“The power of story” is one of those phrases that sounds overly sentimental and cliché…but is undeniably true. It’s hard to articulate precisely why we love stories so much, but every human with a heart knows the experience of being completely enthralled by a well-strung yarn, whether it’s told through film, on TV or in person. And the only thing better than taking it all in is getting to judge it afterwards.
Alison Hagan loves stories. And so does her sister Susan, who started Story Slam Edmonton in 2006. When Susan left town a few years later, Alison took over, and has helped people slam their stories into eager audience members’ faces ever since.
“We’re a non-profit that runs every third Wednesday of the month out of 99ten. Other story slams don’t allow people to bring written paper on stage, but we’re not as hardcore as that. We just ask people not to have props, that the story is original and unpublished, and it can’t go over five minutes. If they go over five, it’s a penalty. If it’s over seven minutes, there’s a gong and we kick you off stage. There’s no censorship — that’s very important to us — but we do ask people to be respectful when they tell their stories.”
The “penalty” comes as a docking of scores, which come from the audience judges, who are picked just as randomly as the storytellers themselves. “We do have a maximum number of storytellers,” Hagan says. “So if over 10 people have signed up to tell a story, we draw names. So there’s no guarantee that everyone will get to tell a story that evening.”
But there is a guarantee it will be interesting. Hagan says the stories vary wildly, from amusing childhood anecdotes, to drunken adult adventures. “Some people share their mistakes, some are very funny. Some are heartwarming, some are sad or angry. And we even have some sci-fi in there. It just depends on the storyteller.”
Standing up and sharing a story, personal or not, can be very intimidating for the uninitiated. So while anyone is free to throw their name in the literal hat, Hagan recommends Story Slam first-timers sit back and enjoy — and even judge, if they want to.
“It’s $5 for a registration fee to sign up to tell your story, which we use for admin fees. But there’s no fee to attend, we just ask you donate if you can, and support 99ten by having a drink. At the halfway point, we pass the hat around and all that money goes to the winner.”
Being a few days before Christmas, the December 20 event will have a festive feel with some extra prizes, but as always, all stories are welcome. “I love Story Slam,” Hagan gushes, “because it’s an opportunity for people to come together to share their stories, to be part of the community. They get to share a powerful story that’s been building inside of them, and be part of something bigger than themselves.”
Have a slam tonight (Dec. 20), 7:30 at 99ten.
