Milwaukee has spoken: “We want more live storytelling!” And Ex Fabula has answered: we will host our  fourth event on February 16th at 8:00pm at Bay View Brew Haus, which is located at 2535 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in Bay View. The theme for the night is “Now or Never.” There is a $3 charge at the door to support future events.

The mission of Ex Fabula—named for the Latin for “from stories”—is to connect storytellers with live audiences on a regular basis. We hosted our third event in front of a sold out audience of over one hundred at The Hi Hat Garage on January 19th. The theme of the night was “Busted!” Eleven performers took the stage—including three volunteers from the audience—and shared tales ranging from “My ill-fated attempt at street hustling” to a cautionary tale about pulling pranks on the sleeping homeless in Mumbai, India. The audience award went to Tom Crawford, who killed with his recollection of the three days he played hookie, gallivanting around the city on his father’s dime… when he was seven-years-old!

Like the previous events, this third event will feature three different storytelling formats:

  • “The Solo.” Individual storytellers—some selected in advance, and some drawn at random from audience volunteers—tell true, five-minute stories without notes.
  • “The Rashomon.” This format is named after Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s classic that explores multiple perspectives. Two storytellers take the stage to share their versions of the same story.
  • “The Terkel.” A question and answer format featuring one interviewer and one interviewee. January’s event featured Adam Carr of 88Nine Radio Milwaukee, who interviewed—check that, interrogated—his mother about why she abandoned the nunnery to marry his father, who in turn had to abandon the seminary.

As always, audience members will crown their favorite storyteller at the end of the night.

Those who are interested in vying for a storytelling spot should put their names in the hat by 7:45 pm. The volunteer storytellers for the evening will then be randomly drawn to compete side by side with storytellers arranged in advance. Would-be storytellers should choose stories that tie in to the theme “Now or Never.” They should practice without notes and to the five minute time limit as they will be cut off if they run over five minutes. Storytellers should pay particular attention to the first and last lines of their stories and ensure that they are vivid and compelling.

More information on Ex Fabula at:
Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=199016988153&ref=ts
Ex Fabula Twitter https://twitter.com/ExFabula