The Narrators

This story comes from one of our favorite storytellers, Joe Holland. Joe is a San Diego based writer who has a knack for capturing all of the pain and hilarity that is so often wrapped up in family life. This story was recorded live on 13 December 2016 at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern in San Diego. The theme of the evening was "Parents Just Don't Understand." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In October of 2016, our friends at From the Hip Photo hosted a small event at Fort Greene, this cool, funky little place in Globeville, and invited The Narrators to share a few stories. The theme of the evening was "Punk's Not Dead?" The stage was just the corner of a little concrete-walled room with streamers on the walls. It was part dungeon, part homecoming dance. The audience was tiny compared to our regular monthly shows. The acoustics—as you'll hear in a minute—were terrible for recording. The stories were all fantastic. That tiny crowd, with their cheers echoing off the walls, sounded enormous. The connection and camaraderie were palpable. But after the show, I decided that the quality of the audio was too poor for the podcast, so left the file sitting in a folder on my computer. But, you know what? Fuck quality. As my co-host Robert said to me recently, sometimes quality can be a tool of oppression. Socially imposed standards of what's good enough or professional enough can sometimes hold back important voices from being heard—or bend those voices simply to please others. At The Narrators, we don't screen our storytellers or edit their stories not because we want to produce a bad show, but because we believe their stories deserve to be heard in their own voice, without external pressure—and that is the benchmark of a good true story. Maybe we're getting lucky every month, but after many years and tons of stories shared, it seems that our hypothesis is correct. Today's story comes from Jim Norris. Jim is a longstanding member of the Denver music scene, founder of 3 Kings Tavern, and owner of Mutiny Information Cafe, one of Denver's most important cultural institutions disguised as a used bookstore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's story comes to you from Jackie Jones. Jackie is a native San Diegan who has written book reviews for the San Diego Union Tribune and The San Francisco Chronicle as well as a humor column for Burbank's now defunct Verdugo Monthly. Jackie shared this story at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern in San Diego on 13 December 2016. The theme of the evening was "Parents Just Don't Understand." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This story comes from one of our favorite storytellers, Janae Burris. Janae is a comedian, actor, and a member of the comedy group the Pussy Bros. This story was recorded live on 20 January, 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Promise." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 109: Today’s story comes from Rachel Weeks. Rachel is a comedian, writer, actor, and member of the Denver comedy group the Pussy Bros. This story was originally recorded on 20 July 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was “Pop!” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 108: We here at The Narrators talk a lot about the role of empathy in the show's success. The Narrators is, at its core, a community building enterprise, and one that is built on the premise of people wanting to connect to each other. The simple act of sharing stories allows that. It builds empathy and it erases the cultural practice of abstracting people. Make no mistake—we do live in a culture that abstracts people into binaries that behave predictably according to that which we ascribe to them. Our culture works hard to strip people of their basic humanity because fuck, man, holding a nuanced view of people is really hard. At our most aspirational, this show works to illuminate the humanity in all of us, and so that is what we will continue to do. We plan on doubling down in the coming months, planning events with and sending our support to other organizations who work tirelessly to assert and elevate the humanity and dignity of people who are far too often kept at the margins by the ruling classes. And in this work we hope to affirm and re-affirm that, although we are fully committed to finding common ground for all of us, we are also fully committed to confronting racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, white supremacy, and ableism. In other words, there will be no high fives for bullshit. Now for this week's episode: After a miserable yet hilarious cross-country car trip, Brooke Pillifant was propelled out of the world of teaching mathematics into the world of storytelling. She has performed with Speakeasy DC, Mortified, RISK!, Austin Writer Roulette, Dallas’ Oral Fixation, and at several backyard story nights. Currently, Brooke has founded a nonprofit, Down South Word of Mouth, dedicated to merging her love of social justice with storytelling to provide a voice for those who often go unheard in our communities. And when she isn’t on stage, she occupies her time with four kids, shooting pool, roadside adventures, and welding. Brooke's story was recorded live at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern on 11 October 2016; the theme of the show was "Tricks!" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 107: Today's story comes from Malkah Duprix. Malkah is a singer and guitarist with the band Paper Perfect Girls. Her story was recorded live on 17 August 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver Colorado; the theme of the evening was "Naked." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 106: Today's episode comes to you from Kirsten Imani Kasai, a novelist, poet, and essayist. She has mountains of work available through her website, and is also the fiction editor and publisher of Body Parts Magazine: The Journal of Horror & Erotica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 105: When The Narrators first started in Denver over six and a half years ago, storytelling shows were few and far between. There were poets and memoirists sharing true stories at open mics, and the oral traditionalists have always been around, at historical gatherings or elementary school assemblies, but personal narrative just wasn't a common thing. Today, Denver—along with many other cities in America—is exploding with new storytelling shows and projects. Established shows in Denver like us and Stories Stories Bring Us Your Stories, My Teenage Angst, Truth Be Told in Boulder and The Moth Story Slam in Englewood are still going strong, and there are so many new shows and events and podcasts and projects popping up that it's tough to keep up—there's The Raconteurs, This is My Brave, Misunderstood, We Still Like You, and we know of at least two more that will launch in the next 12 months. Here's the best part—there's more than enough room for all of us. Even though we're all ostensibly doing the same thing—sharing true personal narratives—each show has its own flavor and theme and feel, it's own attraction for both the performer and audience. All of us at The Narrators are excited about this, because it offers folks more places to share their stories and find their voice, and because it confirms what we've believed all along: people are longing for opportunities to build empathy, to listen and to connect. So, today, we're doing something a little different. We're going to share a story from one of those newer storytelling projects in town. It's called Unknown Caller. It's a podcast that collects stories anonymously via voicemail—no standing behind a microphone, no spotlights, no crowd of strangers—you just call in to their hotline and start talking. Unknown Caller is the brainchild of Cory Byrom, a storytelling alum of The Narrators, Risk!, and The Iceberg in Atlanta. The podcast has published 13 episodes so far and they're all worth a listen. You can subscribe to Unknown Caller on iTunes or SoundCloud, and find them on Facebook or Twitter (@1UnknownCaller). Let them know we sent you! This story was originally published by Unknown Caller podcast on May 2nd 2016. If you haven't already, please like our page on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on all of these events and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 104: This week's story comes to you from Michael Wall, Curator of Entomology at the San Diego Natural History Museum. That means he's the guy that gets endless texts from his co-workers with blurry photos of insects seeking advice on whether to kill said insect or not. He shared a story on the theme of "Tongues," which was recorded live at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern on 10 May 2016. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 103: All of the stories shared at The Narrators are true, or at least they're supposed to be true, so it's rare for one of our storytellers to reveal when they are lying. Today's story, however, is almost entirely about lying—in this case, to total strangers. Greg Salvesen is an astronomer, ultra-distance runner, and a long-time friend of the show. His story was recorded live on 20 July 2016 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Pop!" If you haven't already, please like our page on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on all of these events and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 102: Today's story comes to you from Irene Bonner. Irene shared a story on the theme of "Ink" at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern in San Diego on June 14, 2016. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 100, Part 2: Well, we made it to 100 episodes of this lil' podcast! To celebrate, we've asked the hosts of our Denver and San Diego shows to share some of their favorite stories. This week we'll present the second part of our celebration, a couple of stories selected by Mary Robertson and Robert Rutherford, the co-hosts of The Narrators San Diego. Mary Robertson chose a story by Carmen Radley that she shared at our "Siblings" show in December 2015, and Robert Rutherford chose a story by Ellen K Graham that she shared at our "Two-Way Street" collaboration with Stratus Chamber Orchestra (formerly Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra). Per Robert's instructions, please check out this recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending AFTER listening to Ellen's story. It's worth your time, we promise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLhpkvQLDt0 Thank you for continuing to support the podcast and for coming out in droves every month to our live shows. We are still so in love with the power of the community that this show has built and we look forward to sharing another 100 episodes with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, we made it to 100 episodes of this lil' podcast! To celebrate, we've asked the hosts of our Denver and San Diego shows to share some of their favorite stories. This week we'll present a couple of stories selected by Ron Doyle and Erin Rollman, the co-hosts of The Narrators Denver. Ron Doyle chose a story by Emma Weisfeld that she shared at our "Siblings" show in December 2015, and Erin Rollman chose a story by Timmi Lasley that she shared at our "Crushed" show in August 2015. Thank you for continuing to support the podcast and for coming out in droves every month to our live shows. We are still so in love with the power of the community that this show has built and we look forward to sharing another 100 episodes with you. Our June shows, in which we will explore the theme "Ink," are incredibly nigh, so mark your calendars: Tuesday, June 14th in San Diego at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern, 8PM. FREE Wednesday, June 15th in Denver at Buntport Theater, 8PM. FREE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 99: Today's story comes to you from Calandra Rothrock. Calandra has been telling stories her whole life; ranging from angsty pre-teen poetry, to angsty college folk music, to less-angsty Shakespeare in the Park. Most Sundays she can be found soothing the beast of her theatrical calling by feeding it a steady diet of the laughter of preschoolers as she appears as Ms. Frizzle at the San Diego Natural History Museum. This story was recorded live at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern on 10 May 2016 when The Narrators took on the theme of "Tongues." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 98: In honor of Mother's Day and "Tongues," our theme for May, today we're sharing a story that features fifth-grade frenching, sibling blackmail, and one super smart mom. This story was told by Steph Gustafson on 16 December 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver Colorado; the theme of that evening was "Siblings." If you haven't already, please like our page on Facebook for the most up-to-date information on all of these events and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 97: This week's story comes to you from Blair Overstreet. Blair is a writer and educator, and produces shows for our friends at So Say We All, a juggernaut of the San Diego storytelling/literary community. Blair's story was recorded live on 8 March at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California and the theme for the evening was "OUCH!" Blair's story may evince some wincing, as it was perfectly aligned with the theme. If you haven’t already, please like our page on Facebook to stay up to date on all of these events and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 96: This week's story comes from Rae Moore, who shares a lovely story of growing up as a home-schooled child with her three siblings. Rae's story was recorded live on February 17th at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado and the theme of the evening was "DIY or DIE." If you haven't already, please like our page on Facebook to stay up to date on all of these events and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 95: Today's story comes to you from San Diego writer Joe Holland, recorded live on 8 March 2016 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California; the theme of the evening was "Ouch." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 94: Today's story is by actor, director, and choreographer Diana Dresser. Head's up: This story is about a stalker, so it could be a trigger for folks who have experienced stalker-related trauma. Diana's story was recorded live on October 21, 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado; the theme of the evening was "Creeps." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 93: We always struggle choosing which stories to share on the podcast, since we cannot post them all. But we found these two stories to be so complimentary, that we decided to play them together. These stories, told on the theme "DIY or Die", reveal the inner lives of two unique women doing something they are afraid of. They embody the punk rock ethos of do it yourself, but with the unspoken caveat, never alone. I was struck by their courage and their vulnerability. I hope you are too. These stories, the first told by Ellen Wright, the second by Laurel Posakony, were recorded on 9 February 2016 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego. Check out our Facebook page to get the latest news on upcoming shows and the themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 92: Today's story comes from Adam Cayton-Holland. Adam has been performing at The Narrators since the very beginning and we're always thrilled when he's able to share a story. He's one-third of the comedy group The Grawlix, the masterminds behind the new hit comedy series Those Who Can't on TruTV. This story was recorded live on 16 December 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado; the theme of the evening was "Siblings." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 91: This week's story comes to you from our San Diego show, where storyteller Lola Cacho shared on the theme of "DIY or DIE." This story was recorded live on 9 February 2016 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern. Check out our Facebook page to get the latest news on upcoming shows and the themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 90: We have a very different kind of story this week, brought to us from our good friend, Michael King, Denver designer, musician and art director for Birdy magazine. A few years ago, Michael King bought an answering machine at a thrift store here in Denver. Inside that machine was a tape. What you're about to hear is part of that tape. The malfunctioning answering machine recorded more than just one-sided messages—sometimes it also recorded pieces of conversations. And through those conversations, Mike was able to piece together the story of the machine's previous owners, Ed and Mimi, a diabetic elderly man and his adult, developmentally disabled daughter. The recordings capture only brief moments of their lives, those times when they were slow to pick up the phone and the machine kicked on. But even from these little snippets, it's surprisingly easy to piece together a narrative—friends and caretakers calling, family members visiting and using the phone, a larger community of people trying to care both of them. The whole thing is haunting, a testament to how even the discarded artifacts of our lives can tell a full story. Michael has removed extended periods of silence, noise, feedback, and a few parts that revealed personal information about Ed and Mimi. The remaining nine minutes of the tape, which we're sharing here, are otherwise unaltered. The music that accompanies the messages comes from one of Mike's musical projects, Cities of Earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 89; This week's story comes to you from San Diego writer Suzanne Hoyem—amateur taxidermy collector, novice Tarot card reader, and practiced social critic. Having spent the past decade at the finest junior colleges in Southern California, she has decided to stretch her wings, talk dirty, and influence people. She shared a story at the San Diego show on 12 January 2016, when the storytellers took on the theme of "Promise." Check out our Facebook page to get the latest news on upcoming shows and the themes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 88: So far, 2016 has been rough year for anglophiles. We've lost Lemmy and David Bowie and Alan Rickman already, and it's not even February. The outpouring of grief and nostalgia and admiration over the last few weeks has been overwhelming but still inspiring—it's clear that England still has an immense influence on American culture. When news of David Bowie's death hit social media, this week's storyteller, Taylor Gonda, was the first person who came to mind. People were reaching out to her on Facebook as if Bowie were a biological uncle, and with good reason—time and time again, Taylor has proven her love for all things living in the shadow of the Union Jack. She's a long-time favorite of The Narrators—but you may know her best as co-host of These Things Matter, the greatest pop culture podcast in all the land. Taylor's story was recorded on 17 September 2014 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Schooled." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 87: Happy New Year! This week's story is told by Joe Holland, a San Diego-based writer. He deftly captures the complicated nature of family in this story based on the theme "Siblings." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the years, we've heard lots of holiday stories at The Narrators, even when they're out of season, because life just seems more significant during special events. Like birthdays and graduations and anniversaries, holidays elevate themselves to a different status among the crowd of 365. As a species, we're drawn to creating a spectacle. So many of us love obsessing over the logistics of special events—the meals, the friends and family members, the music, the gifts and the travel. And, because we think so much about the traditions and the execution, holidays sear themselves onto our memory in a way that just doesn't happen with a regular day at work. We obsess, we ruminate, we revel and sometimes regret the tiniest of details. And it's those details, those long-term emotional marks and memories, my friends, that make such excellent ingredients for a story. Today's story comes from Matthew Taylor. It's not about Christmas, per se, but it is about a Jesus-themed birthday party, which is pretty darned close to Christmas if you ask me. Matthew is an actor, improviser and author who hails from the small sailing village of Itchenor in the UK. His performance was adapted from a short story entitled "Surprise Party," which is also a chapter in his award-winning autobiography, Goat Lips: Tales of a True Englishman. This story was recorded live on 16 September 2015; the theme of the evening was "Firsts." Happy holidays, everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Please enjoy this story, shared at our San Diego show in December. Amy Lisewski, founder and director of Finest City Improv, told a pretty amazing tale about the true connections of family when we tackled the theme of "Siblings." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s story comes from AJ Pape. AJ's story was recorded live on 18 November 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "If You Can't Say Something Nice." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're back with a story from Jenny Minniti-Shippey. Jenny shares a glimpse into life as a young writer in Galway, a fitting tale for our San Diego Beer Week-themed show "Bottled Up," recorded live at Tiger! Tiger! Tavern on 10 November 2015. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s story comes from Hannah Duggan. Hannah is a founding member of Buntport Theater Company, which owns the amazing home of our Denver show. Every time I see her, I regret that we didn't know each other sooner. Hannah's story was recorded live on 21 October 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Creeps. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert steps up on his soap box with a mini rant about what makes a good story and presents this week's tale, which comes to you from Kendall Burdett, a writer, comedian, and native San Diegan who wears a suit well enough to convince officers of the law that he is an attorney. This story was recorded live on 10 November 2015 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California. The theme of the evening was "Bottled Up." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story comes from first-time storyteller Carolyn Matthews. Carolyn hails from the great state of New Jersey, she works for the Boulder International Film Festival and she is captain of the Denver Molly Browns, arguably the best ultimate frisbee team in this city and indisputably the best-named team in this town. This story was recorded live on September 16, 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Firsts." As always, please check our Facebook page for the latest information about all of our events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story is from Kimberly Dark, a storyteller, writer, and professor of Sociology. Kimberly's story was recorded live on 13 October 2015 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California. The theme of the evening was "Creeps." If you want to read more of Kimberly's work, check out this fantastic essay just published on Narratively—it's a great story about planning a vacation with her lesbian partner, her nine-year-old son, and his father. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story comes to you from David Latham, who is the host of a storytelling show in San Diego called Long Story Short, an open mic where storytellers have 5 minutes to tell a story without notes based on a monthly theme. Long Story Short is one offering from a stellar literary organization in San Diego called So Say We All, which offers San Diegans a wide breadth of writing workshops, performances, and publishing outlets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s story comes from Rachel Pater. Rachel teaches writing to young adults at Futures Academy and the Community College of Aurora. She also insists that she’s a huge hit with moms.This story was recorded live on 15 July 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Take a Hike." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's podcast is dedicated to all of you out there in podcast land who have never attended a live show before. Our August event was so fantastic that we're playing it here for you in its entirety, raw and mostly uncut—this is as close to the real thing as you can get. You're going to hear stories from Erin Rollman, Dan St. Germain, Christie Buchele, Bob Meddles, Haley Driscoll, Timmi Lasley, Sam Tallent, Janae Burris, Kristin Rand, and Josh Blue. These stories were recorded live on August 19 2015 at Buntport Theater as part of an all-comedian special in honor of High Plains Comedy Festival. The theme of the evening was "Crushed." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's featured storyteller, Wendy Smith, a.k.a. Wendyceratops, is a Professor of English at Mesa Community College in San Diego. See her students' ratemyprofessors.com reviews to get a sense of just how amazing she is: "Never boring." "Fair. For the most part." "Really chill." "Always has snacks." "A believer." "Passionate." "Open to different interpretations." And: "A must" Buuuut: She is “provincial” And: "She does have her favorites and I was not one of them but that should not matter unless you want to go out for a beer with the prof." Wendy's story was recorded live on 8 September 2015 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California. The theme of the evening was "Firsts." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story comes from Robert Rutherford. When Robert's not co-hosting The Narrators San Diego, he works as a museum educator and the digital content developer at the San Diego Natural History Museum. Robert's story was recorded live on 8 September 2015 at Tiger!Tiger! Tavern in San Diego, California. The theme of the evening was "Firsts." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's story comes from Erin Rollman. She is the co-host of The Narrators Denver, a founding member and co-owner of Buntport Theater, a long-time favorite storyteller, and an award-winning actor and playwright. Erin and her colleagues at Buntport graciously opened their doors to The Narrators in 2014 and she joined us as a co-host in 2015. Working with Erin feels like scoring a free dessert at your favorite restaurant, on your birthday, in the company of close friends—without having to endure the "Happy Birthday" song. Erin's story was recorded live on 17 June 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "WTF." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story comes from Anthony Crawford. He's co-host of Amuse Booze, a local cocktail and comedy showcase, and he’s the host of Talkin' Shop, which is like Denver comedy's answer to Inside the Actor's Studio. Anthony interviews some of the cities brightest comedic minds, asking questions about how the funny sausage gets made. Anthony's story was recorded live on 20 May 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Nature vs. Nurture." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s story comes from Christie Buchele. She is the co-host of Empty Girlfriend podcast, which you should all be listening too, and she’s one of our all-time favorite storytellers in Denver. She’s that friend who always stood up for you on the playground, even when the bully was way bigger than both of you. Christie’s story was recorded live on June 17, 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "WTF." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's story comes from Aaron Urist. Aaron is a standup comedian from Denver Colorado, the co-host of Crush City, a monthly comedy showcase at The Savoy, and frequent performer on High Plains Comedy Festival. Being in his presence is like finding a $20 bill in your jacket on the first cold of autumn—again, and again, and again. Aaron's story was recorded live on May 20, 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "Nature vs. Nurture." Special thanks to Erin Rollman for engineering help on this episode. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s story comes from Emma Weisfeld and was recorded live at Buntport Theater on 20 May 2015. The theme of the evening was “Nature vs. Nurture.” Special thanks to Erin Rollman for engineering help on this episode. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in April of 2015, The Narrators collaborated with Musica Sacra, a 35-piece chamber orchestra here in Denver. They gave us three pieces of music and asked our storytellers to write something inspired by the music. In exchange, we gave them three stories and they chose three pieces of music to accompany them. We wrote and edited and memorized and rehearsed and revised and then rehearsed some more…paragraphs were shifted out of their natural order to work with the music, and the orchestral arrangements were shuffled and modified to jive with the beats of the story. It was a dramatic departure from our usual low-key routine. The end result was beautiful, watching our storytellers transform their personal experiences into these sweeping, powerful performances. This week's story comes from that show. Ellen K. Graham is a playwright and long-time favorite of The Narrators. Her story was paired Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending,” which for copyright reasons we do not play in its entirety. This story was originally recorded at Augustana Arts on 24 April 2015. The theme of the evening was “Two-Way Street.” Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's story comes from Haley Driscoll. This story was originally recorded on 21 November 2013 at the Deer Pile in Denver, Colorado. The theme of the evening was "The Fall." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The theme of our live show in June 2013 was "Insults & Grievances." Folks packed into the Deer Pile—that tiny, gorgeous, sweltering box—listened to their peers tell tales of live beating them down. The story I remember the most vividly from that night came from Greg Salvesen, an economist who loves to run long distances. Back then, Greg recounted his greatest loss, and the damage that it did to him. I'm sharing that story with you today because it's a good prequel to Greg's next story, which he told on July 15, 2015. In the spring of 2015, Greg competed in the granddaddy of all long jogs—the Infinitus, a rugged 888km footrace in the wilds of Vermont. That's right, 888km, over 550 miles in a figure-eight loop. Against all odds, Greg won! Greg shared his new story, along with six other stories on the theme "Take a Hike" on the July 2015 Narrators show. Bonus: Here's the 46-second promotional video for the Infinitus, which is easily the weirdest, most unsettling video for a running race that I've ever seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MhunzpnIYg This story was originally recorded on 18 June 2013 at the Deer Pile in Denver, Colorado and the theme of the evening was "Arguments & Grievances." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the regular monthly shows, we almost never edit our storytellers. If someone asks for help, we give them feedback, but we try hard to avoid meddling too much. Too much editing and everyone starts to sound the same. Too much coaching can twist a story into something that's too slick—the structure is perfect and audience is impressed but the story feels disconnected from the storyteller. We want folks share their truths in their own voice. But that means every month we take a giant leap of faith—because we never really know what folks are going to say when they get behind the microphone. We have to trust total strangers, unpredictable friends and mercurial artists. It's a gamble every month and, with only a handful of exceptions, we've hit the jackpot again and again. This week's story started as one of those gambles. Mathiba Kgopa sent us a message on Facebook back in March. She said that she was from South Africa, would only be visiting Denver for two months. She had attended one of our live shows and wanted to share a story of her own. We're so glad we embraced the unknown. Mathiba has decided to stay in Denver and these days is working with the Flobots as a call-and-response songleader for their project called No Enemies, a gig she discovered through a collaborative performance with The Narrators at the Denver Art Museum. This story was originally recorded on 15 April 2015 at Buntport Theater in Denver, Colorado and the theme of the evening was "The Flame." Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Back in April 2013, The Narrators asked Denver Diatribe to take over for one night. The theme of the evening was "Colfax Avenue," a tribute to Denver's most infamous street. This week's story comes from Jared Maher, one of Denver Diatribe's co-hosts. Jared is a former investigative journalist and staff writer for Westword. In the past decade he has worked for a variety of media outlets, including Face the State and Free Speech TV. These days, he's a producer and director at Craftsy.com. This story was originally recorded on 18 April 2013 at the Deer Pile in Denver, Colorado. Our theme music is by our friend Whalehawk (aka the Grammy-nominated musician Jake Sanders) and thanks to Josh Johnson for engineering help on this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices