"Someday, I'll Do a Story Slam"
Woodstock Bookfest as Inspiration & Invitation
I always thought people who did live storytelling were so cool. It was a convergence of great writing, stage presence and performance, and perfect timing. Nobody wants to be gonged off stage and disqualified from winning. I’d only ever watched them online until I attended my first Woodstock Bookfest in 2014 (called Woodstock Writers Festival at the time). By the time I got to the Story Slam, which was the opening of the Festival, I already felt like I was in a wonderland. It was my first visit to Woodstock, New York, and I was charmed from the beginning. My rental car was a Volkswagen Bug, which seemed perfect. The drive from the city up to the Catskills got more and more gorgeous as I traveled north. The inn I stayed at was as charming as all of the photos suggested, and was walking distance, past the picturesque millstream, to the main venue.
The story slam was so impressive! The room was packed and the energy electric. The performers seemed like professionals to me, and were so talented that I didn’t know how the judges would ever decide on winners. Those who went over the allotted time got the gong, which seemed brutal, but did narrow the field by a couple. The prizes were bags full of books, and what could be better than that? I dreamed of being confident enough to get up there one day, and the prizes only sweetened the deal.
I returned to the Bookfest each year, and in 2016, I took the stage for the first time. Let’s just say it went fine, but it wasn’t great. First, I hadn’t realized that you could read your story. I memorized mine and timed it by practicing on the drive from Manhattan to Woodstock. When I got on stage, the nerves, the bright lights, and the effects from the wine I’d downed backstage threw me a bit, so it took a few seconds to get started and focused. After that, I did fine, except for forgetting to say the exact line necessary! I’d referenced it in the beginning of my story, so there was context, but I hadn’t said it straight out, so I would have been disqualified no matter how I performed. Still, I’m proud of how the rest of the story went, and mostly, that I finished just before the gong. My timing, at least, was perfect.
You can watch my first and second slams HERE and HERE.
As soon as I got off stage, Nan Tepper scolded me about not having written my story down, and that was the first I heard that I was allowed to do that. Suffice to say I was more prepared for my second slam, in 2017, but couldn’t get my story printed out in time, and had to read from my phone. Still, it was funny, and it’s my favorite of the three times I’ve performed. I felt good about pushing myself to get better, and continued. My third time, in 2019, I was finally prepared, but my carefully printed story wasn’t up to the rest of the competition. It was a very tough field that year, and I haven’t been especially inspired to do it again since. I’m sure I will at some point, maybe soon, as just writing this is giving me an itch.
There’s no Woodstock Bookfest this year, though they are still having a story slam. I can’t make it for that, but I can still attend story slams online once a month at Wham! Bam! Thank You! Slam!, and yesterday’s was amazing! Friends and fellow writers Nan Tepper, Abigail Thomas, Dina Honour, and Eileen Vorbach Collins performed and knocked my socks off. Be sure to check them out here on Substack too.
Have you ever performed in a story slam? Attended one? Would you like to? Tell me in the comments if you’ve attended, performed, or even dreamed of it. Is it on your Someday List?
Loved both your slams, Lisa. Maybe especially the smoking one. Kools!
yay as a fellow story slam girlie, I love thiss!!