Recorded at Pour One Out at Volumes Bookstore in Chicago, IL on April 11, 2018.
"My mother set out to out-party, out-glitter, and over all out-do anybody at any expense, and...she did not realize that I was not on board for the spectacle that she planned to make of me.”
Recorded at The Inaugural Asheville Moth Grand Slam at the Diana Wortham TheatrE in Asheville, NC on October 30, 2017.
“This is The South, and this is one of those 'Southern thangs' I will never be able to embrace. Like okra or sweet tea or not using turn signals.”
Recorded at Gotham Storytelling Festival's Dead Parents Club at the Kraine Theater in New York City on November 5, 2017.
“You know that when you want a hug from me, you can just put your arms out. But you need to learn that when you want a hug from your father, you should just put your hand out.”
RECORDED AT LISTEN TO THIS AT 35 BELOW IN ASHEVILLE, NC ON JUNE 30, 2017. THE THEME OF THE NIGHT WAS “TAXI" STORIES.
“While my friends were out drinking away their paychecks, I charmed tips out of the Chads and Buffys staying at the Grove Park Inn through the dinner hours, sassed cash out of meatheads' hands between Scully's and the apartment complexes in South Asheville until the bars closed, and then I ran the rest of you from shady place to shady place until dawn.”
RECORDED AT THE MOTH AT THE MOTHLIGHT IN ASHEVILLE, NC ON FEBRUARY 16, 2017. THE THEME OF THE NIGHT WAS, “LOVE HURTS.”
“By then, I was literate enough in my family's argot to understand that no gesture was simple or spontaneous, that any indulgence from Dad was underwritten in a secret code I couldn't read, but when the sweaty metal touched my sweaty palm, the mystery of Dad's message began to crack…”
Recorded by The Moth at The Mothlight in Asheville, NC on December 15, 2016. The theme of the night was “Risk.”
“I took him to Times Square that night, and he turned his gaunt face up to the nourishment of the flashing lights. This self-proclaimed Vicious Monk: mesmerized by the glittering commercial paradise. The punk rock Leo let his guard completely fall down, and I got to see the modern poet in his natural habitat.”
THIS STORY MARKS MY DEBUT ON THE MOTH STAGE. RECORDED BY THE MOTH AT THE MOTHLIGHT IN ASHEVILLE, NC ON OCTOBER 20, 2016. THE THEME OF THE NIGHT WAS “BUSTED,” AND THE STORY WAS CHOSEN AS THE WINNER THAT NIGHT.
“I was 22. Adorable. Fearless. Empowered by thousands of miles of America behind me and enough arrogance to make up any difference. I was dressed in a black mini-skirt, sequined top, and leather go-go boots.”
THIS STORY MARKS MY STORYTELLING DEBUT. RECORDED BY TODD LESTER AT THE ODDITORIUM IN ASHEVILLE, NC ON MARCH 9, 2016. THE THEME OF THE NIGHT WAS “JOBS.”
“I decided to become a hospice volunteer when I realized that, for a woman in her early thirties who does not work in a morgue, an emergency room, or a homicide unit, I have witnessed and experienced an inordinate amount of death and dying.”