Where stories take center stage

Somewhere along the nexus that links stand-up comedy with coffee shop poetry readings, you will find the charming and unexpected performances performed at The Moth’s monthly  Pittsburgh  StorySLAMs. Originally founded in New York City in 2007, The Moth is an organization that promotes an artform as old as mankind itself: storytelling. The Moth’s StorySLAM in Pittsburgh — which consists of impromptu, off-the-cuff storytelling sessions held in different cities across the nation — is held at the Rex Theater in the South Side. Audiences members can sign up to tell a five-minute story about a preselected theme. Aside from the five-minute rule, the only criteria for stories is truthfulness.

The performance is more than just storytelling — it’s also a competition. At each installment, a collection of audience members rate the performances and award points to their favorites. At the end of the night, a winner is crowned.

On Wednesday at 8 p.m., however, the organization’s best storytellers will be putting their tales to the test at the Pittsburgh GrandSLAM Championship at the New Hazlett Theater on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The last 10 winners of the Pittsburgh StorySLAMs will face off against one another, with the winner advancing to The Moth’s national storytelling competition in New York City. This time, however, things won’t be so off the cuff: They’ll be receiving the guidance and coaching of storytelling professionals, such as Pittsburgh StorySLAM producer Kelly Flanagan Dee.

At the most recent installment of StorySLAM, held on March 11, the theme was “Heroes”  — a topic that left a surprising amount of room for interpretation. Almost all the stories varied in tone and content, and while some elicited laughs, others were more serious.

One such performance was Tim Sommers, 48, who told a story about a boyhood plot to seek revenge on his friend’s abusive and alcoholic father. The plan was simple, even comical — order pizzas and taxis for his friend’s father from all over the city until he couldn’t take it anymore. Though it started out as funny, things took a turn when they watched the boy’s father openly weep. It was a moment that Sommers said made him realize revenge was empty.

“You never know what you are going be watching when you come to a Moth show,” Dee said. She has been the producer for Pittsburgh’s StorySLAMs since the New York-based program first expanded to Pittsburgh in 2011 and is responsible for helping to select the themes, working with the venue and keeping in touch with the ever-expanding community of storytellers.

“My responsibilities are basically making sure that the show runs every month,” Dee said.

The variety of stories makes The Moth appealing, Sommers said. 

“The best moments are when the most unexpected person comes up and tells the most unexpected story,” he said. “There’s nothing else like it.”

Sommers was in an accident three years ago that left him bedridden and hospitalized for nearly a year. He said performing at the StorySLAMs has been cathartic for him.

“The first thing I did at The Moth was tell the story about my accident,” he said. “I had never done anything like that before.”

Sommers said his adrenaline was pumping after a room full of 300 people laughed at one of his stories. He had never previously been in front of an audience that large. 

Since people of all ages communicate through storytelling on a daily basis, Dee said this relateable interaction makes The Moth appealing.

“We all tell stories,” she said. “We are not often intentionally practicing the art of storytelling, but it is still the way that we connect to each other in communities and in relationships.”

But what makes a great Moth story?

“The ones that get the best reactions seem to mix comedy and seriousness,” said Matt McParland, who graduated from Pitt in December of last year and is a fan of The Moth. He described the perfect story as being both “light and heavy.”

Humor is an essential element of the StorySLAMs. But that isn’t the only way to utilize the Moth arena. As Dee said, moving and honest stories are always harder to perform because you have to be more vulnerable.

“But a good meaningful story can also be funny,” she added.

Though The Moth holds different performances all over the country, including the local StorySLAMs and a touring show called The Moth Mainstage, but both Sommers and Dee think the enthusiasm in Pittsburgh exceeds that of other cities. 

Sommers, who has attended StorySLAMs in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, said Pittsburgh “is definitely the most well-attended Moth.”

“300 people [line] up around the block to go see people that they don’t know tell stories,” Dee said, describing the immense popularity the program has garnered since The Moth first expanded to Pittsburgh. Unlike bigger cities, Pittsburgh has far more viewers than performers, Dee added. 

But that doesn’t mean the performances are lacking in storytellers. 

“We have seen a community of regular storytellers come back over and over again to refine their craft,” Dee said.

Though some come to the show with storytelling or performing experience, some, like Sommers, are simply looking to take a risk and connect with their fellow Pittsburghers through an ancient medium.

“After I got out of the hospital, it took me another eight months to walk again. … The Moth was kind of me getting back into the world,” Sommers said.