Tag: storytelling

Episode 58 – Alum On The Spot Swap

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ever Google, “What to do when an ex-boyfriend rejects your extended olive branch?” the first storyteller in our Valentine’s Day throwback podcast did, before peeling herself off the floor to attend a book signing in an attempt to get her groove back—or at least to get moving.

First up from our alum on-the-spot story swap is “Waiting for Sedaris,” written by Shelley Gazes and performed by Mark Woollett.

Alum storytellers Shelley Gazes and Mark Woollett swap stories on the spot.

Switching it up, we find our next storyteller in an awkward meeting with his fiancée’s older relatives. Crowded in a hot Iowa living room dimmed by an ex-husband’s shadow, a near-death experience makes for a memorable afternoon.

Our second story, written by Mark Woollett and performed by Shelley Gazes at QED Astoria is “Olive.”

QED, like so many performance venues, has been hit hard by the pandemic. To send some love their way and get some fun goodies for yourself or others, you can SHOP QED’S ONLINE OR IN-STORE BOOK & GIFT SHOP!

You can also make donations on their website in increments starting at $5. Or, if you prefer other payment methods, they accept PayPal & Chase QuickPay using the email address QEDAstoria@gmail.com and Venmo as QEDAstoria.

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated to help support this valuable member of the Queens artistic community!

February 14, 2021 1 comment Podcast Tags: , , ,

No, YOU Tell It! “a Muse”

Sep 17 2019 @ 7:00PM

Join us at The Astoria Bookshop for this special BKBF Bookend event! FREE. We are bringing poets and stand-ups together to develop their nonfiction stories inspired by the theme “aMuse” on the page.

Top L: Pichchenda Bao, Top R: Carolyn Castiglia, Bottom L: Ellie Dvorkin, Bottom R: H.E. Fisher

They will then trade tales to present each other’s story on stage. Storytellers include:

Pichchenda Bao (Newtown Literary, 2019 Aspen Words emerging writer fellow)

Carolyn Castiglia (Comedy Central, NickMom)

Ellie Dvorkin (Mel& El, MomCaveTV)

H.E. Fisher (The Rumpus, 2019 recipient of The Stark Poetry Prize)

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2019 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT.

Click here to RSVP via Facebook. More info on our “aMuse” storytellers coming soon…

Event Information

Sep 17 2019 @ 7:00PM

The Astoria Bookshop (31-29 31st St Astoria NY 11106)

August 13, 2019 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , , , ,

Meet “Snapped!” Storyteller Naomi Gordon-Loebl

Rehearsals are underway! The storytellers have flipped scripts and are now working with a NYTI director to add a little oomph to their partner’s piece for tomorrow night’s “Snapped!” show at Dixon Place.

Meet our next storyteller Lambda Literary fellow Naomi Gordon-Loebl!

Naomi Gordon-Loebl is a writer, educator, and fellow at Type Media Center. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Harper’s, The Nation, Complex, Hazlitt, The Washington Spectator, The Toast, the anthologies The Social Construction of Difference and Inequality and Emerge, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of residencies and fellowships from Lambda Literary, Monson Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center. Before working in journalism, she spent five years as a teacher and youth development professional, helping people who had left school to complete their high school equivalency diplomas. She was born, raised, and still lives in Brooklyn.

June 10, 2019 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , , , ,

#Giving Tuesday, Lambda Literary, and Beyond

COMING in 2019! In celebration of NYC hosting WorldPride for the first time and the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, we are teaming up with Lambda Literary in June for a night of queer story swapping. Through No, YOU Tell It!’s unique format of pairing and partnering, this special evening will highlight the multiplicity of the queer experience.

More NYTI 2019 news SOON. But on this #GivingTuesday, YOU can support Lambda Literary, which works tirelessly every day on behalf of #LGBTQ writers and their writing. Hear more from executive director, Sue Landers, below and GIVE today at www.lambdaliterary.org/donate.

In July, I joined Lambda Literary as executive director because I wanted to help amplify LGBTQ voices at a time when the world needs them more than ever. As a teacher recently reminded me, “books make us whole.” That is especially true in the case of LGBTQ youth, who deserve to see positive, complex, and joyful portrayals of LGBTQ life in the books they read at school, which is exactly what Lambda Literary’s LGBTQ Writers in Schools program provides. It’s also true for all the many others who Lambda serves through our programs, including the only writing residency in the world exclusively for up-and-coming queer writers.

YOU can support this necessary, life-affirming work by giving to Lambda Literary this GivingTuesday. It is imperative that Lambda Literary continue to foster and amplify LGBTQ creativity. In our stories are the roadmaps for living, loving, and fighting. Our literature affirms the value of our lives and reflects our expansive humanity. Give now at www.lambdaliterary.org/donate.

– Sue Landers, Executive Director at Lambda Literary

November 27, 2018 Post Comment News Tags: , , , ,

“Share Our Stories” Collages

Our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons’ SU-CASA artist residency at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center recently culminated with a “Share Our Stories” final event featuring story collages made from the participants’ memoirs.

Take a look some the stories the fine folks at Woodhaven shared!

Click here to view the rest of the collages on our Facebook page.

June 15, 2017 Post Comment News Tags: , ,

“Share Our Stories” Event

Earlier this year, our own Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons was awarded a 2017 SU-CASA artist-in-residence grant through the Queens Council on the Arts to positively impact the well-being of older adults through arts-based activities. Her residency at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center culminates this Friday, June 9th, with a “Share Our Stories” showcase at the center.

Starting at 1 pm, this special event features storytelling, story collages, songs (and snacks!) inspired by the true-life tales the fabulous folks at Woodhaven shared with her, and each other, for the past few months. Kelly Jean is thrilled to be co-hosting this story-palooza with her Sip-N-Scribe partner in crime Jenn Wehrung (NYTI “Three Strikes” alum, Laugh It Up, Astoria!).

We’re also stoked to share that NYTI “Legacy” artist Sha-Nee Williams  returned to created an original painting of one of the workshop participant’s beloved cat. This stunning piece, which will be on display at the event, was based solely on Susan’s written description (see below) of her cat, Candy.

Susan’s cat, Candy, as imagined by Sha-Nee Williams

My cat’s name is Candy. She is 12 years old, but she is pretty frisky for her age. Her coloring is very hard to describe, but I would say she is dark gray with some calico in the back. She is a short-haired cat with a long gray tail. Candy is a big fat cat, very roly poly with a white tummy and white feet, but she is orangey around the legs. My God, I don’t even know how much she weighs! Maybe 15 pounds?

We feed her moist food in the morning and dry at night. Candy used to love Temptations but suddenly she doesn’t like them anymore. She is a very docile cat, sleeps all the time. We got her from the North Shore Animal League. We wanted an older cat. She was about eight years old when we took her home and that was four years ago. She has a tiny cry, “meow, meow, meow” with a tiny little mouth. Sometimes she doesn’t even make a noise. She just opens her mouth and a tiny “peep” comes out. I remember she used to have a tiny ball with a bell that she played with a lot, but it got lost.

Candy always sleeps next to me, she is very attached to me. She stares at me with these big beautiful eyes. I tell there that she’s “my pretty little girl” and she blinks her eyes. Blinks them slowly, as if I was putting her asleep.

Ready for more? Join us this Friday, June 9th, at 1 pm at the CCNS Woodhaven Neighborhood Senior Center (89-02 91st St, Jamaica, NY 11421) to hear some stories, see story collages made from the writing generated during the weekly memoir workshops, sing songs, and eat snacks!

 

Partners of the 2017 SU-CASA artist-in-residence grant

June 7, 2017 Post Comment News Tags: , , ,

Meet Our “Migration” Storytellers

Mar 22 2017 @ 7:00PM

Who are our “Migration” storytellers for Wednesday’s show? I’m so glad you asked!

Ken Crossland is a writer, children’s book designer, podcaster, and comedian from New York City. He’s the founder of the Curious Civilian, a website dedicated to politics and policy, and is a contributing editor to the Huffington Post, writing about government. You can follow him on Twitter (@kencrossland), curiouscivilian.com, or by typing his name into Google, and seeing what comes up.

Elisa DeCarlo is a writer/performer who has performed solo shows around the country, including the critically acclaimed “Toasted,” based on a real-life murder case, and “I Love Drugs”. Her work has been collected in “Cervix With A Smile: Comic Sketches and Plays by Elisa DeCarlo” (Exit Press). She has written comedy for National Public Radio, TV Land and Nickelodeon.  Elisa is also a novelist, writer of “The Abortionist’s Daughter,” “The Devil You Say,” and “Strong Spirits”, the latter two published by Avon.  As a journalist she has been published in The New York Times, New York magazine, Sarah Lawrence magazine, and others.

Erika Iverson is a director and dramaturg for No, YOU Tell It! and has participated in almost every one of their shows as a director, performer, or both. She is a certified instructor of the Alexander Technique and an enthusiastic director of one-woman shows. She was last seen on stage at La Mama ETC as a clown of ambiguous gender and the embodiment of Air in Magis Theatre Company’s production of Calderon’s Two Dreams. She is super grateful to Kelly Jean, who provides Erika with deadlines and shames her into showing up for things on time. Thanks KJ!

Leslie Malaika Lewis is an actress, writer and producer best known for creating the solo show Miracle in Rwanda. She is the leading lady and lead producer of the film With Child, available for streaming on iTunes and Amazon. Leslie starred as Dorothy Dandridge at the National Black Theater. A Harvard graduate, she has a MFA in Acting from UCLA. Awards: The Streisand Sony Award at UCLA and an AUDELCO and Jessie Award nominee. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, The Magis Theater Company and The Actors Center. She thanks God, her family and friends for their support.

See you at 7 pm at Jimmy’s No. 43. We will open the back room right at 7 for the show, but feel free to come early for drinks/food in the bar area. (no min or max on either!)

CLICK HERE to RSVP via Facebook.

Event Information

Mar 22 2017 @ 7:00PM

Jimmy's No 43 (43 East 7th btwn 2nd & 3rd Aves)

March 20, 2017 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , ,

Up Next: Our “Migration” Show

Mar 22 2017 @ 7:00PM

Our next show is in ONE WEEK. See you back at our old stomping grounds, Jimmy’s No. 43, for a night of switched-up stories inspired by the theme “Migration” from:

Ken Crossland, Elisa DeCarlo, Leslie Lewis, and our very own Erika Iverson!

Click here to RSVP via Facebook.

Check back soon to meet our “Migration” storytellers!

Event Information

Mar 22 2017 @ 7:00PM

Jimmy's No. 43 (43 East 7th between 2nd and 3rd Aves)

March 15, 2017 Post Comment Live Shows Tags: , ,

Episode 16 – Wild Card

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today’s “Two on Tuesday” stories were performed live at Jimmy’s No. 43 as part of our WILD CARD show.

Lucky at cards, unlucky in love. Can you be unlucky at both? And what if the cards are being dealt by a psychic? Her story “All in the Cards” was the first time writer Shelley Gazes’ work was performed live, but we are happy to say it wasn’t the last. Shelley’s come back to take part in No, YOU Tell It! alumni events, and perform her stories at The Moth’s StorySLAMs.  Give a listen to the story that started it all, performed here by Nelson Lugo.

wild card

(Wild Card inspired artwork by Sarah Gentile.)

Now, switching it up, magician Nelson Lugo’s one-man shows feature slight-of-hand and are full of heart as he interweaves magic with storytelling. We were honored to have him come develop this deeply personal tale with us about magic, mental institutions, and the miracle of a well-made cookie.  Here is “Crazy Sad” written by Nelson Lugo and performed by Shelley Gazes.

 

These stories were performed on Wed, September 17th 2014. Here are the storytellers’ bios from that evening:

Shelley Gazes has studied fiction and nonfiction writing at Barnard College, Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute, Gotham Writers Workshop, and MediaBistro. Her work has appeared in The Journal News and The Huffington Post. She is also a regular volunteer for 826NYC’s storytelling field trips for children, helping students to foster their own creative voices. She’s excited for her work to be performed for the first time with No, YOU Tell It! and looks forward to taking part in more storytelling events in the future.

Nelson Lugo is a Magician, Sideshow Artist, and Batman enthusiast. He was featured by TimeOut NY as an Entertainer to Watch and co-hosts a podcast called “The EPIC PIEcast” for NerdyShow.com. He’s been a guest speaker for The Sunday Assembly NYC, a guest singer for the BTK Band, a storyteller at Adam Wade’s Whatever Happened to the Nerds, and was featured on the Story Collider podcast twice. He is currently performing a solo show called “Gathering The Magic” at The Tank Theater which you can see on Saturday September 20th that is slice-of-life storytelling and sophisticated stage magic. More info at NelsonLugo.com.

February 2, 2016 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , , , , ,

Episode 6 – Revival

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today’s “Two on Tuesday” stories are from our ‘Revival’ show recorded live at Jimmy’s No. 43.

How much should we reveal about ourselves? And what exactly do we leave behind?  Jessica Cannon contemplates these questions for the digital era in her story “Internets is Forever,” performed here by Matthew Trumbull.

Revival photo

How often have you found yourself in the midst of a terrible situation from which you couldn’t escape? What if you were literally center stage? Switching it up, Jessica Cannon performs Matthew Trumbull’s harrowing tale, “Last of the Metamoras.”

These stories from our ‘Revival’ show on April 15th, 2015, at Jimmy’s No. 43 were directed by Erika Iverson. Here are the storytellers bios from that evening:

Jessica Cannon is a New York City based actress and voiceover artist whose voice can be heard in national television commercials and radio spots for major brands such as Twizzlers, ALL, Citibank, AT&T, Hershey’s Kisses, Coffee Mate, Nexxus, Smirnoff Ice, Nesquik, and many others. Her work also includes voicing promos, cartoons and video games. She is an avid reader and a classically trained musician. If you’re young enough, you may remember her from your potty training days as the host of Potty Power, the number two best-selling potty-training DVD on Amazon (no pun intended, Elmo beat us to the number one spot).

Matthew Trumbull is an actor and writer, and was featured as a storyteller earlier this month in Soundtrack Series at QED in Astoria.  He will next be appearing in the play The Butter and Egg Man produced by Retro Productions at the Gene Frankel Theater, opening May 15th, and the feature film ‘The Spike’, written by Mac Rogers.  Previously this year, he starred in the opera/theater piece The Velvet Oratorio by Edward Einhorn and Henry Akona, and the play The Temple by Nat Cassidy, at the Brick Theater.

 

October 20, 2015 Post Comment Podcast Tags: , ,
1 2 3 … 6