League of Inveterate Poets

By Mark Traphagen on September 22, 2010

Last night, in my second appearance as a storyteller at The Monti Story Slam, a regular live storytelling event here in Durham, NC, my story “The Bus, the Bench, and the Chamber of Doom” was judged best story of the evening!

I want to personally thank Monti founder Jeff Polish, his wife, and his small but dedicated staff of volunteers, for bringing the joy of live storytelling to the Triangle region. At a Monti Story Slam, eight contestants are chosen at random from all those in the audience who submitted their names to tell a story. Each storyteller has five minutes to tell a true story, without script or notes, relevant to the night’s theme (last night was “adolescence”). Three teams of volunteer judges evaluate the story according to its relevance to the theme, staying within the time limit, and the general quality of the story, assigning a score on a 10-point scale. My winning story last night earned a 28.7 out of a possible 30!

Last night was also special because my wife Karyn totally surprised me by getting up and telling a story of her own!

Listen to or read my winning story:

Audio: “The Bus, the Bench, and the Chamber of Doom (Podcast Version)” (From my storytelling Podcast series)

Text: “The Bus, the Bench, and the Chamber of Doom“