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To
the Flame
‘The Moth’ Means
Stories
I think the better stories will always begin on a fire escape.
It’s all in the hands… Storytellers Andy Borowitz, in the Moth
shirt, and Jonathan Ames
By John Hood
Stories. They’re
what we tell ourselves when our selves are most telling. Tall,
short, long, however they’re cut — stories thread the very fabric of
our lives. Even in this digital day and age, stories propel, compel
and keep us out of our own little hells.
Or in them.
Take The Moth. A
collective founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Lawson Dawes,
who wanted a big city equivalent to his childhood porch light
gatherings, The Moth is now the preeminent showcase for what makes
us all.
Hipper bold-faces
such as Lili Taylor and Janeane Garofalo have shared The Moth
storytelling stage with musos like Moby and Suzanne Vega; gentlemen
litsters like Lewis Lapham and George Plimpton have found themselves
featured alongside moviemaking types like Jane Rosenthal, John
Cameron Mitchell, Peter Hedges and Doug Liman.
But The Moth is
more about the bold than the bold-faced, and stories from
pickpockets, inventors and EMS workers more often out-bold even the
most well-known names.
We caught Executive
Director Lea Thau on the eve of The Moth’s Miami debut and got her
angle on story:
Story Corps or This
American Life?
I really wouldn’t
want to live without either. It would be like choosing
between two siblings.
Readings or slams?
Well, slams, of
course. We’re all about the spoken word. We produce our own
StorySLAMs, which are raw and real and unpretentious and wildly
entertaining, and I love them.
Campfires or fire
escapes?
Fire escapes for
sure. In the early years, the press always called us New York City’s
answer to the campfire, but I think the better stories will always
begin on a fire escape.
Front porches or
back seats?
I should probably
say the front porch since The Moth was born on a porch, but now that
we’re touring, how about a front seat?
Virgil or Homer?
I’ll have to go
with Virgil since he got to guide Dante through Inferno. A hell-gig
for sure, but think of the stories!
Old wives’ tales or
fairy tales?
Old wives’ tales.
Fairy tales are about escaping from the real world; old wives’ tales
are about learning to live in it. They’re helpful, even if they’re
not true.
Rumor or innuendo?
Rumor. Innuendo is
passive-aggressive and unpoetic. The message is plain, if veiled.
Rumor is mysterious and seductive; the truth escapes us and we must
imagine it.
Best-told book?
Of all time? That’s
hard. I like books that feel like distilled truth about life. At the
moment, I’m in love with Richard Russo’s books. Great stories with
so much humanity and humor and heart.
Best-told film?
Hitchcock was a
master storyteller in his medium.
Best-told story?
I’d have to go with
one of our own. It’s difficult to choose, given the thousands of
stories The Moth has produced, but I think my all-time favorite is
one that begins with the line, “Don’t fall in love with your
monkey.” You can listen to it on our Web site,
www.themoth.org.
The Moth Story Tour
is scheduled to take place on Friday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. during the
SoBay Festival of the Arts at the Palmetto Village Bay Center, 18001
Old Cutler Road, Miami. Tickets are $40 general admission and can be
purchased by calling The Deering Estate Foundation at 305-233-5858.
Comments? E-mail
letters@miamisunpost.com.
Hood is online at
www.therealjohnhood.com. |
