On December 30th, I drove out to Ottawa to catch Charly Chiarelli’s show at Once Upon a Slam. I had supper with a friend and then turned up early to sign-up for the Slam itself. Really, I only wanted to tell my story in the Slam so that Charley could see me tell a story: I was really there to see Charly’s show.
I decided to go with Love & Madness because it’s a 4-minute story (so no worries about time penalties for going over the 5-minute limit) that packs a punch and is always a crowd favorite. I was also sporting my new western vest and festive leather hat, so I decided to throw in a little extra flair at the end by placing the hat over my heart (when I spoke of Love) and back on my head with a gleam in my eye (when I spoke of Madness).
And to my surprise, it worked! I ended up getting the high score of the evening and winning the Slam! This is the third time I’ve won at Once Upon a Slam, which fills me with shock and awe. This means I get to compete again in the finals in June 2012, so who knows what might happen? There were some amazingly fantastic stories that night (including one about Beowulf which should’ve gotten a much, much better score. I may have swooned over the girl who told this story, just a little).
Winning that slam was the perfect end to 2011. Thanks be to Ruthanne for inviting the awesome Charly Chiarelli which made my trip to Ottawa completely worth it. 2012 has already gotten off to an awesome start, so stay tuned to this site for more storytelling related news!
It’s going to rock like a rocking thing.
