Story at Home 2012 Connect with those you cherish most.
Family Story Slam
Theme: Families are Funny!
FRIDAY, March 9, 2012 – CONFERENCE CENTER THEATER
What is a Family Story Slam?
A family story slam is a fast-paced event featuring five minute family stories based on the same theme and told before a live audience by people like you. You don’t need to be a “storyteller”, you just need a good story! Audiences will delight in the uniqueness of one another’s families while celebrating the commonalities we all share.
Our favorite family moments are like favorite pictures we reflect on again and again. We all have them – oft told cherished stories we share as a family over and over. A shared family memory gives us a warm place to cling to, no matter how far we roam. The Family Story Slam gives you a chance to polish one up and flesh it out beyond the family shorthand to share with the world. Ten words or less may work for those who were there, but if it’s worth sharing, let’s do it right!
How Does it Work?
Simply drop your name into the hat at the beginning of the concert, and if your name is drawn, you get to tell! Tellers will be judged by audience members, also chosen from the hat, and scores will be given. Highest score wins! Just tell about a funny experience you remember that involved someone in your family. What did you learn about them, yourself, or your family from this experience?
The Rules
Story must be true and from your life.
Story must be told in five minutes or less.
Story must be told live, without notes.
Story may be told by one or more people together – but must not exceed 5 minutes.
Tips
-Chat over the story with your family. Clarify your memories.
-Compose your story. (Remember, it’s not a story unless it leads us through an incident that ends in some sort of progress, discovery, or learning. Does it feature normal times, trouble, and a return to normal times? Does it feature a problem that leads to progress? Does it have a beginning, middle, and end?)
-Practice! (Remember you don’t get a cheat sheet) Practice so you can keep it down to five minutes. (Beware the consequences of going over . . . muwahahaha!) Tell it to your plants, pets, spouse, kids or mirror. (But know they are a tough audience.)
Revise, Rework, Revamp, Finesse. Shave off another two minutes.
Put your name in the hat and if you are one of the lucky ones picked you’ll have FIVE minutes to woo the audience.
More Family Story SLAM Tips
Be Forewarned: This is story-telling, not reading. No notes, papers, or cheat sheets. You will be judged on Three Criteria:
-Was it FIVE minutes?
-Did it fit within the theme?
-Is it a story? (Does it have conflict and resolution?)
Start and end with a bang! Have a great first line that grabs attention and a great ending line that clearly ends your tale. A weak ending kills the story. Know how you’re ending before you begin.
NOT: “So I was on the way to my grandma’s house, but first I had to drop off a movie rental (we watched the funniest movie last night) but as I was on my way I remembered grandma needed me to drop by and pick up a prescription because her hair is falling out (of course, she is ninety-eighty years old) so I swung on by her house first, then dropped off the movie and picked up the prescription and went back to grandma’s house.”
YES: “Grandma needed me, now! I had fuel in my car and directions programmed in my GPS, but the flood waters rushed over the road before me and if I drove through I would drown for sure.”
Know your story well so you can have fun! This is not a trial – this is fun! Focus more on the recollected memory you will share than the memorized words you write. No one wants to watch you panic over trying to remember your next line. Just know the bullet points and play with the details. Most importantly, enjoy yourself and remember the audience is pulling for you to succeed. Imagine you’re telling your story over the family dinner table. We love you that much!
No standup routines:
Everyone loves a good laugh, including us, but we require funny STORIES, not funny people.
No rants:
Anger issues are best resolved in therapy, unless you can shape your anger into a story and make us laugh along the way. No resolution = no story!
No essays:
Don’t you just love it when you wax eloquent in your writing? We do to, but unless you snag our interest, make us care, and bring us to resolution, the essay won’t work on stage!
The Story Slam model was created by The Moth of New York City (www.themoth.org)
