Rockstar Storytellers

The Ghost of Seasons Past (Show Archives)

rockstarstory — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:23:40 +0000

Each year Rockstar Storytellers produces a series of monthly shows, held in the kick-ass theater at Bryant-Lake Bowl. Each season features an overarching structure, and each show features stories that riff on a particular theme, topic or format.

Season One (2007-2008): Undressed
Because America loves clothing metaphors.

December: Liar Liar Pants on Fire: Stories of Betrayal
January: Going Bald Under My Hat: Stories of Things We Hide
February: Tore My Heart Off My Sleeve: Stories of Love and Heartbreak
March: Hot Under the Collar: Stories of Religion
April: Eat My Shorts: Stories of Anger (Mis-)Management
May: Barefoot in the Spring: Stories of Rejuvenation
June: Burning our [Collective, Metaphorical] Bra: Stories of Rebellion
July: Putting On Our Sunday Best (“Best Of Season 1″ live recording show)

Season Two (2008-2009): The Rockstar Chemistry Set
A season of experimentation: new formats, cross-discipline, and off the wall

August: An Evening of Politicization (stories of politics)
September: An Evening of Competition (storytellers voted out, reality-show-style)
October: An Evening of Harmonization (stories with music)
November: An Evening of Humiliation (Rockstar Roast)
December: An Evening of Forced Socialization (holiday party stories)
January: An Evening of Cooperation (duo and group stories)
February: An Evening of Desperation (date night and bachelor/ette story auction)
March: An Evening of Medication (stories under the influence of… various things)
April: An Evening of Versification (stories in poetry structures/verse)
May: An Evening of Inspiration (stories in the style of celebrity authors)
June: An Evening of Miniaturization (flash fiction)
July: An Evening of Best-ification (“Best Of Season 2″ live recording show)

Season Three (2009-2010): The Rockstar Bookshelf
Getting back to our literary roots with themes taken from literary genres

September: Bookshelf Sampler
October: Horror and Mystery
November: Westerns and War
December: Mythology and Fairy Tales
January: Self-Help and Reference
February: Erotica and Romance
March: Chick Lit
April: Young Adult
May: Science Fiction and Fantasy
June: Biography
July: Best Sellers (“Best Of Season 3″ live recording show)

Season Four (2010-2011): The S%#* We Wanted To Do
(“Theme? We Don’t Need No Steenking Theme!”)

September: Rockstar Sampler (Season Four Preview)
October: Ghost Story Slumber Party
November: Words + Music = Awesome
December: Rockstar Game Night
January: Rockstar + 1 (duo stories)
February: The Romantic Fun Time Sexy Naughty Show
March: Doing It Our Way (cover stories)
April: Slammed (story slam competition show)
May: Alas, Poor Rockstars (sketches & plays)
June: One Night in Juvie (writings from childhood)
July: “Best Of Season 4″ live recording show

Recap of Season Four (2010-2011) performances:

	October: Ghost Story Slumber Party The Rockstars are having a sleep-over. (Okay, not really. But BLB is open until 2am!) There will be spooky stories, tall tales, pajamas, frozen underwear, juicy gossip, possibly make-overs, and definitely horror. So much horror.
	November: Words + Music = Awesome Groove your brain and your body as the Rockstars get their funk / rock / folk / jazz / banjo / orchestral symphony on! The hit storytelling group spins tales of music like a geeky clarinet solo over a phat beat of musical accompaniment!
	December: Rockstar Game Night The Rockstars are busting out their board, card, video, and (yes dammit) role-playing games to celebrate the season of being forced to socialize against your will. Thrill to tales of game nights past, present, and future! And unlike poor Rudolph, we will let you join in all the Rockstar Games.
	January: Rockstar + 1 For safety’s sake, Rockstars are using the buddy system. Receive twice the storytelling awesomeness as each Rockstar teams up with a special guest from outside the group! Or we’ll just grab another Rockstar like we’re taking our own cousin to the prom. No one will know.
	February: The Romantic Fun Time Sexy Naughty Show Swoon to tales of love, erotica, romance…maybe some slash if you’re lucky! The awkwardly sexy Rockstar Storytellers are infamous for being as witty as they are naughty, so put on your thinking caps and try to keep your pants on for this evening of intellectual ribaldry.
	March: Doing It Our Way It’s the storytelling version of Sid Vicious doing a Sinatra tune! The Rockstars put their own spin on classic stories like a cover band in a crappy bar. Except our bar isn’t crappy. It’s cool. With, like, imported beer and stuff.
	April: Slammed We all know art isn’t about competition. But sometimes, it’s fun to try to kick your friend’s ass. By stealing imitating the format of a poetry slam, the Rockstars will rocket through rapid-fire rounds of stories and YOU, the audience, decide the ultimate winner!
	May: Alas, Poor Rockstars Like Saturday Night Live but funny! Or Ibsen but less repressed! The Rockstars tackle the challenges of writing stories in the style of sketches and plays! You will laugh, you will cry. The Rockstars probably will too.
	June: One Night in Juvie Like fools, the Rockstars want to share stories they wrote in their youth. On purpose! Thrill to the seeds of their natural talent and cringe at the horror of their mad yet underdeveloped juvenile literary skillz! (S-k-i-l-l-z. That’s how “the kids” spell it.)
	*July: The Best of the S%# We Did** The Rockstar Storytellers annual “Best of” show! Each storyteller rocks the stage with their favorite story of the season in this live recording session made of 100% certified fresh awesomeness.

Audio + Video (the next best thing to seeing us live)

rockstarstory — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:21:43 +0000

There’s nothing better than seeing Rockstar Storytellers in person, but these will do in a pinch! Check out what the Rockstars have been up to through video clips, audio recordings and press clippings. And remember, additional videos from the most recent season can be found on our Vimeo page!

RS on Three Minute Egg

RS for Camel Indie Spirit

RS on Minnesota Public Radio

phillip andrew bennett low‘s “25 Confessions”, recorded for the Rockstar Storytellers’ “Romantic Fun Time Sexy Naughty Show” (Season Four)

Rob Callahan appearing in “Alas, Poor Rockstars” (Season Four) at Bryant-Lake Bowl

Rik Reppe representing RS on SPNN

BUT DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT…

	“the storytellers will bring razor sharp wit and riveting narrative skills to the stage so you will most certainly laugh,‭ ‬possibly until your side has in fact split.‭.. a stellar lineup of funny writers and literary comedians” (3/29/12)

	“For anyone who’s ever been pranked, fooled or unpleasantly surprised, take solace in knowing you’re not alone. Literary-scene troubadours the Rockstar Storytellers are putting their self-deprecating personal experiences of being punk’d to good use” (3/29/12)

	“The Rockstar Storytellers have had more seasons than Firefly, Arrested Development, the Addams Family, or The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien… next season [will be] known — in this writer’s heart, anyway — as ‘Season Five: Take That, Battlestar Galactica!’ ” (7/22/11)

	“…the Rockstar Storytellers possess more than enough quick-witted acumen to consistently deliver eclectic, engaging, and uproarious material.” (7/21/11)

	Rockstar Storytellers welcome new members, ready fifth season (7/19/11)

	“We love the danger of an open mic night. The possibility of rambling rants or the overabundance of swear words, or in better cases, thoughtfully designed prose that may just blow our minds. Enter Word Ninjas, hosted by the rowdy word-slingers better known as the Rockstar Storytellers.” (5/10/11)

	“Founded in 2007, this spoken-word collaborative performance group has time and again proven to be more than simply a one-hit wonder.” (1/5/11)

	“[a] seasoned group of yarn-spinners… the Rockstar Storytellers’ creativity knows no bounds.” (12/10/2010)

	“Equal parts stand-up comedy, spoken word and monologue, the Rockstar Storytellers infuse the art of storytelling with a shot of Gen-Y attitude.” (12/9/10)

	“…some of Minnesota’s finest writers, prose stylists and performance artists” (8/19/10)

	“…an epic lineup of clever tales and high-brow/low-brow literary stylings” (7/22/10)

	“…edgy tales of woe, wisdom and awkward situations” (5/21/10)

	“The Rockstars get sexy… ludicrous and funny” (2/6/10)

	“The team has more than sarcasm in common; each member brings energy, skill, and polish to the stage, honed in independent acting, writing, and spoken-word careers.” (1/27/10)

	“The Rockstars as a group push the boundaries of storytelling…” (10/16/09)

	“One of the bigger draws from this year’s Fringe was the collective work by the Rockstar Storytellers, who not only produced a number of hits, but also even offered trading cards for fans to collect.” (9/9/09)

	“…a busy cadre of improv and stand-up comedians, slam poets, actors and playwrights who, among them, had their hands in a dozen different shows in this year’s Fringe.” (9/7/09)

	“…yet another rousing, multi-faceted showcase… the perfect opportunity to pop your proverbial Rockstar cherry” (7/21/09)

	“Spoken word that really rocks” (6/18/09)

	“…experimental storytelling at its most exuberant! Each month, the eclectic band of performers that make up Rockstar Storytellers holds a festive tale-weaving extravaganza” (5/25/09)

	“…polished, take-no-prisoners style storytelling… The Rockstar Storytellers show no sign of slowing down” (5/20/09)

	“…[the] talented tale-weaving collective Rockstar Storytellers is about as unconventional as it gets” (2/24/09)

	“The storytelling sound-system Rockstar Storytellers have made the transition from upstart group to Twin Cities spoken-word staple… greatly entertaining” (12/24/08)

	“The Rockstar Storytellers, as a group, sport a polished, radio-style storytelling, dripping with coffee-and-cigarette-soaked hipster irony” (3/6/08)

	“Let’s face it—storytelling may be the primordial art form, born at the dawn of language. However, modern performance telling, with its small but dedicated, heavily middle-aged audience, has just never managed the same level of cool as rock ‘n’ roll. But this year, a group of 10 younger local performance artists banded together to take back some of the cultural cachet storytelling deserves… Laden with Fringe Festival credentials, the cast promises to not just twiddle your emotional dial, but to take a monkey wrench to your presuppositions about what storytelling should be.” (1/2/08)

Booking Rockstars for your event

rockstarstory — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:05:52 +0000

To contact the Rockstar Storytellers regarding performances or event appearances, email info@rockstarstorytellers.com.

Rockstar Storytellers is a cooperative of solo artists; each artist offers numerous performance opportunities, from event hosting to full-scale stage performance. For more information on solo performance options, you may browse our artists’ respective websites and inquire with any artist directly, or email RS and we will be happy to forward your request to the appropriate person.

RS also offers a “traveling” version of our popular storytelling cabarets, fully customizable to your event’s size, duration and budget. Themes and content are available for a broad spectrum of audiences, from all-ages family-friendly to most decidedly NOT all-ages. For some sample themes, visit our performance archive page. For more information, email RS.

SEASON FIVE mainstage shows at Bryant-Lake Bowl

rockstarstory — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:11:27 +0000

Each year Rockstar Storytellers produces a series of storytelling cabarets, held in the kick-ass theater at Bryant-Lake Bowl. Here’s the deets on our huge Season Five:

Sunday, October 23: TELLRAISER: NIGHTMARE ON LAKE STREET

Sunday, December 18: ROCKSTAR SNOW EMERGENCY

Sunday, February 5: SEXY FUNTIME ROMANCE ‘N’ STUFF SHOW

Sunday, April 1: FOOLS!

Sunday, June 3; 7pm (doors at 6pm): THE NEXT LEVEL

Up, up, and away! The Rockstar Storytellers are takin’ you to The Next Level. For June, we’ll be recounting tales of graduation, achievement, accomplishment, or complete lack thereof. Whether it be sharing with you our proudest moment that sent us to the top or shamefully admitting new heights of being a jerk, this month’s storytellers will definitely bring the pomp and circumstance. Featuring Joseph Scrimshaw, Laura Bidgood, Amy Salloway, Allegra Lingo, and Rob Callahan. Hosted by phillip andrew bennett low.

CLICK HERE to buy tickets!

Sunday, July 15; 7pm: LIVE RECORDING SHOW! Open a fifth as we close our fifth!

The Rockstar Store: MP3s, CDs and swag

rockstarstory — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:13:50 +0000

CLICK HERE FOR OUR ONLINE STORE

(If you have pop-up windows blocked, right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window.)

Download MP3s of our annual Greatest Hits shows, recorded live in front of a fabulous audience at Bryant-Lake Bowl! To celebrate Rockstar Storytellers Season 5.0, our MP3 downloads are specially priced at only 50¢ each! And our Greatest Hits Seasons 1 and 2 collections are also available on CD for $5 per 2-disc set! (Special pricing available for a limited time only.)

Email info@rockstarstorytellers.com for information on ordering CDs and/or (but always and) additional swag — buttons, t-shirts, trading card sets and more!

“Word Ninjas” monthly open-mic at Kieran’s

rockstarstory — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:12:04 +0000

Word Ninjas (est. September 2008) is the Rockstar Storytellers monthly open mic night, taking place the second Tuesday of every month at Kieran’s Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis. Sign-up begins at 8pm, and the show starts at 8:30pm. Suggested $3 donation at the door.

In true open mic fashion, everyone who signs up gets 5 minutes to do… whatever they want! Unjuried, uncensored (within reason, people) and unpredictable. Stand-up, slam poetry, storytelling, traditional poetry, folk tales, monologue, literary readings — if words are your weapon, we want you on our stage.

Each show is hosted by one of our very own Rockstar Storytellers, and another Rockstar typically does a feature set somewhere in the line-up. Word Ninjas also features special touring guests and the occasional surprise local celebrity! (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.)

Kieran’s is located in downtown Minneapolis at Block E, near Target Center (the basketball arena) and Target Field (the baseball park). And not too far from a Target store either, in case you need Q-Tips. Here’s a map.

Who are the Rockstar Storytellers?

rockstarstory — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:10:50 +0000

Rockstar Storytellers is a collective of solo performers from a variety of disciplines — spoken word, stand-up, slam poetry, improv, creative non-fiction, sketch comedy, playwriting… hell, we’ve even got a mime. Get to know the company members below! [Special thanks to Craig VanDerSchaegen, Rockstar Photographer!]

Active members:

A director, stage manager, musician and spoken word artist, Laura Bidgood has showcased her artistic talents at numerous theatres and groups around the Twin Cities including Minnesota Public Radio, Rockstar Storytellers, Women Stand Up!, Monday Night Comedy, The Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, Lyric Arts, Chameleon Theatre Circle, Bloomington Civic Theatre and the Dakota Valley Symphony, in addition to performing at open mics around town and, really, in front of any crowd she can find.

For more information, visit Laura’s website.

Allison Broeren is the current co-Managing Director of the Rockstar Storytellers, SlamMaster of the nationally ranked Poetry SlamMN!, and founder of Story SlamMN! at Kieran’s Irish Pub. She’s described by City Pages as “[the force] behind the Twin Cities competitive poetry scene… bombastic, kinetic, and most importantly, highly entertaining.” Allison is excited to be bringing the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam to Minneapolis as the host city coordinator. She is also big into blending business and the arts and uses her MBA to help consult with artists so they can thrive, not just survive. Allison hosts, performs, and plans shows all over the Twin Cities and has produced four successful Fringe Festival shows by Mumble Mumble Productions. Sometimes she manages to sneak off the stage at Kieran’s and has appeared at Women Stand Up! A Comedy Cabaret, the Minnesota Book Awards, KFAI’s “Write On! Radio”, MPR, and on tables at house parties throughout the tri-state area.

For more information, visit the SlamMN Facebook page.

Rob Callahan is a handsome Minneapolis-based writer whose work has appeared in Cracked, l’etoile Magazine and Secrets of the City. His published works of fiction include the 2008 novel Hellbound Snowballs and the 2011 chapbook Grave Whisperer. When not slinging idioms with the Rockstar Storytellers, he can be found posing as a professional science fiction writer and humorist. A local newspaper article once called him a “nerd icon” while referring to a popular local musician as “crushworthy”, but that was probably just a print error. They clearly meant it the other way round. (The Rockstar Storytellers do not endorse Rob Callahan’s interpretation of certain facts, namely these.)

For more information, visit Banthese Books.

Allegra Lingo was first published at the age of 13, then promptly forgot she could write until taking a writing class in college, and hasn’t stopped since. She has performed in eight Minnesota Fringes, including five full-length solo shows, and her work has been featured on MPR and various stages around Minnesota. She spent two years on the road as the sax player for Buckets and Tap Shoes, performing in 21 states and two shows in Helsinki, Finland. She is also the co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers.

For more information, visit Allegra’s website.

phillip andrew bennett low is a Chinese-American playwright, poet, mime, theatre critic, and libertarian activist. His main claims to fame are as the founder of the touring theatre troupe Maximum Verbosity, and as co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers.

For more information, visit the Maximum Verbosity website.

Curt Lund‘s literary work has hit stages, pages and airwaves including Minnesota Public Radio, McSweeney’s, the Minnesota Book Awards, CBC Radio Canada, the Minneapolis Geek Slam, Literary Death Match, Cheap Theatre, Walker Art Center, Northstar Storytelling League’s Tellebration!, First Person Arts, seven consecutive Minnesota Fringe Festivals and GLBT Pride festivals in three states. Not to mention countless other benefit and cabaret appearances in glamorous locales from Vegas to Vermillion.

For more information, visit Curt’s website.

Courtney McLean is an actress, writer, storyteller, improviser, and comedy musician. She is a proud original member and current co-managing director of Rockstar Storytellers. Courtney McLean is a member of the Minneapolis cast of Celebrity Autobiography, and her one-woman shows, Normal-C and Super Glossy! have toured to Fringe Festivals across the nation. Courtney has worked with Ferrari McSpeedy, Four Humors Theater, Sandbox Theatre, Theatre Arlo, Girl Friday Productions, and Maximum Verbosity, among others, and she’s performed on Salon Saloon, Sample Night Live, MPR’s “In The Loop”, and Women Stand-Up. She is a student of the Upright Citizens’ Brigade in New York City and Minneapolis’ Brave New Institute. She is the bandleader of Courtney McClean & The Dirty Curls, pioneers of naughtybilly: sexually explicit comedy country music. Courtney is also the co-host of Scholasticus Intoxicus, a bi-weekly trivia game show live at the 331 Club..

For more information, visit Courtney’s website.

Tom Reed is a Minneapolis actor, improvisor and comedian who has performed regularly at Brave New Workshop, Comedy Sportz and Stevie Ray’s and is a frequent host of Sample Night Live as crooning sensation Lounge-asaurus Rex. Reed starred as Princeton in Mixed Blood Theatre’s production of Avenue Q and created Fringe Festival musical parody hits Disney Dethroned, Bite Me Twilight and Parry Hotter and the Half-Drunk Twins. His performance experience also includes films, choirs, competing with Minnesota Slam Poetry national teams and an unusually inclusive production of The Vagina Monologues. Reed grew up near the tiny town of Kent, MN on a small organic farm and graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead.

For more information, visit Tom’s blog.

Amy Salloway has been called “hilariously self-loathing”, “gifted at creating comedy from pain and embarrassment”, and “the queen of self-deprecation”, and she takes all of that as a compliment. Amy’s widely acclaimed stage productions have toured to dozens of Fringes, solo festivals, theatres, performance events and booked gigs in the US, Canada and beyond. Amy’s performed her work on MPR’s “In the Loop” and CBC’s “Definitely Not The Opera”, and served as lead writer for Interact Center for the Arts’ musicals “Future Perfect” and “The Broken Brain Summit” — the latter of which won a 2008 Ivey Award for Originality. She was awarded a VSA Artist Recognition Grant in 2007.

For more information, visit Amy’s website.

A former newspaper reporter and humor columnist, Ben San Del features at comedy clubs and colleges throughout the Midwest, including the renowned Acme Comedy Co. in Minneapolis. San Del won Acme’s Funniest Person in the Twin Cities Contest in 2006 and has since become a fixture in the Twin Cities comedy and theater scenes. In 2010, his show “A Nice Guy’s Guide to Awkward Sex” was the fifth best-selling performance (out of 169) in the Minnesota Fringe Festival.

For more information, visit Ben’s website.

Maggie Ryan Sandford has written and performed on all three U.S. coasts, and one time in the Mediterranean. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in/on ComedyCentral.com, mental_floss magazine, Minnesota Monthly, mnartists.org’s access+ENGAGE, The Onion/A.V. Club, Paper Darts, The Indiana Review, and have garnered recognition from the Seattle’s Richard Hugo House, National Public Radio, and NYtimes.com. She has performed her work at the Guthrie Theater, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, the People’s Improv Theater, on the radio with “Tales From the Poor House,” and was named Champion of the October 2010 Literary Death Match, Twin Cities. Some time, she would love to talk to you about the intersection of science and art.

For more information, visit Maggie’s website.

Joseph Scrimshaw is a critically acclaimed writer/actor/comedian and the Creative Director of comedy theater company, Joking Envelope. Joseph has had multiple top ten best-selling shows at the Minnesota Fringe Festival including “Adventures in Mating”, “An Inconvenient Squirrel” and “The Damn Audition”. Outside the festival, Joseph and/or his plays have performed in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, Orlando, the UK, Bulgaria, Peru, the middle of the Caribbean Sea, and various bars across the entire expanse of South Minneapolis. He also makes jokes on Twitter at @JosephScrimshaw.

For more information, visit Joking Envelope.

Founding members (no longer active, but may pop in from time to time as special guests):

Mike Fotis is one of the Twin Cities’ premier comic performers. In improv circles, he’s known as an educator and member of Ferrari McSpeedy and Fingergun. Fotis also co-created such popular stage comedies as “Punk Rock Omaha” and “Speech!”.

For more information, visit Mike’s blog.

Dave Mondy is a writer/performer/producer who has been oft-honored for his work in multiple genres. He has received four Solas awards for travel writing; his nationally-toured solo show received the Best Solo Comedy award at the San Francisco Fringe Festival; his much-lauded memoir/fiction can be enjoyed in a variety of media — heard on many pubic radio programs, seen online as a commissioned video series for The Smart Set, read in several literary periodicals, and seen in multiple MN Fringe Festivals. He is the creator of the Radio All Stars (City Pages ‘A List’), Sin Cities 7 (a Pioneer Press ‘Must See’), and The Entertainment Machine.

For more information, visit Dave’s website.

Rik Reppe: Performer, writer, raconteur, occasional business geek.

For more information, visit Rik’s blog.

HISTORY:

Rockstar Storytellers was founded in August 2007 to provide a forum for solo artists to come together to find new audiences for our work, push each other creatively, and further our own endeavors with the support and fellowship of others doing the same thing.

In August 2007, Allegra Lingo and phillip andrew bennett low were, as usual, drinking beer at the Minnesota Fringe Festival. They waxed superlative about how much they love the Fringe because it gives them a chance to talk with and bounce ideas off of other solo performers in town. Then they commenced bemoaning the fact that there wasn’t a group they could join to serve the same purpose the other 51 weeks of the year. Out of drunken hazes comes genius sometimes, and phillip and Allegra decided to start their own group, and invite their favorite fellow solo performers to join them in this adventure. Thus Rockstar Storytellers was born.