minds, we change our hearts. And if we change our hearts, then we can change everything.
Tag: storytelling
A Year of Yes: The gravity of books
“I feel, almost physically, the gravitation of the books, the enveloping serenity of order, time magically desiccated and preserved.” ~Jorge Luis Borges
Have you ever felt drawn to a book? You couldn’t help but take it from the shelf and turn its pages, learning one more secret at a time. What was that book, and did it live up to your hopes for it when you first met?
For me that book was and always will be Alice in Wonderland. I fell down that rabbit hole many years ago, and I’ve never been quite the same since. That book started my fascination with stories and lives that are hidden from plain sight, deep underground, that you must be lucky enough to stumble into in order to know them. The adventure, the justice, and the bravery of that story has stuck with me all these years. Alice has become as real to me as anyone I know in the ordinary world. And for that, I’m so grateful.
A Year of Yes: NYC’s Secrets and Lies for June 18th is on sale
The next performance of my live storytelling show, New York City’s Secrets and Lies, at Caveat is now on sale and we have an all-ladies all-star cast! It will be on Monday, June 18th at 7pm. Tickets are now on sale for $12. Please share the link and I hope to see you there.
Link to buy tickets: http://caveat.nyc/event/new-york-citys-secrets-and-lies-3/
More details about the show:
Can you tell the difference between a secret and a lie? Five expert storytellers spin incredible tales about the secret pasts of NYC locations you walk by every day. All the stories are true except for one. If you can identify the lie, you’ll be in the running to win a pair of tickets to a secret NYC event.
Stories Include:
-Teenagers live crazy lives. New York teenagers take crazy to a whole new level.
-There’s a manhole cover in Brooklyn that leads to an underground world if you’re daring enough to pick it up and climb down.
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:00pm
Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
Hannah Frishberg
Hannah is a Brooklyn-based freelance editor, reporter, and 4th generation Brooklynite. She was previously the Editor in Chief of Brokelyn, a beat reporter in Bensonhurst, a staff writer at Brownstoner, and has had words and photography appear in Gothamist, Narratively, Curbed, Urban Omnibus, Atlas Obscura, The Huffington Post, and DNAinfo.
Sabrina McMillin
Sabrina is the project manager at HXMXN, a feminist creative agency in New York. She has helped everyone from up-and-coming lady writers to the United Nations tell their stories to the world. Sabrina moved to New York last year, but has always loved this godforsaken island. She dreams of dying a widow in one of those rent control apartment deaths where nobody finds you until the neighbors start to complain about the smell. Previously, Sabrina told bizarre stories as a stand-up comedian in Washington, D.C. As a native of Rochester, New York, she loves to argue with anyone who refers to White Plains as “upstate.”
Tija Mittal
Tija is a storyteller who most recently performed with the Moth at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, as well as the Apollo Theater in 2017. A native of Washington DC, she has also performed at DC’s Lincoln Theater among a variety of other venues and festivals, and received a competitive fellowship to perform longform work through Cultural DC. She also has two masters degrees (an MBA and an MPP) that have nothing to do with storytelling, but eh, it probably doesn’t hurt to know. When she’s not performing or working on a PowerPoint, she’s covered in dust because she bought a fixer-upper. Thanks for nothing, HGTV.
Cynthia Mullock
Cindy was raised in a Victorian bed and breakfast with twenty strangers-turned-friends sharing stories at the breakfast table each morning. She now dedicates her days to uncovering the secret histories of forgotten places through historic preservation and heritage work. She is the Founder and CEO of 5 Perry Street, leading the historic preservation of a beachside 1879 National Historic Landmark Victorian inn in Cape May, NJ. She is also restoring an 1868 landmark Jersey City building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which previously served as the residential quarters of a 19th century brewery.
In her legal practice, Cindy was named a Rising Star in 2015 by New York Law Journal, a recognition reserved for the region’s most promising lawyers 40 and under. She has guided emerging technology and financial services companies as General Counsel, advised international corporations and sovereign entities on capital raising and other strategic initiatives throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Australia, and been an invited speaker for Columbia University and The Economist, among other industry events and panels. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in English and Political Science and holds a law degree from Columbia Law School and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Cindy serves on the board of Volunteers of Legal Service and splits her time between the streets of New York City and the beaches of Cape May, NJ.
Emerie Snyder
Emerie announced at age five that her hobby was “thinking about lots of things.” It’s still true. She grew up in a hippie enclave just outside of Washington, DC, and has been happily settled in (and continually exploring) NYC since 2002. Emerie is a theatre director and creator of new performance work, focusing on site-responsive theatre, relationships between visual art and theatre, and solo performance. She has directed plays by Samuel Beckett, Stephen Belber, Sheila Callaghan, Joyce Carol Oates, Edwin Sanchez, Daniel MacIvor, and Len Jenkin, and has developed new work with contemporary playwrights including Anton Dudley, Davy Rothbart, Mfoniso Udofia, and Lally Katz.
Current projects in development include EXHIBIT, an immersive gallery tour play (developed in residency through New Georges, premiered at 3LD in June 2017), TRANSMISSION, a participatory performance sermon by Gwydion Suilebhan, and THIS IS LIKE THAT, a slide lecture play by Michael Sean Cirelli. Past credits as an actor include productions at Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Theater J, Rorschach Theatre, and Olney Theatre. Emerie is an NYU/Tisch graduate, and a New Georges Affiliated Artist. She also serves as Arts Curator for Warren Saint Marks Community Garden in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
A Year of Yes: A weekend of creativity
I spent this weekend in complete creative mode: building the bones of a new live show that I’m creating and co-producing, working on my first writing fellowship application, completing my application to be in a storytelling festival this summer, submitting a podcast idea to Squarespace and Gimlet Creative, finalizing the lineup my storytelling show NYC’s Secrets & Lies at Caveat on Monday, June 18th at 7pm, and some writing work on my second novel.
It was good for my heart to see all of this coming together. It was just what I needed.
A Year of Yes: April Edition of NYC’s Secrets & Lies
Had such a great time hosting last night’s NYC’s Secrets & Lies w/ these amazing storytellers: Adam Wade, Vicki Eastus, Suzanne Reisman, Carla Katz, and Madame Morbid (Allison Huntington-Chase). It is an honor to have this show at Caveat and I feel so lucky to do the work I love with these wonderful people. My heart is full. Thank you to everyone who came to the show – you were a fantastic crowd. Our next show is on the books for June 25th at 7pm. Mark your calendars. Tickets on sale soon!
A Year of Yes: NYC’s Secrets and Lies is tonight
I’m so insanely excited about the storytelling show NYC’s Secrets and Lies tonight at Caveat. I’ll be hosting a slate of incredible storytellers who have dug up some incredible NYC secrets all hidden in plain sight that we walk by every single day. The show is capped off with trivia by Madame Morbid and a fantastic prize from our pals at Untapped Cities. Doors open at 6:30pm, show starts at 7:00pm. Tickets available at http://caveat.nyc/event/new-york-citys-secrets-and-lies-2/. See you there!
A Year of Yes: What does your dream day look like?
Have you ever had a dream day? What happened? Who were you with? What lasting effect did it have on you?
I had one of my dream days yesterday and it was magical:
- Interviewed a radiation oncologist for a piece I’m writing for The Washington Post about an innovative new cancer treatment that uses protons.
- I spent the morning getting a private tour and digging through the archives at The Explorer’s Club. I was doing research for my second Emerson Page novel, and got to see art, travel diaries, photographs, and artifacts from around the world that were collected by our most intrepid explorers.
- Then I had a fun meeting with the fine people at Untapped Cities about a new live performance project we’re working on together. Cannot wait to share more details with you!
- Had a long overdue visit with a magical man who’s saved my life several times, and taught me to stand in my own light.
- Dinner with my best friend.
To write, to research, to tell stories, to collaborate with others on creative projects, and to spend time with people who are central to my life. That is the perfect day for me.
A Year of Yes: What story do you want to be?
“In the end, we’ll all become stories.” ~Margaret Atwood
Stories are so intrinsic to our culture, to the structure of our lives, that it’s impossible to separate ourselves from them. We are defined by our stories, the ones we tell about ourselves and others, and the ones others tell about us. It’s how we connect and share with each other. They stir every emotion we can possibly have. Friendship and love both grow from stories. We are our stories, and our stories are us. Let’s make sure the ones we choose are really the ones we want.
A Year of Yes: NYC’s Secrets & Lies partners with Untapped Cities
I’m so excited to tell you that my monthly storytelling show, New York City’s Secrets and Lies at Caveat (next show on April 17th at 7pm!), has partnered with Untapped Cities, an online publication that “unearths New York City’s most unique and surprising places, stories and events for the inquisitive reader. We are a community of over 600 passionate contributors, interested in what’s hidden and unnoticed, and how our history informs city life now and in the future.”
What does that mean?
- 20 members of Untapped Cities Insiders get a free ticket to the show
- Untapped Cities will offer the fantastic prize to the winner of our show
- Untapped Cities will feature the show on their media channels before and during the show
I am absolutely in love with the work that Untapped Cities does to showcase our amazing city, and I’m honored to have them partner with us to bring to life the most wild stories about New York City.
A Year of Yes: My live storytelling show New York City’s Secrets and Lies is now a monthly show for a year at Caveat
I’m so excited to tell you that my first storytelling show New York City’s Secrets and Lies was so successful in January (a sold out show!) that it’s now going to be a monthly show for a year at Caveat starting in April.
The next show will be on Tuesday, April 17th at 7pm. Tickets are now on sale for $12 so get ’em while they’re hot and spread the word! Hope to see you there.
Link to buy tickets: http://caveat.nyc/event/new-york-citys-secrets-and-lies-2/
More details about the show:
Can you tell the difference between a secret and a lie? Five expert storytellers spin incredible tales about the secret pasts of NYC locations you walk by every day. All the stories are true except for one. If you can identify the lie, you’ll be in the running to win a pair of tickets to a secret NYC event.
Stories Include:
“When a secret nature versus nurture experiment is exposed, a delicious New York City restaurant is born.”
“New York City nearly became its own country, but not for the reasons you’d expect or hope for.”
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:00pm
Tickets: $12 in advance, $15 at the door
STORYTELLERS:
Adam Wade
Adam is an inimitable fixture in both the New York City storytelling and comedy scenes. He is the winner of 20 SLAMS at The Moth (18 StorySLAM victories and 2 GrandSLAM Championships) with 20 different winning stories. He has toured across North America with The Moth Main Stage. His stories have appeared on The Moth Radio Hour and The Moth Podcast.
Adam has been performing his New York Times and Time Out New York’s critic’s pick monthly solo show The Adam Wade from NH Show since January 2010. He is also a regular performer on Nights of Our Lives at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and has made several appearances on Asssscat 3000 (guest monologist), Whiplash and Night Train with Wyatt Cenac.
Adam recently released his debut storytelling/comedy album Adam Wade: The Human Comedy, with Comedy Dynamics. The album was enthusiastically lauded in Sarah Larson’s profile of Adam in The New Yorker. He has been seen on HBO’s GIRLS Season 5 finale and on Season 2 and 3 of Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer.
In 2017, Adam began hosting a tech web series for Bloomberg called Conversations with Coders as well as a series he created called Wade on the Bench in Hoboken.
A seasoned teacher of his craft, since 2010, Adam has been teaching a variety of 6-week Storytelling Classes at NYC’s Magnet Theater. In December 2017, Adam teamed up with Airbnb to create his very own NYC Storytelling Experience.
He also conducts one-on-ones meet ups and workshops for businesses and organizations. Find him online at AdamWade.com, on Twitter at @adamwade, and on Instagram at@adamwadestoryteller, and Facebook at @adamwadestoryteller.
Carla Katz
Carla is Jersey born and bred storyteller and now lives in Hoboken. She debuted her solo show “Body Parts” at this year’s SOLOCOM 2017 at the Peoples Improv Theater. She has performed at numerous Moth StorySlams, at the Magnet Theatre, in “Adam Wade’s Storytelling Series”, and in front of her dog Finn. Carla likes to get emotionally naked and she tells stories that expose the small dramas that make us laugh or cringe. By day, she is a labor union leader, lawyer, and political animal. By night, she gets naked and howls at the moon over Manhattan. Carla learned storytelling craft from fellow Hobokenite Adam Wade, a 20-time Moth winner and comic extraordinaire.
Jane Cooke
Jane is a stage, film, and television actress originally from Canada. She has worked at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada, and has been in the touring company of Broadway shows including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Mamma Mia!. She comes from a large family with six siblings so she’s been telling “stories” her whole life. Jane loves a big red wine from Napa, and hates soft cheese.
Suzanne Reisman
Suzanne lives in Manhattan with her husband and teddy bear, but, unwilling to fully abandon her Chicago-area upbringing, insists on calling soda “pop,” and sneakers “gym shoes.”
Her first book is Off the (Beaten) Subway Track: New York City’s Best Unusual Places, a travelogue about/guide to unusual places and things to do in NYC. She is also the author of 1.87 yet-to-be published novels. Her essays and fiction have appeared in New York Nonprofit Press, Metro New York, City Limits Magazine, Bookanista, Flash Fiction Magazine, and The Sunlight Press.
In addition to writing, Suzanne is the founder of TwentyTwenty Books, a nonprofit organization that connects marginalized voices in literature to community-based book clubs. She has MFA in creative writing from the New School and an MPA from Columbia University.
She likes eating, running, House Hunters International, wandering around cities, and sleeping.
Vicki Eastus
Vicki is a storyteller, an improviser, and a law professor. She grew up in Dallas, Texas, the land of tall tales and tall hair.
She left Texas for Harvard, where she spent most of her time as an activist on feminist issues but also studied obscure 19th century Russian novels. Years of law school and lawyering led Vicki to need more joy in her life, so she studied improv at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and storytelling with Adam Wade.
Vicki performs with the indie team “Improvisers of a Certain Age” and can be seen at Sunday Night Improv at Stand Up NY. Vicki has spun her tales at Moth StorySlams, in Adam Wade’s Storytelling Series, and in numerous shows at the Magnet Theater. She is developing a solo show of her stories, “Can Feminists Wear Tiaras?”
For fans of slide decks, Vicki has presented “Using Techniques from Improvisational Comedy and Storytelling to Help Students Find Their Legal Voices” at academic conferences in New York and Verona, Italy.
Christa Avampato 