“Now Or Never,” as heard on This American Life
If you’re reading this now, there’s a decent chance that you heard my story on the “Pro Se” episode of This American Life. I’m told it’s being re-run this week, which just tickles me to no end. It was an honor and a thrill to be on that show. When I told my sister about it, she got all stoked and said “That’s right, dog, build the legend. BUILD. THE. LEGEND.”
If you took the trouble to follow Ira Glass’s mention of this blog, you probably liked the story okay. I originally performed it at The Moth’s Grand Slam back in April of 2009. There’s a video of it here, if you want to hear the story again or watch my hands wave around while I tell it or something:
If you liked that one, I’ve got a bunch of other stories that you might get into, too:
‘Roo Shooter
Big Black Bird
Foreign Soil
Royal Quiet Deluxe, Chicken Band
Both Al Sharptons Hate Royal Quiet Deluxe
This list may be fun for you, too. Jessica totally would have written this in grade school, too: Types of Bitches.
Thanks for coming by, and we all hope you’re back again soon.
July 9th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Your sister is totally right:
BUILD. THE. LEGEND.
And I’m SO glad to find out where the blog’s name came from!
Best,
J.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:53 am
Bookmarking. Great yarn.
July 10th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Yay! I heard you when I was in my car earlier today! Congratulations!
July 10th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Almost made me late for work today. could not turn off the truck and get out until your set was over. funniest i’ve heard in a long time.
thanks
July 11th, 2010 at 6:03 am
So, so good. For real.
July 11th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
you’re right. i heard you on npr today in the car. came home and looked up your site. awesome story. thank you!
July 11th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
I was waiting for Ira to follow up on your sister. Is she still “freelancing”?
Loved the story. A kiss! Goddamn.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:54 am
I heard this for the second time on NPR this weekend – hilarious. Glad I caught your blog address the second time around. Thanks for the laughs!
July 12th, 2010 at 10:12 am
that’s some mirth you got there. will be spreading the Simmermon goodness.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Listened to this at work today. Your act made my day.
Thanks!
July 13th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
i just streamed this american life at work today, you were fantastic! made my day!!! lokking forward to spending some serious time on your blog, thank you!
July 22nd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Driving through the mountains of northern California with no radio stations to be had for hours, all of a sudden the station scan pulls in a public channel from Eureka and there you and Ira were. It was a pleasure to hear your story again and in such a beautiful setting, Thanks!
July 28th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
I heard you on the radio while driving back from VA, had to explain to my wife that it was you from Richmond and there couldn’t possibly be another Jeff Simmermon out there. Great story! Made me remember watching you play the theremin at the Hole n the Wall(?) cafe in RVA.