StorySlams take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month at L’Etage cabaret at 6th & Bainbridge Streets (one block south of South Street). L’Etage is located on the second floor, immediately above Beau Monde Creperie. The door for L’Etage is located on Bainbridge Street – the ’sign’ is a tile mosaic on the doorstep, it can be a little hard to find the first time you visit. Doors open at 7:30PM, and the StorySlam will begin at 8:30. Admission is $8 and a discounted 6-packs of tickets are available here.

How does it work? Every month’s event has a theme and everyone in the audience is invited to share a personal story from their lives that relates to the theme. Stories must be 5 minutes or less in duration. If you have a story you want to share, leave us your name at the sign-in table where you’ll pay your admission. Every potential storyteller’s name will be put into a bucket – ten names are drawn from the bucket, and each contestant is given five minutes on the mic to tell a story and win the crowd. ‘Judges’ are audience members who score the performers on a ten-point scale. Nine storytellers receive funny thanks-for-trying prizes, and the one highest-scoring participant wins a prize and the Golden Ticket – an invitation to November’s Grand Slam, which will pit the monthly winners against one another in the battle for the title of Philadelphia’s Best Storyteller. The Grand Slam will be presented during the eighth annual First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Arts, November 4th-8th, 2009 at the Painted Bride Art Center!

Storytelling Tips & Essentials

- This event is for storyTELLING — sorry, but you can’t read from your work, you must tell it.

- All stories must have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Know your plot points!

- You should tell your story from your point of view.

- Your story should be true – or as true as possible. Like Emily Dickinson said about poetry: tell all the truth, but tell it slant.

- Stick to the time limit! You’ll be penalized in the competition if you don’t.

- Know your first line and last line when you step on stage. Knowing what point A and point Z are will help you get through rest if you get nervous.

- Raise the stakes! Sure, you know that this story happened to you, but show us why it matters — both to you and to us.

If you have any further questions, please email Andrew ataschwalm@firstpersonarts.org or call 267-402-2057