Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "I had never pretended to be a woman until the presidential election of 2008 ..."
With that opening line, David Harris-Gershon went on to wow the audience at Pittsburgh's first Moth GrandSLAM storytelling championship last month and won. His story related his unorthodox approach in canvassing for Barack Obama in adult romance chat rooms.
He was among 10 previous winners of the year-old monthly storytelling event who competed for the Big Kahuna on Jan. 17 at the New Hazlett Theater. Participants must recite true stories without notes and are limited to five minutes. "It's pure storytelling," he said.
2 comments:
David Harris-Gershon truly is a person of interest, he was a good choice to feature. Stories are such a huge part of our everyday lives; they are so ingrained in everything we do that we hardly notice their importance and their constant presence. Stories come in all shapes and sizes, but they are a wonderful way of bringing people together and sharing. I would love to attend one of these storytelling events, as I am a great lover of stories and I wonder, out of the countless stories available, how and why someone decides on just the right one to tell at such an event. How do you relate to every person in the audience and make them stay engaged in short, random story?
I believe that David Harris-Gershon was a fantastic choice for this featured article. As theatre people, the story is the most essential part of our work and our life. Without the story, nothing we do would happen. We would not be able to design, we would not be able to perform, and we would not be able to direct. I am always in awe at how simple and beautiful stories can be. I'd love to see him tell stories and see how he captures the audience's attention. Emma asks a beautiful question...How do you engage every audience member?
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