Past Performers at Telling Favorites
David Barish has been telling stories around the City of Chicago since he brought one to Do Not Submit when it was at Powell’s Bookstore. Since then he has co-hosted one of those Do Not Submits in Evanston and told stories all over the area including This Much is True, Story Sessions, Homewood Stories, Is this a Thing?, Essay Fiesta, You’re Being Ridiculous, 80 Minutes Around the World, First Person Live, Backroom Stories and a host of others. He has been published in Story Club Magazine and in the anthology, Chicago Storytellers from Stage to Page. David has been watching movies for pretty much the entire pandemic, has seen The Sound of Music at least a dozen times, and still cringes when he sees the Ceti Eel inserted into Chekov’s ear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Lily Be is a Chicago West Side born and raised award-winning storyteller. She is the first Latinx winner of a Moth GrandSLAM championship and is creator and producer of Stoop Style Stories (formerly The Stoop) and senior producer at Story Collider.
Lily is a huge advocate for the marginalized, and a lot of her storytelling work is centered around helping people discover their voices and be heard. She has taught at Second City and colleges and universities worldwide. Her calling to connect and serve has been a longstanding motivation for the work that she does and continues to do. Storytelling has the power to shape, transform, and save lives and Lily Be is living proof.
See Stoopstylestories.com for more info.
Kim Blevins saw a flyer for an open mic seven years ago and knew she wanted to do that at some point even though it scared the hell out of her. Now she produces & emcees R.A.W. Adult Storytelling in Kansas City (Relaxed-Authentic-Wily … get your mind out of the gutter … but also stories are raw sometimes). Scott Whitehair’s online storytelling class propelled her to start the open mic.
A National Writing Project consultant since 2009, Kim began her freelance writing career 30 years ago. She presents on creative writing techniques for all writers, and intrepid ones are her specialty. Honors include a national APA Honorable Mention for an article on mental health in small newspapers, Springfield Business Journal’s Twenty Most Influential Women, and Missouri MSTA Secondary Teacher of the Year. She’s been an educator for twenty years at the college, high school, and middle school levels.
Erica Blumfield is a Los Angeles-based writer and storyteller who has appeared on Storytellers Project, RISK!, and NAMI Washington’s The Brainpower Chronicles. Her storytelling has received press in the L.A. Times and the Ventura County Star. When not telling stories, Erica is helping other people craft theirs. To check out Erica’s work and more, visit EricaBlumfield.com.
Jennifer Boxrud. Born and raised in Texas, Jen fled to Colorado where she majored in journalism and skied down mountains badly. She’s performed improv at Laugh Out Loud Theater and the Chicago Improv Festival. In her spare time, she makes sock puppets and puts googly eyes on produce (it’s Covid times; things are weird). Jen has told stories at Soul Stories Live, Do Not Submit, Story Lab, and Bug House Theater. She loves sharing how life is funny, even when it’s not.
Jesse Bradley is the author of Teenage Wasteland: An American Love Story (Whiskey Tit Books). His stories have been featured on RISK! and the National Storytelling Network. Check out his comics on Instagram @questionabledecisioncomics.
Silvana Clark’s philosophy is, “Say yes and figure it out afterward.” This has led her to writing 12 books, training her dog to star in TV commercials, and marketing 200,000 novelty PANIC computer keys. Happily married for 44 years, Silvana and her husband love to housesit around the world. While not a great cook, she’s recently mastered the art of sprouting alfalfa seeds.
Ashton Cynthia Clarke (@ashton.c.clarke) began storytelling in 2019. She has appeared at live venues throughout the Los Angeles area, in New York City, and virtually. Most notably, she has told for Risk! Live and the podcast; Story Salon, the longest running storytelling venue in Southern California; and Shoot ‘Em Up, where her story inspired a short film.
Ashton developed an animated short based on her telling of a family member’s life in Jamaica: “Titta and the Mango.” She also creates videos melding art, deep house music, and Scripture readings. Visit her YouTube channel and have a listen!
Originally from New York City, Ashton now resides near the foothills of the national forest in the Los Angeles area, where she was not surprised to discover a bear in her swimming pool one sweltering summer afternoon.
Ray Christian is a retired decorated U.S. Army paratrooper and combat veteran, Doctor of Education, Fulbright Specialist expert in Education and Storytelling Narrative, and former adjunct professor teaching African American History and Storytelling at Appalachian State University. He was selected as the 2017 Serenbe France Focus Storytelling Fellow (Atlanta, GA) and has performed on the NSF New Voices stage and at numerous storytelling festivals around the country. His stories have appeared in Reader’s Digest’s 2016 Best Stories in America and 2017 American Heroes editions. As a competitive storyteller, Ray is a 12-time Moth StorySLAM champion and winner of the 2016 National Storytelling Festival Story Slam. His stories have been featured multiple times on the Moth Radio Hour, Snap Judgment, and Back Story Radio, as well as on the Spooked, Story Collider, AdultISH, The Confessional, and RISK! podcasts, among many others. He resides in the remote mountains of Watauga County, NC, where he hosts and produces the What’s Ray Saying podcast, a show that uses history and story to explores the Black American experience from a unique perspective.
Jo Dellapina is a Los Angeles-based actor. She has studied at LAMDA in London, UCB in Hollywood, and UCLA in, well, LA. She is passionate about sharing stories, tiki culture, drag queens, and following Paul McCartney around the world. She lives near the beach with her schnauzer, Yeti.
Suzy Dritz lives in Homewood with her trophy husband and two ugly dogs. Together they have three daughters and three grandsons. She is a member of the Chicago Heights Drama Group and in her spare time knits functional objects from her vast collection of yarn.
Kelli Dunham is the ex-nun nonbinary storytelling nerd comic so common in modern Brooklyn. Kelli has appeared on Showtime and the Discovery Channel, the Moth Mainstage, and at colleges, fundraisers, and the occasional livestock auction. Kelli is the author of seven books including the best-selling Boy’s Body Book and a collection of tragic-comic essays, Freak of Nurture. Kelli was nominated as a 2105 White House Champion of Change for her work as the co-founder and producer of Queer Memoir, NYC’s LGBT storytelling event. Kelli is currently booking a queer comedy in faith communities tour. Get in touch with a booking idea or a better name for the tour!
Réka Ehrentreu is originally from Peoria, Illinois, the home of the mysterious “Crying Pig” statue and the birthplace of Richard Pryor. After an extensive Catholic education and a fear of being on stage, she broke away from both at the age of eighteen. She attended SIU-Carbondale’s Radio-TV Production program and DePaul University’s MFA in Screenwriting program. She’s dabbled in stand-up comedy, auditioning for Zanies in 2018, storytelling at Louder Than a Mom, and memoir writing. Her screenplays “Mom and Pop Rock,” “The Truth Hurts,” and “Mama Charlotte” have been finalists in various screenwriting competitions over the last few years.
Réka believe every woman has a story. Women should embrace their life experiences and not be afraid to find and use their voices. When not working full time, she enjoys baking, photography, meditation, and silent films. She currently resides in Rockford, Illinois, the land of Cheap Trick and is working on a comedic limited series.
Randy Ford is a freelance writer and storytelling strategist who helps nonprofits, small businesses, and families understand, capture, and share the most important parts of their stories. He founded First Story Strategies in 2016 after moving to Chicago from Washington, D.C., where he worked for a member of Congress and consulted for government communicators. Before that, he was a reporter in his home state of Tennessee.
James Gordon is an international award winning author and poet, champion storyteller, and acclaimed actor. He can be seen on Wednesday nights on Chicago Med as Kent Taylor and on Amazon and Tubi as Detective Smiley on The G.
Hears Crow (Nootauau Kaukôntuah – “She Hears it from him, the Crow“) is a woman of the Eastern Woodlands who lives her life in the tradition of the Nanhigganêuck, the people known today as the Narragansett. She is a Storyteller of Longhouse Tales, told in many different ways, including Native Sign Language, call and response, and other traditional styles. Hears Crow has twice been awarded publishing contracts for her book of poetry and is currently completing a Native children’s novel. She is the Vermont State Liason to the National Storytelling Network, a Youth Storyteller Mentor through the Artists Standing Strong Together organization (ASST) and also a Guest Teacher at the Transformation Storytelling School. She brings to life these oral traditions at libraries, schools, community centers, Indigenous gatherings, and wherever the stories lead her. As a kuhkootomwehteaen (one who shares knowledge) with more than thirty five years of storytelling in different styles, she shares the culture of the Longhouse People through their stories.
Jitesh Jaggi is a recent immigrant from India, currently living in Chicago. He ended his career in Finance one day when he lost all his data that he forgot to save on an Excel sheet, and realized that he just didn’t care. That tipping point led to him becoming a writer and he is currently working on a book of essays. A two-time Moth StorySLAM winner and a producer for the Story Collider, he also coaches individual and corporate clients in telling their stories. You can reach out to him at jaggi.jitesh@gmail.com. He loves writing bios because he can refer to himself in the third person. Jitesh can be easily bribed with books and chocolates.
Donna Joyce is a writer and storyteller who is a “cheerleader” for creativity, community, and healthy personal boundaries. She believes these can lift us up, help us to feel whole, solve our problems, big and small, and change the world in beautiful and necessary ways.
She is a native of New York living in Richmond, VA, with her husband of 20 years, her two children ages 17 and 12, and bunnies named Bee and Puppycat. She loves to dance, travel, eat amazing food, hang out at the beach, and create whatever is next.
Joyce claimed the identity of artist in 2011, after knowing she is a writer since age 7, and is actively dreaming into reality her personal journey, reclaiming herself, her creativity, and her humanity. April 2022 was her first performance of her debut one-person show about her creative journey, When I Grow Up…. She hopes to travel with it and perform in all the places where she met so many wonderful creative people via Zoom during the pandemic. She is currently writing a memoir, sharing stories, and creating a new show focused on stories around pregnancy and birth.
Maria Kostas has been working with people for over 50 years. She has witnessed, listened to, and lived many stories. Currently she works as a trainer and bartender, and she teaches psychic meditation. In her direct Chicago style she mixes wit and wisdom, and sometimes a bit of magic. She has been featured at Louder Than A Mom, Outspoken, Voice Box, Story Lab, Stand and Deliver, Filet of Solo, and Universal Sound Studios.
Lindsey Lange-Abramowitz is a teacher of English, a teller of stories, and a chaser of two small children who call her Mama. When not teaching, telling, or chasing, she’s likely eating cheese. Lindsey is a three-time Moth StorySLAM winner and a resident of the best borough in all of New York City (Queens).
Zach Lennon-Simon is a filmmaker and storyteller who was born & raised in Brooklyn, NY. He has told stories for many different shows such as Kvetching & Kvelling, Everything is Bad, Beaver Helmet, and The Teacher’s Lounge. In his spare time, he tries his best to sing both parts of Judy & Bab’s “Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again” medley.
Nina Lesiga from Connecticut has appeared on PBS’s Stories from the Stage, Generation Women, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas Festival, and Artists Standing Strong Together. Nina hosts the Bridgeport Art Trail Storytelling Exchange and is a PechaKucha Night Bridgeport organizer (visual storytelling.)
She loves facilitating public participatory art events by bringing loaner ukuleles into public spaces and inviting strangers to strum along with her. Drawing from her tap dancing percussion skills, Nina leads flower pot music making groups on Make Music Day.
Debi Lewis is the author of Kitchen Medicine: How I Fed My Daughter Out of Failure to Thrive and has written for outlets including The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Huffington Post, Romper, and Wired. You can learn more about her at www.debilewis.com and follow her on Twitter at @growthesunshine.
Cara Lopez Lee is the author of the memoir They Only Eat Their Husbands and a winner of the Moth StorySLAM. She shares her personal stories in many shows, including Unheard L.A., Strong Words, and Storytellers Project. Her stories have also appeared in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, The Manifest-Station, and Writing for Peace. Cara and her husband live in Ventura, California, where they enjoy tending their backyard’s Certified Wildlife Habitat full of hummingbirds.
Joe Mallon attended North Central College in Naperville, IL, where he ran cross country and track. Any success he’s had in life is due to the love and caring he learned at this wonderful liberal arts college. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee, and he is Chair of the Audit Committee.
Prior to his early retirement, Joe was a partner at one of the world’s largest multinational accounting and consulting firms, where he helped the world be safe for those who wanted to reduce their taxes by any means possible. Now he is Head Sprints Coach for the girls track and field team at a Catholic college prep school in the Chicago area.
Joe loves Bruce Springsteen and considers him a musical genius. In his spare time, he enjoys sitting in a French café, sipping a nice espresso. Most importantly, he has four wonderful children and a wonderful wife, all of whom he loves very much.
Lyssa Mandel is a writer, actor, comedian, and storyteller based in New York (for now, though wanderlust is always lurking). Her long-running podcast “The Bitch Seat,” a comedy/therapy talk show about the universal vulnerability of youth, has been featured on This American Life, in LA Weekly, TimeOut NY, Los Angeles Magazine, and many others. It ran live for five years at theaters on both coasts. She currently hosts “What’s Betwixt Us,” a podcast about empathy at work, for the startup zanie, an app for Slack designed to build trust and authentic connection in remote workspaces. She loves tomatoes, the desert, and deep conversation.
Betsey Manzoni grew up in Joliet, IL, where her vivid imagination supplied the neighborhood kids with endless adventures. She is a piano-playing, story-writing, comedy-adoring, LOVER OF LIFE. Betsey has told stories at Homewood Stories, This Much is True, Soul Stories Live, 2nd Story, Story Lab, and Do Not Submit.
Briane Nasimok has had an eclectic career in the arts or, as his uncle describes it, “can not keep a job”. During University he appeared with the Canadian Opera Company as a supernumerary, mutely moving furniture, delivering food, and carrying out corpses. He transitioned to stand-up, sketch, improv, and film and television acting before a monthly mortgage forced him get a paying job: writing and producing television in Toronto.
A decade ago he returned to performing, now as a storyteller, and created two solo shows, “Confessions of an Operatic Mute” and “Now Where Was I?” He co-produces and co-hosts the monthly But That’s Another Story.
Lupe Nuñez is a proud husband and father, 22q and homeschool dad, and first generation Mexican-Chicagoan who makes video games by day and tells stories by night. He’s spent the last few years bringing his style of storytelling to many shows and venues all across the city and suburbs, including shows like Story Lab, This Much Is True, and The Evanston Public Library Storytelling Festival, to name just a few. He thoroughly enjoys crafting a story and getting up in front of an audience to share that moment together.
Stan Osowiecki, while a bit reserved and shy in real life, has always had an inner desire to be a performer. Growing up, his passion was music. From the time he got his first records, Stan loved making mix tapes and this led him to become a college radio DJ. His passion for performing continued as a side job for many years after college as a DJ for weddings and parties. As with many people, work, family, and life in general took main stage for Stan. Things changed when he began attending improv shows at Laugh Out Loud Schaumburg and receiving positive feedback the times he volunteered as an audience participant… and a new interest began to grow. While not much good came out of the pandemic, it did provide Stan with the opportunity to take online comedy, creativity, and storytelling classes, and his desire to perform has once again grown. When not performing comedy or storytelling, Stan can be found at Citi Field cheering on his beloved New York Mets, rooting for the Chicago Bears, tracking his life on spreadsheets, searching for sea glass on the beaches of Milford, Connecticut, or making license plate signs.
James R. Petersen was the sex and adventure editor for Playboy magazine for almost 40 years: “ I wrote about sex when sex was new, when it was something you did in person.” Now retired, he discovered live storytelling in late 2017, and has since performed at over 40 Moth StorySLAMS in Chicago, three Grand Slams, countless Do Not Submit open mics and at various bars and galleries around Chicago (some of which were actually hosting events.) On stage, he performs barefoot. On Zoom, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
Barbara Peterson is a native of Chicago, born and raised mostly on the South Side. She graduated from the University of AZ with a B.A. in psychology, and did some graduate work at Tulane. After realizing that a life in academia wasn’t for her, she moved to the French Quarter and worked at some awesome hotels and restaurants for 12 years. But she missed Chicago and returned to pursue a variety of different vocations, including stock options trader, backyard nature store manager, product designer, and genealogist. She was blessed to have met and married a great guy, who unfortunately died of lymphoma at way too young an age. Since 2016, she has immersed herself in singing, improv, acting, voice over, and storytelling.
Richard Pniewski is a retired award-winning English and Drama teacher. He also has directed plays for Artcraft Theatre in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood and, more recently, for Evergreen Park’s Candlelight Theatre. After years of appreciating the storytelling stage at the annual Fox Valley Folk Festival in Geneva, Illinois, he finally decided to join the storytelling community. He has appeared at the Illinois Storytelling Open Mike, Do Not Submit, Story Lab, Homewood Stories,Inspired! Live Lit and The Back Room. He is the co-host of Do Not Submit in Homewood and is a Moth winner.
Jameer Pond. The award-winning host, producer, and interviewer has been creating digital content for 10+ years. Over the course of his career, he has steadily built upon that potential and hosted hit programs and events with some of the entertainment industry’s top networks and publications, including but not limited to Starz hit series Power, BET, MTV, Buzzfeed, NBC and more. Jameer’s witty commentary and silly, intellectual, passionate, and vulnerable attributes have attributed to him catapulting full force into what is now a successful career as an award-winning digital producer and visual media maven. Pond recently added the title Director to his wheelhouse after accepting a job at Condé Nast, where he serves as a creative video director. He’s directed series featuring Matt Damon, Issa Rae and Spike Lee to name a few.
Jameer’s knack to develop complex, diverse, and captivating story lines and angles and ability to engage with various audiences allows him the opportunity to continue to become the award-winning producer he has always known he would become. Whether it’s hosting, interviewing, directing, producing or developing content, Jameer has the know-how for establishing innovative ideas that will provoke thought for any audience with varying perspectives of what creativity looks like.
Steve Rashid is an Emmy winning composer, a performer, producer, radio host and recording engineer. For as long as he can remember music has been the driving force in his life, whether listening to it, creating it, recording it, spending time with other musicians or presenting musicians onstage. Hopefully somewhere in all of that there is a decent story.
Liz Reeves is a recent empty nester with too much time on her hands. Prior to the pandemic, she worked as a freelance documentary producer and writer for WTTW-Channel 11. While her documentary work has primarily focused on art and architecture, her predilection is for more human-centric storytelling. A penchant for social justice has led her most recently to join others in helping to settle Afghan refugees arriving here in Chicago. On that note, she hopes you enjoy this particular story relating to her experiences with refugees.
Bridget Schank. Rabble-rouser, community builder, nonprofit fundraiser, and storyteller. Bridget loves to travel but hates to pack, played women’s football at Notre Dame, and bakes a mean strawberry rhubarb pie. Bridget has performed at First Person Live, The Moth StorySLAM, Truth Be Told, Story Sessions, Fillet of Solo, Soul Stories, and Universal Sound. Bridget lives in Arlington Heights with her husband Tim, daughter, Gracie, son, Jack, and her aggressively affectionate golden retriever, Corby.
Mike Speller is semi-retired but he’s always “Going Places” – he’s visited 49 of our 50 states. He’s been featured at the LaCrosse, Fox Valley, and Ray Bradbury Festivals. Locally, he’s performed with Back Room Stories, Voice Box, and Homewood Stories. This summer he’s online sharing a Fringe show, “Worst Cruises Ever!” And if you’ve got a free ticket to Hawaii…
Tracey Starin is a storyteller and writer from NYC. She has appeared on the RISK! podcast (Best of, #17), Queens Theatre’s YouTube show, “Queens Storytellers,” and Soul Stories Live. She is the creator and producer of Dead Rock Stars and Riding the Rails storytelling shows at QED in Astoria, Queens.
Aditya Surendran is a lawyer/comedian/storyteller who had the surreal experience of growing up Indian and nerdy in Edison, New Jersey. His stories chronicle these mundane suburbs in an attempt to find laughs and some deep meaning—though deep meaning is optional.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign, in 2021, Aditya used this community backing to fully self-publish CheeseDosa: The Book!, a 300-page collection of 23 true short stories. Themes include the search for identity as someone not quite Indian and not quite American, unrequited love, and of course Domino’s pizza arbitrage. CheeseDosa stories have been featured on or won competitions for The Moth stage, Stories from the Stage, Risk!, Story Collider, and a number of near and dear NYC live venues.
Aditya’s clearly writing in the third person. So if you’ve gotten this far, this egomaniac wants to let you know that he loves you very much for it.
Paul Teodo is a retired healthcare executive. He is the author of 2 novels, PASTAMAN and Call Me Z, both available on Amazon. Paul has been telling stories in and around Chicago the past ten years. He is a multiple Moth StorySLAM and GrandSLAM winner. Most importantly however, Paul is a first time grandpa to Lucca Sparrow Teodo.
Jessica Winowich (Jess) lives in Columbus, Georgia with her little dog Bogart. She studied Theatre Education at Columbus State University. Jess has worked in advocacy for people with Disabilities as well as being a caregiver for her mom. Currently she is a Community organizer. She is also an active member of New Hope Presbyterian Church where she serves on multiple committees, and has the true joy of writing and directing plays for the Children and Youth. Jess has been an actor, poet, writer, and comedian. She greatly enjoys storytelling and is happily following this path.
Aida Zilelian is a first generation American-Armenian educator, writer, and literary organizer from Queens, NY. She is the author of The Legacy of Lost Things, which was the recipient of the 2014 Tololyan Literary Award. Aida has been featured on NPR, The Huffington Post, Kirkus Reviews, Poets & Writers, and various reading series throughout Queens and Manhattan. Her short story collection These Hills Were Meant for You was shortlisted for the 2018 Katherine Anne Porter Award. Aida is also the founder and curator of Boundless Tales, one of the first reading series in Queens, NY.