For six years, Story Shuffle was a regularly organized, live recording of themed stories. In 2017, we closed the project with a podcast. The project is done; Enjoy our archives!
Listen to the beginning of Story Shuffle, in which Christopher Wink, the media director of nonprofit Back on My Feet, Technically Philly co-founder and NEast Philly web editor, tells the story of a table that made its way through his family to his own home.
In this four-part video clip series, Ira Glass, the host of This American Life, gives some lessons for storytelling in audio and broadcast.
In this first video, he gives his basics of storytelling.
Below, he also talks about letting go of bad stories, accepting you’ll be bad at first and will be able to tell and that there need to be enough characters in each story you tell, so don’t just speak about yourself.
I am a homeowner and want an interesting way to invite people to share my home.
I got it into my head at least as early as January that hosting a storytelling event could be just such an interesting chance to share time with friends and meet new people. Months later, with some progress made in making my house a home, I’m ready.
With the help of friends, my idea for Story Shuffle has developed, and I’m proud to share it for the first time with a small group on Saturday, May 29. At random, attendees will get the chance to tell a story related to a chosen theme, as yet undecided upon.
Story Shuffle is something like a random, live, first-person version of the radio show This American Life.
Everyone has to come prepared with a five minute to 10 minute story — likely personal nonfiction but not necessarily — that relates, however vaguely, to that night’s theme. Everyone is assigned a card in a deck, the deck is shuffled and a card is picked at random. Whoever’s card is picked, tells his or her story.
No pressure. Just entertain the collective. Be creative. Tell your story masterfully. We’re all friends, and we want to celebrate the beauty of good story telling. Everyone has great stories to tell.
