The Denver Moth Story Slam sells out every month.
- 300-seat auditorium.
- Sells out every time.
- Usually within 3-4 hours online.
On the one hand, it’s wonderful!
People are getting exposed to storytelling! Celebrating storytelling! Storytelling is getting some good press! Yay!
On the other hand…Well, what could the downside be? Is there one?
Ah, here’s where it turns dark. True confessions. Disclaimers. Uh-oh, maybe I’m a bad person…
…Because it can feel dangerously close to jealousy. In fact, I think it is.
And…shhhhh…I know I’m not the only storyteller who, at least at times, feels this way!
As one recent example, here is a deep-sigh-producing, close-to-my-heart contrast…
Last Saturday I was booked for a performance of my story, “Uncle Olaus Survives the Titanic.”
It’s a gripping story. You know the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 was an astounding tragedy, and a story that has fascinated and reverberated throughout the world, and still does more than a century after it happened. This is also a family/personal story for me, as it is the story of my great-uncle Olaus Abelseth who was one of the few third-class male passengers to survive.
Over the 20+ years I’ve been telling this dramatic story I’ve told it to
- packed auditoriums,
- as a benefit/fundraiser for various groups,
- I’ve performed it multiple times overseas,
- gave several performances at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, in conjunction with Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition;
- for a solid year-and-a-half after the movie with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DeCaprio came out, I was booked up and down the Front Range of Colorado to tell this story to large groups;
- and so on.
Last Saturday there were 10 people in the library audience. Interested, engaged, enthusiastic listeners. But only 10.
Heavens there could be lots of reasons and speculation about why…!
…How the library publicized it; what other events were happening/competing that day; are people tired of the Titanic (I don’t think so…and I’m just using this particular recent program as an example…we could be talking about other non-slam storytelling events here as well); are people tired of me (I honestly don’t think that was the issue – it was at a locale where the patrons are not familiar with me – ooh, that could be part of it; but this is something that’s too-familiar to lots of experienced and engaging storytellers).
But the Denver Moth sells out its 300-seat venue every month. The Boulder Story Slam (the other one I have some familiarity with here in Colorado) usually sells out its smaller venue as well.
I think that sold-out – or at least close-to-full – audiences are not unusual for story slams!
I’m doing this April A-Z blog series as part of my personal/professional commitment to research, experience, and reflect on story slams now that they’re finally taking place near me in Colorado, in order to explore and learn from the phenomenon of their burgeoning popularity.
And those people who are discovering they appreciate storytelling at slams? – I’m seeking ways to connect them with other rich forms and expressions of storytelling!
Would love it if the Rocky Mountain Storytelling Conference, coming up May 1-2 in Golden, CO, would sell out!!! I doubt that it will.
I bet that a major, multifaceted, perhaps crucial aspect is: publicity/marketing. Producers of “traditional” storytelling events can (need to) learn and get more knowledgeable, comfortable, and proficient with current &more effective marketing practices.
So…just taking a peek at this, for the letter “S” today…
Would surely appreciate any comments/perspectives you may have on the matter.
And the research and reflections continue…
Thanks for reading – Pam
[Theme for this A-Z April Daily Blogging Challenge: “Story Slams & Traditional Storytelling – Bridging the Distance”]
Green woman image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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