Ex Fabula achieved its first milestone in November 2009 when it presented its inaugural show to a packed house at Art Bar. Fourteen performers took the stage—including two volunteers from the audience—and shared tales ranging from “How Kraft Singles got me laid” to “How I started an unlicensed medical clinic in Kenya.”

Although all stories touched on the theme of “Beginnings”, otherwise they ranged greatly in style and theme. Beth Lewinski started out the night with a story about the rise and fall of a relationship. Dan Benavente spoke of combative eyebrows while Leslie J. Biernat told of overcoming breast cancer and setting outrageous goals for the new year.  Ex Fabula’s own Amy Schleicher interviewed her father, who, rumor has it served as the basis for Dos Equis’s Most Interesting Man Alive character.  Ed Makowski combined luxury Christmas tree sales with art history, while Kerrie Berg told of two very different encounters with the same man.  Azeeza Islam shared tales about her three boys; one highlight was her Michael Jackson impersonation. Isaiah Rembert led off the Rashomon duo by telling the audience how he met his friend Troy Stewart; then, Troy took the stage to tell the same story from his point of view. Ex Fabula co-founder Megan McGee’s father Kevin exhibited terrific comedic timing while demonstrating that a strong storyteller can weave a simple instance of mistaken identify into a memorable story.

In what surely is a sign of the unexpected awesomeness to come, Paul Finger emerged from the audience and delivered an incredible story that combined the hilarity of mistaken identity with the excitement of man vs. machine and vampires. Paul walked away with the audience award which was kindly donated by our friends at WMSE.

Keep reading this blog to find out about Ex Fabula events, and get your stories ready for the Sugar Maple on Wednesday, December 16th at 8 pm where the theme will be “Second Thoughts.”