“Foreign Soil”: More Storytelling at The Moth
In 2003, back before online dating was remotely acceptable, I met a woman from Perth, Western Australia over the Internet. As many of you know, I ended up selling all my stuff and flying across the planet to meet her in person. It was pretty much the adventure of a lifetime, and even though parts of it were really hard, I don’t regret a moment of it.
This is me, telling that story recently at The Moth:
If you’re just here from BoingBoing, you can see other stories I’ve done at The Moth here:
Royal Quiet Deluxe, Chicken Band: Now the Story is Told on Video
Reverend Al Sharpton Hates Royal Quiet Deluxe, Chicken Band
I do a lot of talking about The Moth on here, and very little explaining. Here’s how it works.
The Moth is a nonprofit group that puts on “story slams” (much cooler than poetry slams) in New York City once a week, and once or twice a month in Los Angeles. They publish a theme for the evening ahead of time. You have to prepare and perform a 5 minute story based on that theme. Hopeful storytellers put their names into a bag, and ten people are drawn at random from that bag.
If you’re picked, up you go.
From my friend Jim’s piece in the New York Times:
The group has grown steadily since its start, but in the past year, storytelling has exploded in New York. The Moth, which was already selling out events, vastly expanded its reach in March when it started podcasting stories from its archive. The podcast has more than 45,000 subscribers and 600,000 downloads each month on iTunes, and has lately been expanding its audience at a faster clip than a big brand like NPR’s “This American Life.”
The lines for these storytelling events, held at places like the Bitter End in Greenwich Village and the Players club at Gramercy Park, now stretch around the block. Last month, at the Moth’s first show in Brooklyn, about 50 people had to be turned away from Union Hall, a Park Slope nightspot with a capacity for 90 people.
Such is the new hunger for live storytelling that a satellite circuit has sprung up — smaller shows that usually feature a curated lineup of veterans from the Moth. The stories are true, as at the Moth, but those shows are missing one of the things that keep the Moth king: the thoroughgoing randomness with which it brings people onstage, with the pick of a name from a hat, and the Cinderella effect of that.
At the Moth, three teams of judges, all drawn from the audience, hold up scores to tell you whether you’ve triumphed or bombed or done something in between. It’s like figure skating, only with raconteurs instead of steely teenage girls.
It’s not exactly standup, it’s not exactly theater, and it’s not exactly a literary reading. It’s sort of all of those. It’s difficult and nerve-wracking and I’m completely hooked.
I won the night’s competition with this story, which tickles me to death. I’ve spent a year trying to do it, and finally nailed it. This means that I’m competing against 9 other story slam winners in a final face-off on March 25th at the Highline Ballroom. I’m nervous and excited and preparing like hell.
Hope you can make it …
March 6th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
This is awesome! Great job, Jeff.
March 6th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Wonderful telling of a great story! I met a girl from Western Australia online also. Ah those late nights/early mornings in front of the monitor or on the phone. Fortunately she flew out to L.A. to meet me. I’m sure she had the same sort of thoughts flying over here as you did. Long story short, April 2009 will be our 11th wedding anniversary. Good luck mate!
March 6th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
So what happened?! Did you stay together? was it weird being with her in real life? did it last?
Great story but I need to know how it ends (if it ended)!
March 6th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Saw this on boingboing and thought it was wonderful. I’ve listened to it three times already. Good luck in the final!
March 6th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
As a West Australian I can say I was hooked by your story from beginning to end.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
great story, Jeff! nice job! got pointed here from Boing Boing.
March 6th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
SO HOW DID IT TURN OUT!!! I mean jebus, did you date her, did you marry her, was it the most expensive one night stand in history. You’re killing me man!
Good story.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Well I’m one of those men from Western Australia but wasn’t there in 2003 having already traveled across country to meet a girl in South Australia back in 2000 when online dating was even less cool.
Excellent story, that captures the whole experience perfectly – definitely deserved the win. Posted this video on my blog too just because I can relate to it so much.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Congrats!! Nice job. Going to try to make it for the face-off.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
What happened next?
March 7th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
I’m a girl from Western Australia and met my husband over the internet. He lived 15 minutes away though. We had almost met many times in our lives too, which is the scary 1 deg of separation between everyone in Perth.
… But I remember those innocent late-1990s all-night chats with fledgling love interests on the other side of the world, friends getting ‘married’ in IRC, and the heartbreak when your overseas ‘lover’ found someone in their own town.
So what happened next for you, Jeff?
March 8th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Loved this story! I met a guy from Eastern Australia when I was in college and we spent a couple of years talking on the phone for hours at a time, but never met in person. Nice to see someone had the guts!
March 9th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I love the Andre the Giant bit. Awesome telling, dude.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Great storytelling, Mr. Simmermon.