re: A Birthday StorySlam

We're big fans of The Moth and the Porchlight story telling series in our house, so to celebrate my birthday last week we decided to host our own StorySlam with our friends. A StorySlam is a live storytelling event where participants from the audience are chosen at random to come up to the mic and tell their true personal tales.

I rented out a little coffee shop around the corner from our apartment, set up a mic, and all night we drank delicious hot chocolate the barista whipped up for us and listened to our friends tell 5 minute true stories on the topic of "getting older."

Willing participants put their name in a box, and we drew 10 names over the course of the evening to tell a story in front of the group. We borrowed our rules from the Moth StorySlam, which were as follows: 

It must be TRUE
Stories are strictly non-fiction.   

It must be ON TOPIC
The story you've prepared should be intrinsically related to the theme of "Getting Older".   

It must be YOUR STORY TO TELL
Were you there? Are you one of the main characters? Your involvement in the events as they unfold is essential. No journalism. Eyewitness accounts only.   

It must be ON TIME
You've got to squeeze all of that into 5 minutes. 

And, if you'd like a taste of what we heard that evening, here's Collin, telling a story about a blind raccoon and his golden birthday. Enjoy:

Birthday Story Slam | November 30, 2012 from Rebecca Wright.

(pretty photos taken by Kristian + Kimmi, video by Julio)