A.V. Local Video The Moth slams The A.V. Club

Since 1997, The Moth has presented true stories told onstage without notes during their StorySLAM events in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This not-for-profit group has quickly ascended from a gathering of friends telling stories in the back rooms of NYC dives to an institution of spoken word performance.

The concept for The Moth’s StorySLAM is simple: Storytellers show up to an event with pieces inspired by that month’s theme, put their names in a hat, and take the stage if their names are drawn. After 10 stories, a panel of judges made up of randomly selected audience members confers and declares a winner.

One of the North Side’s best venues, Martyrs’, has hosted Chicago’s StorySLAM series since September of 2009. This monthly event has become one of the hottest in town, regularly selling out well before the shows begins at 8 p.m. Now, for the first time, Chicago is holding its own GrandSLAM event, pitting the winners of 10 previous StorySLAMs against one another in an enthralling throw down unlike anything the city has seen before. The Chicago GrandSLAM, hosted by NPR’s Peter Sagal, is happening tonight, Jan. 26, at Park West at 8 p.m.

The A.V. Club decided to give readers a taste of what to expect at the event, filming four of the GrandSLAM finalists telling stories. Participants were challenged to tell a story in just one minute, a single guideline intended to act as a point of inspiration rather than a strict limitation.

GrandSLAM finalist Matthew Miller is a teacher and stage director. He directed the world première of Graceland, a critically acclaimed dark comedy by local playwright Ellen Fairey, and is an active member of the Serendipity Theatre Collective. The A.V. Club joined Miller in the library of his River North office for an unusual story from his days working at Sea World.



Onetime A.V. Club contributor Beth Stelling was named by the Chicago Reader as the city’s best stand-up comedian in the magazine’s “Best Of Chicago 2010” issue. She hosts a variety show at the Town Hall Pub every Sunday. Stelling recalled a tale of love, loss, and goldfish.



Shannon Cason is a writer and storyteller whose Homemade Stories Podcast, a spin-off of his zine of the same name, is available on iTunes. He is a featured performer for the Story Club, and is currently writing a crime novel. Cason came to The A.V. Club’s office with a tale of job loyalty in the retail world.



Byron Flitsch writes a weekly relationship column for UR Chicago Magazine and has developed his storytelling skills as a permanent performer/story developer for Chicago’s 2nd Story performance group. His story begins one hungover morning in New York City.