Storytelling at the Tavern at the End of the World

By Owen Grey

A fire warmed the back room of the Tavern at the End of the World as I walked in last Monday. I wasn't sure what to expect.

The bookshelves surrounding the fireplace added extra warmth to the room. They seemed to say, "Yes, this is a place where stories live. Welcome." I saw PJ Strachman sitting with some people in the corner and I made my way over.

I made my introductions and met Aimee Rose Ranger, the hostess, and several others excited about storytelling.

Monday was my first time at 360 Storytelling, a project of the Whistler in the Dark Theatre. My friends Jesse Strachman and PJ had invited me before but this week was the first time I was able to make it. People continued to join us 8:00pm, the appointed hour, approached. We started as one table and expanded out until we filled most of the back room.

Aimee welcomed us and then told the first story. She set the time for 6 minutes (360 seconds) and began. She left us wondering what happened because she hit the six minute mark before she finished her story. More than a few tellers would hit that wall as the night went on.

Walking in that night, I hadn't been sure what to expect. What I found was a group of friends gathered to share stories and community. That same sense of story and community is what I found when I first discovered massmouth.

* * *

The next 360 Storytelling will be on Monday, February 13, 2012.

The next massmouth Story Slam is "Genesis" at Club Passim, Cambridge, with special guest Tony Kahn on Monday, January 16, 2012.

Check out the Whistler in the Dark Theatre 2011-2012 season. Two productions, Fen and A Number, are running now through February 4, 2012.

* * *

Owen Grey has been telling stories his whole life. He has found a home with massmouth and the Greater Boston storytelling scene.