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.

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.

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).

Today’s story comes from Hannah Duggan. Hannah is a founding member of Buntport Theater Company, which owns the amazing home of our Denver show. Every time I see her, I regret that we didn’t know each other sooner. Hannah’s story was recorded live on 21 October 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was “Creeps.

Thanks to everyone who joined us at Four Mile Historic Park for the Stompin’ Ground Games. It was really something special. Our next live events—which are our last two shows of 2015—will take place on 8 December in San Diego and 16 December in Denver. The theme will be “Siblings.” Hope to see you there!

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

BUNTPORT THEATER, DENVER, 18 November 2015 at 8:00PM: Please join us for an evening of tales on the theme “If You Can’t Say Something Nice,” featuring a jaw-droppingly awesome lineup of storytellers: A.J. Pape Colleen…