By Jennifer L.

I saw an Ex Fabula announcement about the upcoming StorySlam a few days ahead of time. The topic was “Yikes!: Stories of (scarily) embarrassing, uncomfortable and strange moments.” I was drawn to hear how other people develop messy unsettling experiences into coherent shared stories. I also noticed that Dandy was located in Washington Heights, not too far from my home. I wanted to see the venue and I was available that evening. Things were lining up to make it easy-ish to do . . . 

So – very unlike me — I immediately signed up for a year membership and to volunteer. Self-knowledge says that the only way I get to scary events – you know, the ones with people – is to be expected to be there to do something. So, I immediately signed up for volunteer orientation and to help out as needed at the StorySlam. About an hour before the orientation, I noticed I had received a text offering the opportunity to attend a StoryStarter Workshop in exchange for a blog post about the workshop. I took a deep breath and texted back, “Sure!” The price was right and I wanted to jump in, right?

I arrived for volunteer orientation and was greeted by the Dandy’s beautiful, quirky, comfortable space. I met Marissa Cudworth, who is the Volunteer Coordinator, among other roles, and we went through the presentation about Ex Fabula and volunteer opportunities with one other new volunteer. 

Marissa introduced me to Megan McGee – one of Ex Fabula’s founders and the Executive Director, who led the workshop for me and one other participant. We sat around a coffee table on comfortable sofas and chairs, and talked about what stories we wanted to tell. I tried to briefly explain the experience I wanted to base some stories on, and Megan and the other participant were treated to a disorganized recital of remembered bits of dialog, feelings, actions, and situations. They were both extremely empathetic, respectful, and responsive listeners, and I tried to be the same as they shared the stories they wanted to work on. 

At that point, Megan went over the basics of stories suitable for a StorySlam, including length, structure, and cohesiveness. We received worksheets on story structure and storytelling in pairs. She went over appropriate ways to practice a story with other people and solicit and provide feedback. She then shared a story she is working on, and after, asked us questions about our reactions and understanding of her story.

She invited us to tell our stories again, given this new information. The other participant told her story, and after, we mentioned details and phrases that most impacted us emotionally, or went in a confusing direction, or what we didn’t understand. Like me, this participant had a recent and not-quite-processed experience, and she wanted to share its impact on her with other people. 

We moved from the class to helping with StorySlam behind-the-scenes work. I handed out ultrashort story slips, and explained the ultrashort process to StorySlam audience members, then collected them when people wanted to turn them in. The other volunteers were welcoming, encouraging, and kind.

As I watched the StorySlam participants at the microphone, as well as Megan as the emcee, ultrashort reader and storyteller, I didn’t feel fear at the idea of being on the stage. I have been singing and playing guitar in front of people for several years now, working my way from terror to willing to be in front of people on a PA. Standing and hearing my voice booming and people looking back at me with people isn’t the biggest barrier anymore. I even found myself thinking through my own “YIKES!” stories for something to share as an ultrashort. And I did.

So, I come out of the Story Starter Workshop and my introduction to the StorySlam curious to explore where intentionally developing my own stories takes me. I look forward to participating as a volunteer, and hopefully a story teller.