Too busy to post...massmouth update

massmouth,inc. HQ

Too busy to post. A massmouth update
by Norah Dooley

It has been a crazy busy few months here at massmouth HQ. Not first in sequence but looming large on my mind is that we had to move the office, again.  All for a delightful cause as daughters return for the holidays to the family manse - aka our 2 bedroom, basement 'hobbit hole' in Brookline. Still, moving undoes me.  Even though the move was just from our living room to our bedroom, my totally visual memory crashes when things are rearranged.  I cannot remember anything at all, like what I should be doing, much less where things like the stapler or postage stamps are.

The new office is temporary.  It is, after all a bedroom and some people apparently sleep at night and in bedrooms. Weird, huh?  This same room is also the executive office "suite" of Fairchild Electric. Luckily we are still on speaking terms with CEO so this arrangement can continue until we get a real office. Anyone who knows of an office space, accessible by T, in Boston/Cambridge, 100'sq. minimum space where a computer and our sound equipment can be secured - PLEASE call us. We are officially registered to engage the energy and labor of college interns at Emerson and Lesley University,  if, and this is a big IF, we have a public office space. We do not need a lot of room - just a glorified closet, with a lock on it, that is not a bedroom or a private home. Did I mention the space needs to be for barter - will tell tales for rent? Or teach storytelling  skills? Or space could simply be donated  - perhaps as a tax write off? Or we could work in a space with some other nonprofit?  We ( especially the CEO of Fairchild Electric) are open to suggestion and your creative ideas.

Fairchild Electric, HQ

Now that I am refreshed by my pity party, let's move on and talk a bit about the exciting opening of our second season of slams.  The season began with  “Free Will - a Shakespeare Slam”  on September 11th at the Burren in Somerville. Conceived by Michael Anderson and emceed by Norah Dooley, the program was filled out with many massmouth storytellers. The packed house, on a gorgeous fall Saturday afternoon no less, was treated to a  creative mash-up of theater, improv and storytelling based on the words of the Bard of Avon.  The CEO of Fairchild Electric has a great time at the Shakespeare slam so that keeps the wheels of our industry greased.
Our slam season proper opened at Kennedy's Midtown to a SRO show on MONDAY OCT 4th. Andrea Lovett co hosted  at the "games people play” with  NPR's Only A Game, Bill Littlefield. Two weeks later Robin Maxfield,  storyteller and a major people connector in Jamaica Plain kicked off a series of slams at  Bella Luna. She and co-host and organize/storyteller, HR Britton hosted a full house and some great stories on the theme  "transported". Nine days later, Bruce Marcus had two co hosts and a full house at Johnny D' s Somerville, "horrified" : singer songwriter Jim Infantino and hip-harpist, Deborah Henson-Conant. Early in November, blogger Pactrick Maguire and Norah Dooley co-hosted at Kennedy's Midtown and some fabulous stories were delivered on the theme" service ".  8 days later, Diana Wiesner and a busker hosted at The Precinct, Somerville,  on the theme "a Boston T Party "and runner up Robin Maxfield and our slam were front page news in the Boston Metro the next day. Bella Luna was the venue for  " medical madness " a fun and thought provoking romp through the medical world co hosted by Robin and HR with burlesque artiste, Miss Honeysuckle Duvet. In early December, Kate George, mystery novelist "with a side of humor" co hosted with Norah at Kennedy's Midtown  and the theme "secrets" brought out many previously undisclosed family 'heirlooms'.  We are not done yet. We have "holidaze" coming up on DEC 26th , co hosted by HR Britton and Robin Maxfiled with special guest, Reb Moshe Waldocks, co editor of the Big Book of Jewish Humor. And massmouth was invited to host 2 story slams  at Hynes Auditorium on First Night. December 31st at the Hynes Auditorium.

Josh Fine listens as he converts and catalogs audio files

What with all this story slamming going on and, since this is by no means all that we are doing to promote the art of storytelling, it has been hard to blog or post or do anything extra.  It is exciting and we are growing in good ways.  Lots of new tellers and great stories are emerging with each theme. Since becoming a nonprofit  in September 2010, we have incurred many expenses. From registration fees to insurance costs, being a legit business entity comes at a high cost.  We also have received some formal grants ( TBA soon - check back at this blog for more news ) and a special, informal grant. An anonymous donor has designated a gift for us to create podcasts from our story slam video archives.
This is a huge project that has been pushed onto the back burner for months. The demand for downloadable audio files is great. But creating these is a time sink and we were unable to get to it. Now, thanks to our donor and finding someone with both the time and expertise in Josh Fine, we are able to attack this project. Josh has a great ear, amazing attention to detail and he has a degree in computer science from Northeastern University. We are so lucky to have him on board. Podcasts will be available in the New Year for sure!

Well, that's all for now. More exciting news to come.