Blog

  • 88: Taylor Gonda, “An Anglophile’s First Visit to England”

    88: Taylor Gonda, “An Anglophile’s First Visit to England”

    So far, 2016 has been rough year for anglophiles. We’ve lost Lemmy and David Bowie and Alan Rickman already, and it’s not even February. The outpouring of grief and nostalgia and admiration over the last few weeks has been overwhelming but still inspiring—it’s clear that England still has an immense influence on American culture.

    When news of David Bowie’s death hit social media, this week’s storyteller, Taylor Gonda, was the first person who came to mind. People were reaching out to her on Facebook as if Bowie were a biological uncle, and with good reason—time and time again, Taylor has proven her love for all things living in the shadow of the Union Jack. She’s a long-time favorite of The Narrators—but you may know her best as co-host of These Things Matter, the greatest pop culture podcast in all the land. Taylor’s story was recorded on 17 September 2014 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was “Schooled.”

    Our next live event will take place on 20 January 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver—the theme will be “Promise.” The show is free and starts at 8pm. We’re also hosting a miniature version of our show for Untitled at the Denver Art Museum on 29 January. We’ll be in the Danny Singer exhibit at 8pm, telling stories about “Family Vacation.” For a list of all our 2016 themes and information about other upcoming special events, please visit our Events page.

  • 87: Joe Holland, “Chappie”

    87: Joe Holland, “Chappie”

    Happy New Year! This week’s story is told by Joe Holland, a San Diego-based writer. He deftly captures the complicated nature of family in this story based on the theme “Siblings.”

    We are looking forward to 2016 and a new year of storytelling. We’ll kick it off in San Diego on Tuesday, 12 January, and in Denver on Wednesday, 20 January, with the theme “Promise.” We have posted all of our themes for the upcoming year, which you can find on our Events page. Take a look and get in touch if you’d like to join the roster of storytellers this year.

     

  • 86: Matthew Taylor, “Jesus Party!”

    86: Matthew Taylor, “Jesus Party!”

    Over the years, we’ve heard lots of holiday stories at The Narrators, even when they’re out of season, because life just seems more significant during special events.

    Like birthdays and graduations and anniversaries, holidays elevate themselves to a different status among the crowd of 365. As a species, we’re drawn to creating a spectacle. So many of us love obsessing over the logistics of special events—the meals, the friends and family members, the music, the gifts and the travel. And, because we think so much about the traditions and the execution, holidays sear themselves onto our memory in a way that just doesn’t happen with a regular day at work. We obsess, we ruminate, we revel and sometimes regret the tiniest of details. And it’s those details, those long-term emotional marks and memories, my friends, that make such excellent ingredients for a story.

    Today’s story comes from Matthew Taylor. It’s not about Christmas, per se, but it is about a Jesus-themed birthday party, which is pretty darned close to Christmas if you ask me.  Matthew is an actor, improviser and author who hails from the small sailing village of Itchenor in the UK. His performance was adapted from a short story entitled “Surprise Party,” which is also a chapter in his award-winning autobiography, Goat Lips: Tales of a True Englishman. This story was recorded live on 16 September 2015; the theme of the evening was “Firsts.” Happy holidays, everyone.

    Our next live events will take place on 12 January 2016 at Tiger!Tiger! in San Diego and 20 January 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver—the theme will be “Promise.” Both shows are free and start at 8pm. For a list of all our 2016 themes and information about upcoming special events, please visit our Events page.

  • 85: Amy Lisewski, “My Brother’s Brother”

    85: Amy Lisewski, “My Brother’s Brother”

    We’ve wrapped up our live shows for 2015. Thank you to all of you in Denver in San Diego and beyond who have helped to make 2015 one of our best years yet. We’re looking forward to 2016, and to that end we have posted all of our themes for the upcoming year, which you can find on our Events page. We’ll be back in the new year ready for love and war and whatever else the world throws at us. In the meantime, please enjoy this story, shared at our San Diego show in December. Amy Lisewski, founder and director of Finest City Improv, told a pretty amazing tale about the true connections of family when we tackled the theme of “Siblings.”

    And here’s one last call to hear from you folks out there in podcast land. If you want to get us a gift for Christmas, please consider taking a moment to rate this podcast on iTunes. It only takes 15 seconds but really does help our ranking there.

    Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders).

  • This Wednesday in Denver: “Siblings”

    This Wednesday in Denver: “Siblings”

    BUNTPORT THEATER, DENVER, 16 DECEMBER 2015 at 8:00PM:

    When you were three years old, she stranded you on the coffee table for an hour because you really truly believed that the carpet was lava. You haven’t spoken to him for 6 months because he’s entered into a really disturbing racist-like-Morrisey phase. You shared a bed when you were little and still feel a little empty when they’re gone. Tonight, for our final show of 2015, we bring you stories about “Siblings.” The cast of storytellers:

    Laura Bond (Writer, Rolling Stone, Spin, Lighthouse Writers)
    Adam Cayton-Holland (Comedian, “Those Who Can’t”, The Grawlix)
    Steph Gustafson (Activist, retired nonprofit wizard)
    Chella Negro (Singer/songwriter, Chella & The Charm)
    Ellen Trachman (Attorney, Trachman Law Center)
    Emma Weisfeld (The Narrators, Audible/Rooftop Media)

    …and your host, Erin Rollman, the living embodiment of the imaginary sister we all daydreamed about. We’ll have beer, wine, and 2016 POSTERS (!) available for donation (CASH ONLY). See you there!

    717 Lipan Street
    DENVER

     

     

  • 84: AJ Pape, “Kevin Spacey Saved My Life”

    84: AJ Pape, “Kevin Spacey Saved My Life”

    Today’s story comes from AJ Pape. AJ’s story was recorded live on 18 November 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was “If You Can’t Say Something Nice.”

    Our next show is on Wednesday, December 16 at Buntport Theater in Denver. The theme will be Siblings and sadly, it’s our last show of 2015. But, have no fear, we’ll be back in 2016 and for the first time ever we’ve announced an entire year’s worth of themes in advance, so please head over to our Events page and check out the list.

    As always, we love hearing from you folks out there in podcast land, and if you want to get us a gift for Christmas, please consider taking a moment to rate this podcast on iTunes. It only takes 15 seconds but really does help our ranking there.

    Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders).