"Night-Owl" at Club Passim!

Sleepless Storytellers perform at Club Passim
By Jason Turesky

On Monday night at Club Passim, ten storytellers told amazing true stories based on the theme for the night: “Night Owl.” The subterranean show room was packed with enthralled audience members and attentive judges. The stories from the night have even inspired the night owl in me as I am writing this post in the wee hours.  The diverse group of stories ranged from Bruce Marcus’s early morning dance revelations to an experience in a “bar” in Brazil that helped change David Nevins' life.

Our illustrious slam host, Norah Dooley, hosting like a boss.

Highlights of the night included Canadian Daniel Joan’s story was about an unbelievable encounter he had with a ghost one night. The supernatural meeting happened shortly after he finished telling his girlfriend all of her faults. Robin Maxfield warned everybody about the repercussions of having a beautiful young single mother, while Kevin Kulp told tales of working all night on the railroad.

Susan Seidman reminded the audience that sometimes we should listen to the crazy thoughts that come to us in the middle of the night can be good. Her story about a rekindled relationship with an old flame that she had tracked down at 3’o’clock in the morning one night, proved just that.

Another storyteller, who prides herself on her poor decision-making, was second place winner Ayala Livny. Her story, which was also my personal favorite, focused on a memorable summer night in Maine. Ayala, who was working at a summer camp as a photography teacher, wanted the girls in her bunk to watch a meteor shower with her. The only girl she could pry out of bed was her favorite camper Lisa. After leaving the bunk, the sleep deprived Lisa informed Ayala that she was not wearing any pants. The “dumb decision” that Ayala made was not going back to the bunk, but instead giving Lisa her pants. This decision got a big laugh from the audience. Ayala has very fond memories of that night, the meteor shower, and Lisa. Ayala believes that some of the most memorable moments in her life were the result of dumb decisions. “I hope my kids don’t make perfect decisions,” she said.

Justin Werfel, continued the trend of poor decision making, with his hilarious first prize story about a prank or “hack” he helped pull off as an undergrad at MIT. The prank was intended to commemorate the last time freshman would be able to rush for frats. The plan was to make multiple pieces of Styrofoam with the words “So long and thanks for all the frosh,” carved into them (of course a prank at MIT would include a play on a line from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) to look like they were part of an MIT building. Justin and his accomplices worked through the night. By the time the sun rose, their plan was falling apart. Looking, “like ninjas in Antarctica,” they began assembling the foam. The structurally unsound foam fell apart soon after it was put together. Justin ended his story with a thought provoking but troubling sentiment: “MIT has the world greatest engineers. Think about that the next time you get on a plane.”

H.R. Britton won the Audience Choice award with his story about his musically gifted Grandma and his late nights playing the ukulele, while taking care of his newborn. The story was beautifully told. H.R. was also very entertaining as he pretended to be a 1930’s uke player wearing a straw hat.

(Very!) Special guest and "Eric in the Evening" host, Eric Jackson.

All the stories were great, but I was especially impressed by newcomer Rachel Feynman.  Rachel, who is a boarding school student from Newton, describes herself as more of a “morning gopher” than a “night owl.” Rachel goes to bed at 8 p.m. and wakes up at 12 a.m., unlike the majority of her classmates who go to bed at 12 a.m. Rachel was quite funny as she told her early morning Mountain Dew and Skittles routine. Even though it was her first time, Rachel appears to be a confident and promising storyteller.

In between storytellers, special guest Eric Jackson, host of WGBH’s jazz show Eric in the Evening, entertained the audience with stories about jazz legends Miles Davis and Grover Washington. If you ever get a chance to meet Eric, you should ask him to do his Miles Davis impression, it is very impressive.

This was my first story slam and I was blown away by these talented storytellers. I look forward to attending many more slams in the future.

Congrats to Ayala Livny (2nd), Justin Werfel (1st), and HR Britton (Audience Choice)!

[Editor's note:  Another big Thank You to all who participated!  Tellers, judges, volunteers, audience members!  You rock!  To find a slam near you, see more photos, watch videos and lots more visit: www.massmouth.com]

All photos courtesy of Paula H. Junn
http://www.paulajunn.com/

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Jason Turesky is a 24 year old aspiring radio journalist. He is currently taking journalism classes at Harvard Extension and is interning for Pioneer Institute. Jason has been fascinated by storytelling since he saw Odds Bodkins preform at his summer camp many years ago.