Drawn To A Flame
TNT Sponsors The Moth, 10-City National Storytelling Tour and Storytelling Competition via MySpace Margaret Cho Among Guest Artists to Appear During Storytelling Tour
TNT continues a second year its sponsorship of the urban storytelling outfit The Moth. This year, the network’s support of the group includes a 10-city storytelling tour entitled Out on a Limb: Stories from the Edge, which kicks off in Los Angeles October 12, 2006, with a performance to include comedian Margaret Cho and rap pioneer Darryl “DMC” McDaniels. In addition, TNT and The Moth are teaming up for a “What’s Your Story?” online search for new, compelling storytellers. The contest will be conducted on MySpace, the leading social networking and lifestyle portal, and the winner will receive a trip for two to New York to attend a live Moth event.
The Out on a Limb storytelling tour will be hosted by The Moth’s frequent New York contributors Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir! and What's Not to Love?, and Andy Borowitz, author of The Borowitz Report and writer for The New Yorker and Newsweek. It will feature storytellers from New York alongside local guest performers, including Cho and McDaniels appearing at the tour launch in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles event will be held at UCLA Live/Royce Hall.
Since The Moth’s inception in 1997, more than 60,000 people have listened to more than 2,000 stories told by people from all walks of like – from Rosie O’Donnell, Ethan Hawke and Dominick Dunne to a firefighter and a hot-dog eating champion. All of its 265 original storytelling events have sold out in 48 hours or less.
On October 15, the Out on a Limb tour will land in Seattle for a performance at Town Hall Seattle that will feature Dan Savage, author of the nationally syndicated column Savage Love. On October 19, it’s off to the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco for an event to feature authors Adam Gopnik (Paris to the Moon, Through the Children’s Gate) and Joyce Maynard (To Die For, Internal Combustion). Then on October 22, the Out on a Limb tour will come to Denver, where historian Patty Limerick and author-photographer John Fielder will join in the storytelling. Moth storytellers from New York featured on the tour include Cindy Chupack, Steve Osborne, OT Powell, Michaela Murphy and Edgar Oliver.
The Out on a Limb tour will take a break following the Denver event, returning in February 2007 for performances in Miami (as the opening-night attraction for the prestigious South Beach Festival of the Arts), Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Folks from around the country can tell their own stories as part of the “What’s Your Story?” online competition, which started yesterday. Storytellers can submit their personal, true video stories about risk-taking or being “Out on a Limb.” Stories will be evaluated by representatives of The Moth, with the best tales uploaded to The Moth’s MySpace profile (http://www.myspace.com/mothstories). For two weeks, MySpace visitors will be able to view the posted stories and vote on their favorite. The winner of the online competition will receive a trip for two to New York to attend a live Moth event.
The Moth was founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to re-create the feeling of community from his youth in Georgia when moths would be drawn to the porch light as he and his friends told stories. The first Moth events began in his New York City living room and quickly spread to larger venues throughout Manhattan. Today, The Moth’s work includes bi-weekly Moth StorySLAMS and a storytelling outreach program for youth groups and adults in rehabilitation programs.
