True Stories Told Live Toronto

True Stories Told Live July was HEAVING!

L-R: Chloe Creavalle, Teagan Gacuk, Alicia Cox Thomson, Sage Tyrtle, Chris Budd, Marsha Shandur

Everyone was squeezed into The Common and, after some technical hitches, we began the stories unusually un-amplified. Thankfully, the massive crowd did a perfect job of being completely silent in the quiet bits (though still laughing and gasping in all the right places). Added to this, low lighting that night meant we all felt quite a lot like we were around a camp fire. (This has given me plans to do a TSTL around the fire pit in Dufferin Grove next summer. I’ll keep you posted!)

Chloe Creavalle kicked off with a beautifully moving story about how the death of her parent’s parent – specifically her mum’s dad – made her see her ma in a completely different light. No longer just Mother and Provider, but now Daughter, Wife, Woman.

Alicia Cox Thomson then took us to Rome and a school theatre trip, where her bunch of teenagers in black unitards almost got arrested for reenacting the book of genesis (X begat Y births and all). Totally odd and totally hilarious.

Chris Budd then had us in stitches and swooning, as he told us how he proposed to his (now) wife, and almost had her fall out with her own mother in the process. Although not a musician by trade, he was our musical turn for the night, as part of the proposal involved a ukelele, an ipod with a backing track he’d sung himself, and some new lyrics to an old song. I strongly suggest you look at his (brilliant, by the way) new music blog, indiemusicfilter.com and you can find his fantastic music publishing company Bearsuit at bearsuitpublishing.com.

After the break, Teagan Gacuk made us all clutch our hearts in empathy at her story of how mean elementary friends can be, then punch the air as she triumphed through, and eventually realised it was the best thing that could have happened. You can find Teagan – and learn how to pronounce her last name – at rhymeswithclassic.com.

Finally, the lady I always call “Sort of the Queen Of Storytelling in Toronto – except she’s much too nice and normal to be a Queen”, Sage Tyrtle made us gasp, laugh, cry, and then cheer so loudly that strangers looked in from the street, as she told us about a love story, played out through the early days of the internet, and still going strong today. You can find out more about Sage at www.tyrtle.com and, if you like storytelling, you MUST do her BRILLIANT (and very reasonably priced) workshop. Next one is September 21st, find out more HERE.

The night was hosted by me, Marsha Shandur. You can find out what else I do (and how to network in a way that’s actually fun) at yesyesmarsha.com.

Thank you SO much to all the turns, and to you if you came and were one of the fantastic audience members.

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The next show is

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25th, 7.30-9.30pm.
The Common, College (by Dufferin)
Free entry.

If last month was anything to go by, I’d recommend dropping by early if you want a seat.

If you feel like you have a story in you, I’d love to hear from you. Just drop me an email to truestoriestoronto@gmail.com

Marsha

Enjoy a summer evening in a gentle fashion, with five more True Stories, this Wednesday 31st July.

Free entry. Booze bar + the best coffee in Toronto available before the show and during the break.

Night starts 7.30pm, stories start 8pm sharp, whole thing finished by 9.30pm (you can be in bed by 10).

Weds July 31st @ The Common, 1071 College St
(by Dufferin)

Turns for this month:

Chris Budd
Alicia Cox Thomson
Chloe Creavalle
Teagan Gacuk
Sage Tyrtle
Hosted by me, Marsha Shandur

See you then!

https://www.facebook.com/events/348060301993295/

Third one’s a charm. We had a great show for June!

L-R: Michael Holt, Maia Kareda, Jenn Thomson Alex Crawford, Becky Bays, Marsha Shandur

Jenn Thomson managed to make us gasp AND laugh with a beautiful tale of two pregnancies. Alex Crawford reminded us that, when someone in unrequited love says, “Can we still be friends?” the answer should almost always be, “Probably not”. Especially when you’re an atheist and she’s deeply religious. Our musical turn Michael Holt’s story took us from New York, to Liege, Brussels, Toronto, and then back to Liege, causing him to lose and then re-find his love of music along the way. You can hear more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/michael-holt

Maia Kareda had us on the edge of our seats (whilst giggling), with the mystery of a disappearing alluring Auroran. Our final turn was comedian Becky Bays, who had me doing ugly honking laughter, as she told us all about her old boyfriend (who she’d never actually met), and how he spiced up a screening of ‘Titanic’. “SHIPS GOING DOOOOOOOOOOOWN!”. You can find out more about Becky on her website: http://www.beckybays.com

The host for the night was, as ever, me, Marsha Shandur.

Thanks so much for coming along. As the “free entry” suggest, I run this night for the love of it – and a lot of why I love it, is because you’re such a warm, receptive, audience of great listeners.
The next True Stories Told Live Toronto will be THIS MONTH – Wednesday July 31st, 7.30-9.30pm at The Common.

If you think you might have a story to tell – even if you’ve never done anything like this in your life before – I’d love to hear from you.

I’ll meet up with you beforehand to go through a story or two, you’ll have plenty of time to rehearse, and it will be a lovely experience for you, I promise.
Just drop me, Marsha, a line at truestoriestoronto@gmail.com. The nights tend to get booked up months in advance, so you’ll have a lot of time to think about it.

If you’re on facebook, please come and join our group: facebook.com/groups/truestoriestoronto

See you on the 31st!

xMarsha

Photo by Clare Samuel. Find her brilliant (and normally more professional – I cajoled her into doing this one on an iPhone) pictures at http://claresamuel.com

What a lovely night last Wednesday was!

L-R: Michael Thorner, Djordje Krstich, Kate Hodgson, Chris Ryan Graham, Marsha Shandur, Claire.

By happy co-incidence, each of the stories was wildly different from the next, and all of them wonderful. Djordje Krstich had an action-packed – and, frankly, a bit terrifying – story about a first meeting with the supplier for his Ipanema Valley company*. Kate Hodgson told us about a surprisingly moving episode, where she wrestled Russian lady bodyguards, to get a book signed by Mikhail Gorbachev. She would love you to check out her next Public Speaking workshop here. Our official musical turn of the evening was Michael Thorner, who told a story about (and then played) the most densely chorded song I’ve ever heard, ‘Til I Die by Brian Wilson. It was instrumental (pardon the pun) to Michael’s growth as a musician, and you can hear a version of it Michael recorded here. Gorgeous stuff.

After the break, Chris Ryan Graham shared a beautifully sad and thought-provoking family story, which taught us that you should never assume you know how happy someone is, based only on your own expectations. You can find the peacefully minimalist website for his company here. The evening was rounded off by Claire, who had us snorting with laughter at her recollection of trying to woo an unrequited university love by singing him a song she’d written him, on stage, even though she’s not a singer.
Although, a quick poll that I ran after she finished, showed that most of us in the room agreed that the snatch of that song she played us was genuinely brilliant. Maybe we would have felt differently, were we the object of her affections, age 19, in a sticky bar.

I was so happy to see a lot of new faces at this month’s show! If you haven’t already, you can sign up to the mailing list to hear about upcoming shows in advance. I promise you’ll only get one or two emails a month from me.

The next two shows are on June 26th and July 31st at . I’m still looking for a musician for June and July, and for two non-musician story-tellers for July. If you think you might have a story to tell – even if you’ve never done anything like this in your life before – I’d love to hear from you. I’ll meet up with you beforehand to go through a story or two, you’ll have plenty of time to rehearse, and it will be a lovely experience for you, I promise.
Just drop me, Marsha, a line at truestoriestoronto@gmail.com

Thanks for being interested in TSTLTO. It really is an utter joy to run and to go to.

Until next time,

Marsha
Host and Head of True Stories Told Live Toronto

[*As an Editor’s note, I’d like to tell you, off the record, that the banana brownies they sell are insanely addictive]

Hello,

If you’re free next Wednesday (24th), I’d love to have you along to True Stories Told Live at The Common.

It’s a sweet little night, entertaining and warm. If you don’t know anyone else going, you won’t be alone. If you like, do come and introduce yourself to me (Marsha).
Because The Common is so small, it’s probably worth getting there early so you can get a seat. It’s the sort of place where you can comfortably chat with friends, or read a book, until the action starts at 8pm.

The format is: 3 stories; 15 minute break; 2 stories. Full official details:

True Stories Told Live The Common
1071 College St, M6H 4B5 (416) 546-7789
Free admission
Wednesday 24th April, 7.30-9.30pm
Stories start 8pm sharp. Latecomers admitted very quietly.

If you’re on Facebook, you can “join” the event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/230698287055385/?fref=ts

or join the group here:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/truestoriestoronto

Hopefully see you next Wednesday!

Thanks,

Marsha

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L-R: Rachael Cardiello, Martha O’Neill, Rob Schulz, Marsha Shandur, Jonathan Ackerley, Joanne Swisterski

We had a very special and lovely launch night down at The Common.

Jonathan Ackerley told a hilarious and very visual story about the social dangers of an Alaskan fishing trip. Rob Schulz followed with a wise cautionary tale from the Snowmageddon of earlier in the month, in which we learnt that, when choosing a snow-ploughing company – especially if you’re a multi-national corporation – don’t go with the lowest bidder. Our first ever musical turn was the awesome Rachael Cardiello, who talked about vacationing on small-town New Jersey beach, where she and her family were the whitest/most sunburnt people there. She then sang the beautiful accompanying song, an apology to any children she might have – both about global warming and the quality of skin they would inherit. You can hear more of her music, and keep up with her movements on her website.

Joanne Swisterski kicked off the second half, with some undisputed proof that an overwhelming admiration for Douglas Coupland can make even the most law-abiding citizen get into mischief. The night was perfectly brought to a close by brilliant stand up comedian Martha O’Neill, telling us about a teenage encounter she had with James Brown – actual James Brown – and some sweaty clowns. You can find out more about her and upcoming shows on her website.

The host for the night was Marsha Shandur.

Thank you very much to all of you who came down. The next True Stories Told Live Toronto will be on Wednesday April 24th at The Common. If you think you’d like to tell a story at a future TSTL night – even if you’ve never done anything like this before – please get in touch: truestoriestoronto@gmail.com

If you’re on facebook, please come and join our group: facebook.com/groups/truestoriestoronto

True Stories Told Live is a simple idea. A bunch of people having a drink in a small room, listening to other people telling true stories.

It’s not comedy, though it’s allowed to be funny. It’s not educational, but you might learn something. It’s not musical, but we like to include the odd story-telling musician.

Because we ask people not to use notes, we’d expect those stories to be about themselves. You might even want to have a go at it yourself. Think you can? Get in touch if you want to know more. truestoriestoronto@gmail.com

Find out about upcoming shows, with our monthly email

Please visit our Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/truestoriestoronto

“Life-changing…Going to True Stories Told Live is like being at a party where, at the end of the evening, you will feel nourished by uncommonly good company, without being obliged to sing for your supper.”

– The Guardian, UK