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!
Episode 25 is about family. Many of our first and most important lessons come from family members — and it seems those are the lessons we rarely forget. This week on Story Shuffle, you’ll hear two lessons our storytellers learned from their family members. First, Eric Smith will tell us about a childhood lesson that helped him realize the value of his family. Then Shannon Wink shares a story about what she’s learned from her niece.
You either went to summer camp as a kid or you didn’t — and that difference is profound. For those of us who went to summer camp, those stories stay with us for a lifetime. Sometimes, they can be hard to share with people who didn’t. In Episode 16, we’re going to try. Eric Smith is going to tell a story about how he dealt with some strange wildlife at summer camp. Then, Andrew Panebianco will tell us about a camp experience he had that closely resembled “Lord of the Flies.”
Most times we go with our gut. On the ninth episode of Story Shuffle, the weekly first-draft storytelling podcast, we hear two stories of people doing just that, experiencing First Impressions. First we have author and literary agent Eric Smith remembering the first day he moved to Philadelphia — and the cultural differences between there and New Jersey. Next, journalist Daniel Victor shares his first look at a conference of pickup artists — yes, pickup artists.
You can always look for conflict in your childhood. The fifth episode of weekly first-draft storytelling podcast Story Shuffle is “Kid Tales.” In it, two accomplished storytellers mine their childhoods for conflict worth hearing. First, as recorded in 2012, author and literary agent Eric Smith answers with heart the provocative question: “can a person be regifted?” Second, as recorded in 2014, frequent storyteller Andrew Panebianco offers laughs as he remembers the first time he was cool, on a cruise ship as a pre-teen of course.
The live Story Shuffle will take place Thurs. Aug. 1 at 8pm as part of the three day Philadelphia Podcast Festival. Check out the lineup for Story Shuffle.
R. Eric Thomas, a playwright and stand-up dramedian, has been hailed as “one of the best storytellers in Philly†by the Philadelphia Weekly. Eric has read or performed throughout the country, including on the wildly successful RISK! podcast and at the 2011 TEDxPhilly conference. He lives in South Phillly. Visit him at rEricthomas.com.
Eric Smith is the marketing director at Old City publishing companyQuirk Books, author of the forthcoming ‘Geek’s Guide to Dating’ and cofounder of local culture blog Geekadelphia.com. He lives in Rittenhouse.
Kathryn Bezella is a senior director of admissions at the Wharton School, a fiction writer and member of the Backyard Writers Group at the Kelly Writers House. She lives in West Philly.
Lansie Sylvia is a communications director at EHL Consulting, a frequent First Person Arts Story Slam storyteller and cofounder of the Philly Give & Get experiential charity date auction.
Patrick McNeil is a resource coordinator for social services nonprofit Resources for Human Development, a short fiction writer and member of the Backyard Writers Group at the Kelly Writers House. He lives in Fishtown.
Christopher Wink is the cofounder and editor of Technical.ly Philly and its network of local technology news sites and events, including Philly Tech Week. In May 2010, he began the every-other-month storytelling event StoryShuffle.com and frequently writes and speaks. Visit him at ChristopherWink.com.
