The Moth: Storytelling in NYC and the Celebration of Amateurs

Jordan Hill, a close friend of mine, is a professional storyteller. He has long hair, ethereal eyes and he waves his hands wildly when he speaks, holding his audience in a rapturous silence. In 2006 he was hired by NASA to tell stories about the Solar Eclipse. Three years ago, around Harvard Square I met Brother Blue who is also a professional storyteller. When I saw him last, he said: give me three themes and I will weave together a fantastic story for you. Lesbians, buckets and Jack The Ripper I retorted without much thought. He proceeded to tell me the most wonderful story.

Jordan and Brother Blue do this for a living. However, we all tell stories all the time. We are all raconteurs. The Moth in NYC was born to create a forum for everyday storytellers. A couple of weeks ago a bunch of us headed down to Brooklyn for a night of storytelling. The theme for the night was: backstage. I was blown away by the quality of the stories. The guy who ended up winning the “storyslam” told us a story about his alienation from his wife  and his inevitable divorce. It was deeply moving, tragic and funny at the same time.

I am glad that storytelling is very much alive in New York. I am also glad that New York has such a strong culture of celebrating amateurs. Lets not forgot that the word amateur comes from Amare, to love. Amateurs are therefore people who do things for the love of it!