After a nice winter run, the Black Rock fireplace is going on hiatus for the summer.  Come help us send it off and show our appreciation for all the comfort it provided with another excellent cast of storytellers, some craft beers, and $5 burgers.

Story Lab Chicago
Wednesday –May 16th
Black Rock Pub – 3614 N Damen Street
7:30pm
FREE!
(Doors open at 6:45)

This month, we are excited to feature:

Laura Hawbaker has written for all the Chicago newspapers at one point or another.  She holds a Bachelors in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago and a Masters in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  She is a Fulbright Scholar and organizes her bookshelves by color.

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After receiving universal acclaim for his uplifting portrayal of Fab Morvan—aka the darker skinned half of Milli Vanilli—in his 7th grade variety show, Cyrus Irani joined the likes of J.D. Sallinger, Dave Chapelle, and Right Said Fred and decided to leave the art world on top. He looks forward to making his long awaited return at Story Lab. He also blogs infrequently at www.cyrus2k.blogspot.com

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Emily Johnson is an editor and writer living in Chicago. She is a professional copywriter, yoga instructor, and pro bono philosopher, and has written for various magazines and newspapers on the subjects of relationships, psychology, and communications. Check out her stuff on emjohnson.net

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Erin Kahoa has been living life backwards. Salaried job before part time minimum wage work.  Marriage before casual dating. Home owner before grungy bug infested apartments. Director of a university theatre program before big city auditions. But, since resetting and moving to Chicago, he’s never been happier. You can catch him as the evil villain on stage in Rough Magic at The Raven the last weekend of July.

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Monte LaMonte is a neck breaker. Shit taker. Love maker. And an excellent photographer. http://monteism.blogspot.com/

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Sondra Morin is a Chicago poet and a small town New Englander at heart. She is an alumnus of the Juniper Summer Writing Institute and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Poems and prose appear or are forthcoming in The Rumpus, Curbside Splendor,Two With Water, and vis a tergo. She is a regular contributor to Chicago Publishes. In 2010, she created Radical Snail Poetry, a contemporary poetry magazine under construction, and published her first chapbook, Inviting the Expanse. She keeps a little blog about snails: Snails Are Good For The Environment, Too.

The 43rd Annual Chicago’s Biggest Liar Contest is in the books, and was an absolute blast. Thanks so much to our sell out audience, Herdegen-Brieske Funeral Home, the family of Floyd Ridley Jr., all of the participants, and Co-Bullshitters Extreme Don Hall and Kristen Studard!

In all honesty …. we would be thrilled to have you join us for the April 18th Story Lab.  Come celebrate that time between fireplaces and beer gardens with another talented crop of storytellers:

Aria Alexander-Manifold is from Lafayette, Indiana and has lived in Chicago for almost exactly one year. She has a degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in drawing, which has inexplicably landed her in a cubicle job in which she listens to audiobooks all day long while dreaming of a job that requires any pretense of brainpower. She has written two NaNoWriMo novels that she has not yet allowed anyone to read, as well as about half of a collaborative attempt at a Harlequin romance. The project was dropped when Aria and her collaborator realized that they had already written all the fun parts. Her favorite thing about Chicago just might be the storytelling culture and all the amazing people involved in it, and she’s grateful to be involved in even a small way.

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Jeff Bakkenson was born and raised in Andover, MA, and started writing books about his stuffed animals at a young age.  At Georgetown University, he had the opportunity to complete a creative writing thesis under the tutelage of Jennifer Fink.  Jeff was a runner-up for the Mary Ora Phelam Poetry Prize in 2008, and contributed editorials and fiction to the Georgetown Voice.  More recently, he was a finalist for Line Zero’s 2011 Fall Fiction Contest and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, also in 2011.  Jeff’s work has also appeared online at Vestal Review.  For the past year and a half, he’s worked at Urban Prep Academies. Jeff has seen the lakefront via Segway and always wears a helmet.

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Dale Cocca moved to Chicago from upstate New York a year ago to pursue so many of his interests. He hosts trivia nights at a few bars in Chicago, despite being pretty bad at playing trivia himself. When he’s not doing that, he’s an adventure guide with LivingSocial Adventures.  He regularly performs in “The Boy Scout Musical” at the Annoyance Theatre, and is a founding member of the critically acclaimed improv team, “Vehicular Man’s Laughter”, and does some stand-up comedy on the open mic circuit. In the large chunk of time that he’s not doing those things, he’s scheming on how to make the world more fun.

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Jeff Grabowski took an interest in math and science at a young age and eventually received two engineering degrees. During school, he avoided as many English and humanities classes as possible, and did not find enjoyment in reading or writing. That all changed recently when he wrote a best man’s speech and a eulogy in honor of his grandmother. Reflecting on these important people in his life nucleated a new-found interest in writing. Since Sept of 2011, he has written more than 10 personal stories for Chicago non-fiction blog “The Third City.”

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Sara Kaplan currently performs on the Award-winning iO Harold team, “Inkling.” She can be seen performing throughout Chicago with her independent improv teams, “Your Neighbors” and “Velvet Rope.” She also does stand-up, story-telling, and will be co-starring in Wishbone Theatre’s new production, “Incendiary.” Sara would like to thank Chicago and its people for all the opportunities and love, especially Zach.

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Lydia Stux‘s adopted twin sons provide fodder for her blog, RAISING ROMULUS AND REMUS (www.raisingromulus.blogspot.com). Since there is a momentary lull in the near-constant chaos her boys create, Lydia has been recycling some of the blog essays into storytelling pieces. This is her first original story, developed specifically for performance.  In addition to maintaining a blog, Lydia acts, writes, travels and sings with WHQODJY (We-haven’t-quit-our-day-jobs-yet) Singers at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Know all those brain cells you plan on murdering with green lager later this month? You would be a saint yourself by giving them one last hurrah at the March 21st edition of Story Lab Chicago.

Our lineup this month is like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but with stories instead of  doubloons and The Black Rock Pub in place of any meteorological phenomenon.

Hope to see you …

Gipsy Escobar (no, no relation to Pablo) is a Colombian-born criminologist (no, not like CSI), who teaches classes with depressing names at Loyola University Chicago. She has lived in the US for almost ten years and is going on her third year in Chicago, where she lives with her funny-man husband (who doubles as an excellent cook) and their two hair-producing machine dogs (who also double as excellent poop-producing machines). This is her first time doing storytelling of any kind that doesn’t involve three gallons of whiskey beforehand, but she’s excited to be in Story Lab, and to perhaps drink three gallons  of whiskey after telling her story.

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Ben Gibson grew up in Texas and will likely be buried there, since he proudly occupies a seat on the board of the Gibson Family Cemetery. He currently works for a publishing company but would not object if a publishing company one day wanted to work for him. He loses socks with disheartening regularity and has failed to earn the respect of Siri, the polite genie who lives inside his IPhone.

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Kate Herold grew up in St. Louis, attended college in in Iowa, has lived in Chicago for the last seven years, and expects any day now she’ll make peace with the idea of being a lifelong Midwesterner. As both a writer and a nurse, Kate is interested in the importance of narrative and oral story-telling in the profession of nursing, and finds that most of her writing these days reflects her experiences working as a nurse and midwife. When she’s not catching babies, Kate can usually be found hovering around iO (formerly Improv Olympic), taking improv classes, seeing shows, and learning to take life less seriously.

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Camille Izlar hails from Durham, North Carolina. She is twentysomething working on discovering her professional calling. In the meantime, she enjoys dabbling in  poetry, fiction writing, fiction reading, cooking and long walks in the snow.

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Andy Kerns is an up-and-coming young something or other, and a writer. He has dabbled in screenwriting, social satire, sketch comedy, and short fiction, but his preferred genres are emotionally exposed emails about the trials of modern manhood (sent to his younger sisters) and flirtatious texts (sent to unavailable women). He lives in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago with his dream to one day live in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago with a dog.

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At 6 years old, Zack Meyer was going to college fairs hell bent on finding the right business school to suit his entrepreneur-y aspirations. Now at 25 years old, he teaches people how to sword fight and spends his summers on a pirate ship. His mother is sooo proud. Zack is a Chicago Actor, Fight Director and is the Assistant Artistic Director of the Tall Ship Windy on Navy Pier. Whether it is a historical retelling, a ghost story, or some saga told over brews, Zack has always loved story telling. He dedicates his story to his 90 year old grandpa. Here’s to 90 more years of stories!

You know how Story Lab does it, baby.  Going to get you nice and comfortable in the backroom of the Black Rock Pub, dim the lights a little, and then get all intimate with you, right in front of the blazing fireplace.

We’re extending Valentine’s Day this year, getting down and dirty with another night of hot stories and cold beer on February 15th, at 7:30.  Why don’t you get there early, when doors open at 6:45, so we can have a $5 burger before moving on to “dessert.”

Oh, and if it’s OK with you, baby, we’d like to spice things up a little by bringing all of these talented people in on the action …

Jen Daniels is a writer and independent filmmaker currently based in Rogers Park.  She recently completed a short entitled, “Clothes Optional” which is featured on the DVD release of the feature film “Act Naturally.”  She lives in an intentional artist community with her scheming radical compatriots and enjoys making mischief, music, and love.

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Dana Marie Jerman. Came from western Pennsylvania. Living in Chicago 3.5 years. Have been to all 50 states and lived for a brief time in Portland, Maine and Anchorage, Alaska. As well as southern California and Washington, DC.  My writing has been published over a dozen times in the USA. Also India, Australia. Writer of mostly haiku and poetry. Dabbling also in flash fiction and playwriting. Self-published a poetry collection available for purchase online. (through Blurb.com). Currently working on a graphic novel collection of short fictions. Goals for 2012 include riding in a hot-air balloon and teaching a 1-day creative writing crash-course in a bookstore.

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Louis Knapp is an avid reader, cancer researcher, and student of Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University.  Fascinated by mathematics and the internet, some of Louis’ generative art can be seen at loumachine.appspot.com.

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Kerry Maiorca received an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco, and soon after moved back to her hometown of Chicago because California winters do nothing for one’s character. Having spent her grad school experience immersed in short fiction, she has recently discovered a love of reading and writing nonfiction, and currently writes what she reluctantly calls a blog at ThinkingYogi.com. Kerry is a yoga instructor and the director of Bloom Yoga Studio in Lincoln Square.

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Mike Manship is recently transplanted to Chicago from Boston, where he wrote and performed in a variety of shows that no one in Chicago has heard of, including T: An MBTA Musical.  He recently published his first novel, Cambridge Street, and is happy to report that people who review books on amazon.com are liking it.  You can learn more about him at darkandstupid.info.

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Blake Richter grew up in Kansas and has lived in the Midwest most of his life, finding his way to DeKalb,IL (Yes, we are part of Chicagoland!) in 1997. He continues to hold down third chair in the trumpet section of the legendary Big Band, Shannanigans, and will tell anyone who will listen about how much he loves his Schilke 6L trumpet, a 50th birthday present from his wonderful wife. In addition to playing semi-professional trumpet every now and then, he is also an award-winning video producer for Umbrella Group Arts, and a pastor at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in DeKalb, IL.

Year One of Story Lab Chicago is officially in the books, and we could not have asked for a better maiden voyage.  Thanks to everyone who lent their talent to the show, and to the many people who supported us month after month.  We look forward to another great year of stories, community, and fun in the back room of The Black Rock.

Please join us as we kick off 2012 with another talented cast of up-and-coming storytellers, featuring …

Bart Longacre is the youngest child of an arson investigator and a school nurse.  He tells everyone he grew up in Montana.

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Brenda E. Kelly is excited to be a part of StoryLab. Her favorite roles include Ellen in TWO ROOMS, Shawna in COYOTE ON A FENCE and Little Red Riding Hood in WHEN FAIRY TALES…ATTACK!!!, a one act play she also co-wrote. Brenda is a network playwright with Chicago Dramatists and also the president of the Women’s Theatre Alliance of Chicago, an organization devoted to supporting, promoting and showcasing Chicago’s female theatre artists.

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Until recently, Denise Santomauro was pursuing an acting career here in the city. But in a stroke of financial genius, she gave that up to pursue a writing career. Needless to say, she will probably die broke. Since beginning to pursue a writing career, Denise has managed to eek out a chapter book for middle schoolers, a few essays and short stories and submitted a few random things to a couple of random publications. About seven months ago, one month before her 29th birthday, she decided she was sick of living in safely and set a goal of taking a risk everyday of her 29th year of life. To keep her honest, she chronicles her adventures and blunders in a daily  blog: www.littledbigyear.wordpress.com. And yes, speaking at StoryLab will get it’s own post.

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James Davisson is a native Chicagoan with almost no knowledge of the city he lives in, because he mostly stays at home. The main reason he has stories to tell is that his friends and relations drag him into the sunlight from time to time, or, more often, that he needs leave the house to make money.  He studied linguistics in college and no, he doesn’t speak any languages other than English or Spanish, thank you, but he can tell you whatever you want to know about grammar in American Sign Language, word order in Biblical Hebrew, or the etymology of English words, and if he can’t he will happily fib convincingly enough to satisfy your curiosity.

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Joanna P. Lind is terrible at writing bios. It’s an area in which she hasn’t improved in her 26+ years as a performer and writer, mostly because she finds it horribly difficult to distill so many varied experiences and interests down into a few sentences to express who she is artistically. As a child, Joanna loved creative writing, music, theatre, and dance, and that has not changed. A native Chicagoan, over the years she’s appeared in venues from the Lyric Opera all the way down to your local park. She enjoys her day job with the locally touring children’s theatre company, American Eagle Productions, as well as performing in other plays and musicals when the right show comes along. Joanna really loves making stuff, is the thing, including music (she’s a singer/musician/songwriter), theatre (especially staged readings, new works, and Shakespeare), and baked goods (cookies are her specialty). These days Joanna is most excited about two pursuits in particular: the band she is in (The New Switcheroo) and that she is writing more again (stories, poetry, songs, plays). She is also excited to share her stories with you!

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Jodie Daquilanea is a first-generation American, fire performer, and poet who has most recently performed at the Metro, Abbey Pub, Schubas, Exit, Bridgeport Art Center, and the North Halsted Halloween Parade, among other venues.  She is one of the planners of the largest regular fire and drum jam in North America, and she now performs regularly with Environmental Encroachment, a magical circus marching band based in Chicago (http://www.encroach.net).  Professionally, she is a sociologist and social researcher, and she is currently Project Director and Subcontracting Principal Investigator of a study on religious life throughout the United States.  She is a research nerd at heart.  She has a deep appreciation for creative community and is ever grateful for the people around her who are doing great things and who give her so much inspiration, encouragement, and support.  When she’s not pouring herself mind, body, heart, and soul into her work and play, she likes to cook, read, do yoga, and rock climb.

12 months … 72 unique storytellers … hundreds of supportive audience members …

2011 was an amazing inaugural year for Story Lab Chicago.  The stories shared by our friends and neighbors were memorable, and ran the gamut from hilarious to heartbreaking.  We were blessed with the active support of audiences whose attentiveness and passion eased the nerves of even the most timid first time teller.  Together, we all created something wonderful, simply by listening to each other, talking to each other, and enjoying some quality time, face to face.

Come help Story Lab close out its first year with the last show of 2011, featuring this talented bunch of storytellers …

Brian Barasch is a promoter, producer, marketer, advocate and admirer of the arts.  Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, Brian realized his complete inability to act or memorize lines during an agonizingly terrible high school production of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail and henceforth decided to shift his focus to the non-performance aspects of the theatre.  After completing a degree in theatre management from DePaul University, Brian set out on the glamorous and lucrative career path of non-profit arts administration.  Today, Brian works in the marketing department at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and also spends some time on the side working with The New Colony – a young theatre company of super-talented hipsters whose best creative ideas come after at least two cans of PBR.  Aside from his artistic pursuits, Brian can name all forty-four US presidents, enjoys the oddly relaxing affects of creating excel spreadsheets and prides himself on knowing exactly which CTA bus will get you to your destination the fastest.

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Alexandra Boroff is an actress originally from Boston, Mass. In her 3 years in Chicago, she has been a superhero for Corn Productions, an undead child for Blunt Objects Theatre, a pirate for Tall Ship Adventures, and can currently be seen in her most breathtaking role as “Assistant Manager” at Starbucks Coffee at her store in Boystown. She really likes coffee. Like, a lot.

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John Brewster hails from Austin, Texas, where he drinks sweet tea and Lone Star Beer while two-stepping in his borrowed cowboy boots. John has six years of experience in Chicago as a writer and actor, performing in the past at IO, The Annoyance, Stage Left, Playground, and Strawdog Theaters, and is a founding member of the Chicago-based sketch group GERMANS. John currently oversees health and environmental marketing campaigns in Austin and performs with Scout at Coldtowne Theater.

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Pete DeBolt is a Chicagoland native born to a large family of master storytellers with big personalities.  His 15 year career in sales, marketing, and international trade sent him around the world, presenting to hundreds of corporate audiences.  But corporate presentations are typically boring consisting of endless, mind numbing PowerPoint slides.  Any attempts to incorporate his talent for storytelling into his presentations were crushed by bullet point obsessed management.  Friends and colleagues recognized Pete’s talent, passion, and need for storytelling and encouraged him to write of book of his stories.  In the summer of 2011, he began to transfer his stories from memory to paper.  The result will be a book of short, true, and funny stories slated for release in the spring of 2012.

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Carrie McDonald is pleased as punch to be appearing at her first story telling event. Carrie made her acting debut on TLC’s What Not to Wear, where she sported muumuus and rocked her own style, which was a fashionable mix of teenage boy, old lady, and cheap 80s throwback. As a return Peace Corps volunteer, she made a difference by chain smoking, drinking moonshine, and chasing after French doctoral students in the jungle. In addition to be an excellent human being, she enjoys performing stand-up comedy, pretending to go to the gym, and her never end quest to quit smoking.

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Sarah Michaelson is studying writing with Arlene Malinowski.  She has performed at ’SpeakEasy, Speak Hard’ and ‘Here’s the Story’ as well as publishing her essays in YogaChicago. Sarah’s the producer of a short documentary film, “The Voice Box” based on her friend and muse, Ellen Frohardt.  Sarah is also on the board of Creative Artists in Service Together, an organization that promotes the arts to the human services community.

It may be a few weeks before we all sit down with our loved ones and see how much poultry, starch, and carbs we can jam into our thank-holes, but Story Lab Chicago is bringing the gravy early this month with a lineup so exciting that you will definitely need a long nap afterwards.

Have a look at this smorgasbord of talent …

Kevin Dolan is an improviser around the Chicago area. Having studied at iO, he was recently featured in the Inertia Series run with Theatre Momentum. He has also performed in the Rocky Horror Picture Show with the Catalyst Collective. He can currently be seen playing with the improv groups High Sobriety and Cool Dancing Turkeys.

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Noah Ginex is an artist, musician, and puppeteer who, among other accomplishments, has created a music video for Barenaked Ladies.  He is also a company member of WNEP Theater. For more info, click here.

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Jessie Mutz is a theatre director and performer originally hailing from Florida.  Since making her home in Chicago, Jessie has worked with groups such as Brain Surgeon Theater, Poetry Magazine, 20%
Theatre Company, and The Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company.  She currently has the greatest job ever doing outreach with the Tall Ship Windy.  At one point in her life, Jessie studied environmental contaminants by dissecting alligator eggs; more recently, she rappelled down a 27-story building.  As for  storytelling –she has always enjoyed her step-dad’s stories the best, but he would never tell them on command, only when he felt like it.  Here’s to you, Steve!

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Patricia Savieo has lived in Chicago nine years and can’t imagine being anywhere else. In particular, she is super-glad to not be living in Arizona. Social worker by day, she is a co-founder of Hubris Productions and is currently undertaking her second NaNoWriMo challenge. She loves the Blackhawks, pizza, and a guy named Brian. Also, she recently agreed to make her beautiful niece’s wedding dress.

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Natasha Tsoutsouris is excited to have found the storytelling community and is even more excited to have a bio. She is also well versed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so if you don’t like her stories, she’ll choke the hell out of you.

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Over the past 35 years, J. Weintraub has published a variety of fiction, essays, poetry, and translations in in all sorts of literary reviews and periodicals, from The Massachusetts Review to Modern Philology, from Gastronomica to Prairie Schooner. He has been an Around-the-Coyote poet, a StoneSong poet, and a featured writer at the Twilight Tales reading series, at Tuesday Funk, and at “March Madness, Murder & Mayhem” for the Uptown Writers Space as well as with the TallGrass Writers Guild at the Bourgeois Pig. This Fall his short stories, “The Year the Padres Won the Pennant” (depicting the disastrous effect on a marriage of the Chicago Cubs meltdown in 1984) and “Afloat” (a tale blending a traditional sci-fi with the legend of Faust) will appear in anthologies published by Main Street Rag Press. Currently a network playwright at Chicago Dramatists, he has had one-act plays produced in New York, Naperville, and Middleboro, MA, and a staged reading of his one-act play “Security, Inc.” will be part of the Saturday series on Nov. 5 at Chicago Dramatists (2:00 pm; Chicago & Milwaukee). Samples of his work can be found here: http://jweintraub.weebly.com

Not only do we have yet another great night of stories on tap with a ridiculously talented cast, but we will be filming a documentary/pilot episode of Story Lab that evening.

Please join us on Wednesday October 19th @ 7:30 as we once again celebrate storytelling in Chicago, and our friends at Umbrella Group Arts get it all on film.

We would love to have your pretty face be included in the footage, and to show how much we mean it, every person attending the show that evening will receive a crisp dollar bill.  Seriously – which other storytelling event in the city pays YOU? Hope you can join us.

This month’s cast is phenomenal. Have a look …

Dennis DiClaudio is the News Editor of Comedy Central’s Indecision website and the author of four nonfiction humor books, including The Hypochondriac’s Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have and Man vs. Weather: Be Your Own Weatherman. He has been living in Chicago for the past two years with his wife Gipsy Escobar, who is named after a Hungarian waltz, and his dog Hazel-rah, who is named after a rabbit.

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Amanda Dodge was born in Mississippi, but spent 19 years growing up in southern Louisiana.  No, she’s not from New Orleans, but did live in a haunted house there for a summer.  And she wasn’t affected by the hurricane Katrina, but lived through plenty of others. She graduated from the University of Louisiana (Lafayette) with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, has done stand-up comedy in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, and wrote sketches for different shows around the area.  Amanda moved to Chicago in 2004, and has performed at The Annoyance Theater, worked as an actress and stage manager at Raven Theatre in Edgewater, and helped to bring Chicago its first two Fringe Festivals.

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My name is Miles Horton.  I am a 44 year old attorney.  I live in Evanston with my first wife.  We were both reared in Evanston.  My favorite joy and well-being activities are social and competitive West Coast Swing dancing, and skateboarding in concrete skateparks.  My story is about my father.  He died in Evanston on New Year’s Eve of 2009.  He was ninety years old.

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Rebecca Kling is a Chicago-based artist interested in exploring the performance of identity. Her multi-media productions – composed of storytelling, video, movement, playful skips and jumps, enlightening self-discovery, accusatory glances, awkward pauses, and more – question gender, self-expression, and what it means to be at home in one’s own body. Rebecca has performed her material at The Athenaeum Theatre with New Suit Theatre Company, Temple Gallery, Fringe Festivals in Chicago, Kansas City, and Indianapolis, at Links Hall, Roosevelt and Northwestern Universities, About Face Theatre, Center on Halsted, with Caffeine Theatre at the DCS Storefront Theatre, and elsewhere across the Midwest. She has been praised by The Chicago Tribune, TimeOut Chicago, Newcity Stage, and Centerstage Chicago, and more. Rebecca has been a recipient of the Chances Dances Critical Fierceness grant, and regularly speaks at high schools and universities across Chicago.  A graduate from Northwestern University’s Department of Performance Studies with an Adjunct Major in Animate Arts, Rebecca Kling is also an instructor at the Piven Theatre Workshop, on the Pride Films and Plays board of director, and a syndicated blogger with BlogHer.

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Paulette McDaniels has more then 25 years of experience in the arts. She is the author of A Deathly Silence commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services for World AIDS Day. Ms. McDaniels has served as a community organizer in the Middle East, Europe and America. The grandmother of two, she studied at Northwestern University and Yorkshire College in the UK. She is co-author of Achmed’s Return: Legend of the Lost City, and is currently working on a Christian comedy, 10 Plagues.

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Erin Pieschke is a Nebraska native who has lived in Chicago for the past two years. A senior site specialist with Fisher Scientific, her outside interests fall to more creative endeavors. She enjoys acting, improvising, comedy writing, and crocheting things that are flat. She’s really good at making scarves. You can see her (backside) in the upcoming Samwell video, “Just Be Free”.

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Jonas Simon is the author of the wildly popular* blog “Zen and the Art of Waitering” as well as the best selling** book of the same name. A veteran of Chicago’s stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy scenes, he can currently be found performing nightly to crowds of enthralled audience members in downtown Chicago – usually at a chain restaurant that rhymes with “Schmeezecake Factory.”

*(according to his mother)  **(currently ranked #242,128 among Amazon.com’s Paid Kindle “Best Sellers”).

Look.  We are ALL upset that summer is over, but if we don’t continue some habits from the last several months, then winter has already won. It is for this reason that you should come back to The Black Rock for another installment of Story Lab Chicago. Actually, an even better reason is that September’s cast is rock solid and raring to go.  Check it out …

Philip Buuck has long been interested in the way people turn their lives into stories they tell.  Born in Indiana, Philip studied theater in New York City and is currently improvising with the groups Hugs and Pullups here in Chicago.  He is also the host of the podcast So Far So Good, which asks its guests for the biggest decisions they made in the narratives of their own lives.  When not performing Philip is probably helping one local business or another with their web design and internet marketing needs.  His goal is to be as widely traveled and well fed as Anthony Bourdain, though he wonders if he will be able to visit the Caribbean and convince himself to leave again.  He has a wonderful girlfriend that supports him and all his crazy ideas, and whom he loves very much.

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Stephanie Douglass is an actor, writer, activist, and farmer who divides her time between the soil and the stage. Over the past several years, Stephanie has farmed communally and built gardens in the Middle East, trained local workers in food and compost toilet sanitation in Ethiopia, and taught in Chicago’s alternative school system.  She was head writer for OLN’s extreme sports show “Outside Magazine’s Ultimate Top Ten,” and recently danced Butoh for the opening of a retrospective of fifty years of Beirut theatre. Currently, Stephanie is interning at Uncommon Ground’s rooftop organic farm and working with Green Warrior Permaculture, developing projects in Ethiopia, Bali, and Uganda.  In New York, she is a co-founder and dramaturg for award-winning theatre company The TEAM, and in Chicago, she performs with the fabulous ladies of Eleanor and writes with The Lords of Hell.

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KT Lark is a Pittsburgh native who has spent most of her life in Chicago. In addition to studying improv at Second City and iO Theater, she is a graduate of Clarke University in Dubuque, IA. KT is a member of the Gorilla Tango Theatre improv teams Carlos Santana and Candy Hand. She can also be found giving tours in her role as a docent at the Lincoln Park Conservatory. KT is very excited to be making her storytelling debut at Story Lab. Finally a chance to write down and tell a coherent story instead of rambling on to anyone who will listen! She would like to thank R.A.M. for being her own personal storyteller.

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Katie Pryor is a member of Serendipity Theatre Collective and the resident nunchuk skills expert.  She currently serves as a producer of 2nd Story and can be found lurking in the corners at shows and bossing people around. After producing numerous shows, she is finally taking the leap into storytelling and hopes she doesn’t royally suck at it.  Many thanks to Scott and the whole StoryLab crew.

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Jim Stevens studied film and theater in Chicago and Paris. He is currently an artisan, filmmaker and an inconspicuous eclecticist. He still treasures the Most Improved Bowler trophy he received… at age 11. More recent accomplishments include selling a condo in this market, getting the last of his wisdom teeth removed and being at his current job for 14 ½  years. Jim is excited to be a participant in the storytelling community for the first time.

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Michelle Renee Thompson grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where she received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Otterbein College…Yeah, you know…one of those degrees that guarantees a fast track to the big bucks!  Since moving to Chicago in1992, She has performed with several different theatre companies, including: Chicago Actors Ensemble, Touchstone Theatre and The Bailiwick Repertory. She is a founding member of Corn Productions, where she has performed, directed, choreographed and written several plays.  She also performs stand up comedy, improv comedy and has appeared in a few independent films and commercials. Michelle can currently be seen as “Sister” in “Sunday School Cinema” at the Royal George Theatre and as “Oprah” in “Oprah! A Comedy! Live Your Best Laugh” at the Annoyance Theatre.

INTERFACE II

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH @ 8 PM

STEEP THEATRE (1115 W Berwyn Avenue)

TICKETS – $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Click here to purchase

This Much Is True is thrilled to partner once again with Steep Theatre, recipient of the 2010 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award, to present the eagerly anticipated follow up to June’s acclaimed experimental show.

Please join us for an evening of live inspiration exploring the common boundaries of music, art, and stories.

One by one, the storytellers of This Much Is True (with guest Robyn Okrant) will take the stage to share a personal tale. At the conclusion of each story, jazz musicians The CEC Trio will play an original, improvised composition inspired by what they have just heard.  For the duration of the show, artist Noah Ginex will be creating one-of-a-kind digital artwork inspired by everything he experiences throughout the evening.  This unique piece of artwork will be displayed, as it is created, on 40-inch plasma screens around the theater, and will be available to purchase as a print right after the performance.

To end the evening on the sweetest note possible, post-show dessert will be served courtesy of CJ Leavens, the creative force behind The Leavening Bake Shop.

Don’t miss one of the most hotly anticipated story shows of the summer.

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