CANTON — The coolest and hottest weekend tickets are to the The Howl Grand Slam at St. Lawrence University on Saturday, Jan. 20. from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Howl is a collaboration between North Country Public Radio and the Adirondack Center for Writing.
Admission is $15 in advance (adirondackcenterforwriting.org) and $20 at the door.
“This is our Grand Slam, which means that the winners from all the open mics from the whole year are invited to tell a story onstage in the theater at St. Lawrence in Canton,” Nathalie Thill, ACW executive director, said.
“It’s really a special night because the open mics always takes place very specifically in bars, in very informal settings, because we’re always trying to reach the broadest possible audience and new storytellers or people who don’t even think of themselves as being storytellers. We give them the space and opportunity to tell their stories in a very, very low-key bar environment.
“But then when they win, we elevate their storytelling and we give them an opportunity to tell it in a theater setting. So, we’re really sort of validating their experiences and saying, okay, your stories are important to us. We met you in a bar, but here, now, we are going to put you on this stage in this theater and we are going to hear a longer story from you and a more crafted story from you. That’s why it’s special.”
The Grand Slam is also special because it’s the only time where storytellers from across the region appear on one stage.
“All the open mics are usually from the community, right?” Thill said.
“So the Grand Slam is where all of these people come from all over the region, and they share their stories together in one space. Then, the audience is always made up of people from all over as well. So that’s a lot of fun.”
Last year’s Grand Slam in Saranac Lake attracted 500 attendees.
“A friend of mine was in the audience, and they were talking to the people,” Thill said.
“She said the person sitting next to her was from Wadhams, and the people sitting on the other side of her were from Old Forge. That’s just the kind of audience that you’ll find. People coming from the whole region to support these storytellers. So, it’s a really special night. I would say it’s the culmination of a community of storytelling that’s a year in the making.”
Event organizers hosted 12 open mics in 2023.
Winning storytellers from this year’s slams will compete head-to-head, telling stories in line with this year’s theme, Achilles Heel. The storytellers are: Linda McKenny of Saratoga Springs, Philip Kokotailo of Potsdam, Johanna Martin of Saratoga Springs, Carrie Woodcock of Morristown, Jen Signell of Newcomb, Joe Conto of Lake Placid, Dakin Henderson of Tupper Lake, and Silas Smith of Potsdam.
Thill offers optional coaching to any of the storytellers.
“I would say of the eight storytellers, I have helped coach maybe six of them in various degrees,” she said.
“Some of them have asked, ‘I would like to tell my story to you so that I can get the kinks out.’ Some people had trouble deciding which story to go with. Some of them felt they had a story, but they needed to work it out a little bit. So all stages of the storytelling coaching I’ve done. It’s been a real joy for me. I love teaching storytelling, and I love coaching. This year, I’ve coached a lot of them. It’s been really, really wonderful.”
Opening and closing stories will be delivered by Mitch Teich, NCPR station manager, and Thill.
“The both of us always tell a story, and then we have eight competing storytellers, but then we have two guest storytellers who are past Grand Slam competitors,” she said.
“They’re not going to be competing in this Grand Slam, but there is more of a showcase. We have a total of 12 storytellers, but eight of them are competing to be the Grand Slam winner.
“At every open mike and Grand Slam, I will tell a story and Mitch will always tell a story, which we do for different reasons. The first story of the night is really hard to tell because the room is not ready, so we kind of take that hit. The last story we always tell because that’s when the judges are deciding on who won, so we’ll tell a story to fill that time. So he and I always tell stories at these events.”