Author: Pam Faro

  • Kindness – So Glad THAT Was the Response

    Kindness – So Glad THAT Was the Response

    Another short story: The first story slam I went to in October, “Truth Be Told – The Boulder Story Slam,” was an eye-opening experience. The venue was a back room with a small stage at a restaurant, Shine. The place was packed. Servers squeezed through the rows and tables to…

  • Judging at Story Slams

    Judging at Story Slams

    Being a judge I’m pretty sure I’ll never volunteer to be a judge at a story slam. I’m happy to leave that part of the game to someone else! Therefore it’s an act of the imagination to answer the question sometimes put to me: “How do they figure the scores?!”

  • I Wuz Robbed! – A Story

    I Wuz Robbed! – A Story

    Let me tell you a story… November 21, 2014 – It was my first Moth story slam. The Moth! The storied, premier story slam event! I’d heard tell of it for a long time. Every now and then I’d caught “The Moth Radio Hour” on my public radio station. And…

  • Heritage

    Heritage

    Heritage: Something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor: legacy, inheritance; tradition Oh-so-very-much could be written on this, but for today just a brief consideration of a very large difference between traditional storytelling and story slam storytelling – and while I’ve so far written more about process and form, this…

  • Game

    Game

    [Theme for this A-Z April Daily Blogging Challenge: “Story Slams & Traditional Storytelling – Bridging the Distance”] How does it feel to tell a story at a slam…knowing you’re being scored?! I got home from my first Moth Story Slam last November close to midnight, still pumped and excited after the…

  • Festivals & Conferences of Storytelling (but of Story Slams?)

    Festivals & Conferences of Storytelling (but of Story Slams?)

    [Top photograph is from the 2012 Beyond the Border Wales International Storytelling Festival, showing just one of the dozen concert venues throughout the St. Donats Castle grounds. I had the delight of performing shows there that year. WONDERFUL storytelling festival!] Think about it… Two or more solid days – no…

  • Emcee – Makes all the difference!

    Emcee – Makes all the difference!

    …And never more so than in a story slam… Reams could be written about the role and skill of emceeing. (And yes, “emcee” is a real word, having evolved from “MC,” short for “Master/Mistress of Ceremonies”). When it comes to storytelling events, I have witnessed fine storytellers who…are less gifted,…

  • Descriptions / Definitions

    Descriptions / Definitions

    “Story slam.” “Traditional storytelling.” What do these even mean?! [Theme for this month: “Story Slams & Traditional Storytelling – Bridging the Distance”]

  • Competition

    Competition

    “A storytelling contest?! No way!” And I shook my head in distaste, even a bit of disbelief. After all, storytelling is all about community, and connection, and communication, and strengthening bonds, and cooperation, and…not competing!

  • Beer and Books

    Beer and Books

    To tell the truth, in all my 27 years of professional storytelling I don’t think I’ve personally experienced or witnessed beer being available at “traditional” storytelling concerts / conferences / festivals / shows… Yet beer is available and enjoyed at both of the local story slams I’ve gotten myself to…