This episode, the third of a three-part series on the theme “Taking a Stand,” features stories from Jonny 5 of the Flobots and Dessa from Doomtree. These stories were recorded live at Buntport Theater on July 18, 2014 as part of a special collaboration with Pivot TV and Rooftop Comedy.
Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders).
This episode, the second of a three-part series on the theme “Taking a Stand,” features stories from Evan Weissman (Buntport Theater, Warm Cookies of the Revolution) and legendary Colorado comedian Nancy Norton. These stories were recorded live at Buntport Theater on July 18, 2014 as part of a special collaboration with Pivot TV and Rooftop Comedy.
Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders).
This episode, the first of a three-part series on the theme “Taking a Stand,” features stories from co-hosts Andrew Orvedahl and Robert Rutherford. These stories were recorded live at Buntport Theater on July 18, 2014 as part of a special collaboration with Pivot TV and Rooftop Comedy.
Our new theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders).
Part two of our “Broke” show, recorded at Buntport Theater, features stories from our producer, Ron S. Doyle, and comedian Haley Driscoll. These stories were recorded at Buntport Theater on June 18, 2014.
Our new theme music was provided by our friend Whalehawk (aka grammy nominated musician Jake Sanders). He has a huge catalog of music available on his SoundCloud page, so make sure to check out more of his work.
In 2009, I created a comedy storytelling show in Los Angeles called Storytime, born mainly from my frustration at the average standup comedy audience’s impatience with stories. The show was a ton of fun, and when I moved back to Denver in November of that year, I was eager to move the show with me.
Once I finally found a home at the Paris on the Platte wine bar, the first order of business was to change the name to The Narrators, since I discovered there was already a Colorado-based jam band called Storytime. (Much later I would discover that there is also a pretty terrible hip hop group called The Narrators.) I had created the show somewhat self-indulgently as a means to tell funny stories, and for others to do the same, but it took on a life of its own, with its own fan base. I was finding new and amazing storytellers every month who were not comedians, but playwrights, songwriters, novelists, etc. The show grew immediately, and soon outgrew the intimate little wine bar.
I decided to move the show to a new venue, but knew it also needed more attention than I could give, so I asked my good friend Robert Rutherford to hop aboard, as he had already demonstrated both a passion for storytelling and a passion for this show, both crucial ingredients. We moved The Narrators to the Deer Pile art space, which was a terrific upgrade. The space was still intimate, but very intentional. Everyone present was there to hear the stories, which significantly improved the show’s quality.
As fortune would have it, the show continued to steadily grow until it was normal to see audience overflow spilling out into the hallway. We stayed at the Deer Pile as long as we could, but eventually resigned ourselves to look for a larger space.
We ended up linking with one of our very favorite Denver cultural institutions, the Buntport Theater and again the fit was perfect, and is to date our current home. The space is larger, but still ideal for storytelling.
Robert’s life decided to take him to San Diego, but his love for the show is undiminished, and in fact he will soon be launching his own chapter of The Narrators from southern California. I’ve never had anything I created bear the sort of fruit that can be taken away to a new place to grow, which is super cool. (Yes, I know it’s just a storytelling show which is neither unique or amazing, but it still feels neat.)
We’ve also partnered up with Rooftop media out of San Francisco, who will distribute some of our stories across their various platforms. Hopefully this partnership will lead to other big ideas- like perhaps a StoryFest here in Denver?
I had to find a new co-host for the Denver Narrators show, and after some real thinking, I found the perfect candidate. I will introduce him to the show on August 20th, hope to see you there!
To everyone who has told a story, or just listened over all these years, thank you so much!
-Andrew Orvedahl
Part one of our “Broke” show, recorded in our new home at Buntport Theater, features stories from comedian/Denver Post pot critic/host of Whiskey and Cigarettes podcast Jake Browne and comedian Timmi Lasley. These stories were recorded at Buntport Theater on June 18, 2014 by our main man Ron Doyle.
IF YOU HAVEN’T HEARD THE BIG NEWS REGARDING OUR SHOW, READ ON!
We are not hosting our show on the usual third Wednesday in July. INSTEAD, we are putting on a very special show on FRIDAY, JULY 18 at 8pm at Buntport Theater. We are partnering with Pivot TV and Rooftop Media to tackle the theme of “Taking a Stand”, which will be filmed by Pivot TV, and we have put together an incredible lineup of performers to help us out, including:
Dessa (DOOMTREE Collective), Jonny 5 (Flobots), Nancy Norton (comedian), Evan Weissman (Warm Cookies of the Revolution), Andrew Orvedahl, and Robert Rutherford.
AND, You might notice that our podcast sounds a little bit different! We got some new tunes, provided by our friend Whalehawk (aka grammy nominated musician Jake Sanders). He has a huge catalog of music available on his SoundCloud page, so make sure to check out more of his work.