When The Narrators first started in Denver over six and a half years ago, storytelling shows were few and far between. There were poets and memoirists sharing true stories at open mics, and the oral traditionalists have always been around, at historical gatherings or elementary school assemblies, but personal narrative just wasn’t a common thing.

Today, Denverā€”along with many other cities in Americaā€”is exploding with new storytelling shows and projects. Established shows in Denver like us and Stories Stories Bring Us Your Stories, My Teenage Angst, Truth Be Told in Boulder and The Moth Story Slam in Englewood are still going strong, and there are so many new shows and events and podcasts and projects popping up that it’s tough to keep upā€”there’s The Raconteurs, This is My Brave, Misunderstood, We Still Like You, and we know of at least two more that will launch in the next 12 months. Here’s the best partā€”there’s more than enough room for all of us. Even though we’re all ostensibly doing the same thingā€”sharing true personal narrativesā€”each show has its own flavor and theme and feel, it’s own attraction for both the performer and audience. All of us at The Narrators are excited about this, because it offers folks more places to share their stories and find their voice, and because it confirms what we’ve believed all along: people are longing for opportunities to build empathy, to listen and to connect.

So, today, we’re doing something a little different. We’re going to share a story from one of those newer storytelling projects in town. It’s called Unknown Caller. It’s a podcast that collects stories anonymously via voicemailā€”no standing behind a microphone, no spotlights, no crowd of strangersā€”you just call in to their hotline and start talking. Unknown Caller is the brainchild of Cory Byrom, a storytelling alum of The Narrators, Risk!, and The Iceberg in Atlanta. The podcast has published 13 episodes so far and they’re all worth a listen. You can subscribe to Unknown Caller on iTunes or SoundCloud, and find them on Facebook or Twitter (@1UnknownCaller). Let them know we sent you!

This story was originally published by Unknown Caller podcast on May 2nd 2016.

Our monthly theme for October is “Tricks”, so please join us at our live shows on Tuesday, October 11 in San Diego and Wednesday, October 19 in Denver. Check back here for more details. We’re also doing a special edition of The Narrators at Exposure, a free happy hour event, hosted by our pals at From the Hip Photo, that celebrates Denver’s diverse creative community. There will be free beer from Ratio Beerworks and a pop-up from Denver Zine Library. Join us at 5pm on October 12th at Fort Greene Tavern in Denver.

If you haven’t already, please like our page on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on all of these events and more.

This week’s story comes to you from Michael Wall, Curator of Entomology at the San Diego Natural History Museum. That means he’s the guy that gets endless texts from his co-workers with blurry photos of insects seeking advice on whether to kill said insect or not. He shared a story on the theme of “Tongues,” which was recorded live at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern on 10 May 2016. Enjoy!

If you haven’t been to a live Narrators show yet, we recommend that you get thee to either Denver or San Diego post haste. Being a part of The Narrators in the flesh is a really magical thing. If you’re in Denver tomorrow, September 21st, you can see The Narrators at Buntport Theater at 8pm. The theme of the night is “Change of Heart.”

Our October shows will address the theme “Tricks,” with San Diego at the mic at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern on Tuesday, October 11th and in Denver at Buntport Theater on Wednesday, October 19th. The Narrators is an all ages event. Shows start at 8PM and are free. We hope to see you there.

All of the stories shared at The Narrators are true, or at least they’re supposed to be true, so it’s rare for one of our storytellers to reveal when they are lying. Today’s story, however, is almost entirely about lyingā€”in this case, to total strangers. Greg Salvesen is an astronomer, ultra-distance runner, and a long-time friend of the show. His story was recorded live on 20 July 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was “Pop!”

Thanks to everyone who attended our all-comedian special at High Plains Comedy Festivalā€”we were honored to be part of the fest. You have two chances to catch one of our live shows this month: 13 September at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego and 21 September at Buntport Theater in Denver. The theme will be “Change of Heart,” both shows start at 8pm, and both shows are totally free. Hope to see you there!

If you haven’t already, please like our page on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on all of these events and more.

Today’s story comes to you from Irene Bonner. Irene shared a story on the theme of “Ink” at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern in San Diego on June 14, 2016.

We have a metric shit ton of exciting shows in the near future. Our regular Denver show is this Wednesday, August 17 at Buntport Theater.

This Thursday, our San Diego enclave will be hosting their second special performance at the Museum of Man as part of their summer evening programming. The show is a kinda sorta Best of the San Diego Narrators as they approach their one-year anniversary on the best coast. The show starts at 7PM and is free with museum admission.

On Saturday, August 27, at 5PM, The Narrators will be a part of theĀ High Plains Comedy Festival, with an all-star lineup that is guaranteed to make you wet your pants. I GUARANTEE IT.

We’ll be back next month in our usual haunts and our theme will be “Change of Heart.”

Well, we made it to 100 episodes of this lil’ podcast!

To celebrate, we’ve asked the hosts of our Denver and San Diego shows to share some of their favorite stories. This week we’ll present the second part of our celebration, a couple of stories selected by Mary Robertson and Robert Rutherford, the co-hosts of The Narrators San Diego.

Mary RobertsonĀ chose a story by Carmen RadleyĀ that she shared at our “Siblings” show inĀ December 2015, and Robert RutherfordĀ chose a story by Ellen K GrahamĀ that she shared at our “Two-Way Street” collaboration with Stratus Chamber Orchestra (formerlyĀ Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra).

Per Robert’s instructions, please check out this recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending AFTER listening to Ellen’s story. It’s worth your time, we promise.

Thank you for continuing to support the podcast and for coming out in droves every month to our live shows. We are still so in love with the power of the community that this show has built and we look forward to sharing another 100 episodes with you.

Well, we made it to 100 episodes of this lil’ podcast!

To celebrate, we’ve asked the hosts of our Denver and San Diego shows to share some of their favorite stories. This week we’ll present a couple of stories selected by Ron Doyle and Erin Rollman, the co-hosts of The Narrators Denver.

Ron Doyle chose a story by Emma Weisfeld that she shared at our “Siblings” show inĀ December 2015, and Erin Rollman chose a story by Timmi Lasley that she shared at our “Crushed” show in August 2015.

Thank you for continuing to support the podcast and for coming out in droves every month to our live shows. We are still so in love with the power of the community that this show has built and we look forward to sharing another 100 episodes with you.

Our June shows, in which we will explore the theme “Ink,” are incredibly nigh, so mark your calendars:

Tuesday, June 14th in San Diego at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern, 8PM. FREE

Wednesday, June 15th in Denver at Buntport Theater, 8PM. FREE