Come out this Tuesday, May 17th, for our first Story Department on our new day and at our new location, Homeslice Pizza at 1415 South Congress Avenue. Doors open at 8pm. Cover is $5. Pick up a slice or two next door at More Homeslice for during the show. Storytelling Theme: Celebrity Encounters. Storytellers: The incomparable Andy Langer, Matt the Electrician, and Chad Covert Derbyshire!
Sorry it’s taken almost a month to post anything from last month’s The Story Department. Here, finally, is Part 1 of Kari Holt’s story about her in-laws. Take a look-see and revel in its awesomeness.
And below is Part 2 of Kari Holt’s hilarious, unsettling story about her in-laws!
The Story Department will be moving for the month of April. As much as we’ve loved our time with Austin AMP, and as much as we appreciate their help and support, we’ve decided the Story Department needs a change of pace.
For our event for April 14, 2011, we will be holding Story Department in the backyard of the offices of Austin Bat Cave, which is located in historic Clarksville, at 1807 W 11th Street, 78703. And check back soon to learn where our new permanent home will be come May.
Apparently we at The Story Department aren’t the only ones interested in stories and storytelling.
I had never seen Mark Shapiro tell a story and my hope is that we’ll come up with another theme that catches his fancy and soon. He poo-pooed the microphone and so you might have to plug in the earphones to hear this one well, but it’s worth a listen, as it’s a crazy story of hitch-hiking and good luck and bad luck and a lost backpack.
Mark Shapiro has been living in Austin for somewhat over a year now. He works in the music business. He likes Austin but says: “Not that weird.” He says that as far as he can tell, the weirdest thing about Austin is that people like to call the rivers lakes.
For the March 2011 Story Department, Phil Korshak, a regular storyteller, took off his storytelling hat and replaced with an emcee hat. He introduced storytellers and spoke on occasion about luck, and read two pieces from the Austin Bat Cave citywide anthology, Every Letter: Austin Anthology of Younger Writers. (Disclaimer: The Story Department is an event for people 21 and older and there will occasionally occur coarse, sailor language in these stories.) Here he reads “Here you can see,” by Campbell Chupik, and then “My Favorite Scar is on Tito,” by Christ Truitt.
“Here you can see” by Campbell Chupik
“My Favorite Scare is on Tito,” by Christ Truitt
In March, 2011, our theme was Luck. Listen to an excerpt of DJ Stout telling a story about luck and his father’s left arm.
DJ’s design work is represented in several permanent collections including Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, theMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA), the Austin Museum of Art(AMOA), the Southwestern Writers Collection and the Southwestern and Mexican Photography Collection in the Witliff Collections at Texas State University, the Harry Ransom Center (HRC) at the University of Texas, and the Library of Congress. In January 2000 DJ joined Pentagram as a partner in the Austin office.
Welcome to the new page dedicated to Austin Bat Cave’s monthly fundraising event, The Story Department.
For those of you not in the know, Austin Bat Cave is a non-profit writing and tutoring center for kids located in sunny, lovely Austin, Texas. (Read more about Austin Bat Cave here.) And the Story Department is a monthly event we hold to have a good time and hear some great stories and hopefully raise money for the work done at Austin Bat Cave.
Every month, we invite four to five storytellers to come on stage and tell a story based on something true and based on that month’s theme. Loosely based on the wildly successful The Moth Series in New York, the Story Department brings together Austinites and out-of-towners, writers, musicians, comedians, and working stiffs, anyone who has a story to tell who’s looking for a stage on which to tell it. At times funny, sad, and poignant, the stories you hear at the Story Department offer a great night of live, unscripted entertainment. Check back here for details about upcoming storytelling events and to listen to excerpts of stories from previous events.
Remember, The Story Department is an event for adults, by which we mean: 21 and over only, please.
Thanks for your support of The Story Department and of Austin Bat Cave, and, as always, thanks for listening.
The Story Department 