top of page

Storytelling and the Stage

“Let’s do an event with authors and improv,” I told my marketing consultant, friend, and incredible source of support, Zack James of Rebel Hill Consulting.

He looked at me askance. “How would that go?”

“No idea.”

We brainstormed and came up with a structure – a panel discussion, hosted by me, followed by an improv show based on the content that emerged during the discussion. We still weren’t sure how it would go over but it sounded fun. Right?

I made a few phone calls and voila – Heidi Doheny Jay, author of Confessions of 400 Men, Helen W. Mallon, author of The Beautiful Name: Four Short Stories, and Lisa Kohn, co-author of The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes to Being the Leader You Want to Be and the writer of the soon-to- be-released memoir, To the Moon and Back: A Childhood Under the Influence were in! Now, for the improvisers. Luckily, I perform with a team of incredibly talented – and generous – improv comics each week and several of my Not Yet Rated teammates agreed to put on an after-panel show.

Only problem? Winter didn’t get our memo.

Hosting an event in March, neither Zack nor I were expecting to get slammed with a nor’easter. But we were. And, while cancelling due to weather was a let-down, we rallied.

Attendees understood. Only a few people asked for refunds because they weren’t available for our new, rescheduled date, but most of them were available and we kept trucking. Until our scheduled second date, and our second nor’easter. That’s right! Our second date was snowed out too and we had to reschedule again.

By the time April 4th (the THIRD date of what should’ve been our early-March event) finally arrived, we had a running joke around the Kismet offices that I was cursed. “No more hosting events for you,” my coworkers said. But, even though the day began with rain, it was clear on the morning of the 4th that the event would, indeed, be happening. Surging with excitement, and nervous anticipation, I headed to Kismet’s incredible second, Spring Arts location where, even though I’d visited before, I was blown away by the new space.