Storytellers share embarrassing tales

Embarrassing moments and confessions were featured Friday night at The Bishop as local storytellers took the stage to spill their dirt.

The stories were part of Bloomington Storytelling Project’s event, Dirt. The project plays host to live events, staging themed storytelling sessions.

Friday’s theme was people’s dirt: stories of embarassing moments in front of high school crushes, ripped pants and parents finding sex toys.
 
Started in 2009, the Bloomington Storytelling Project feeds the stories that make up “The Porch Swing,” a WFHB radio show.

“Dirt sounded like a good way to start off the beginning of the year,” said Leigh Bush, managing producer of the Bloomington Storytelling Project. “You can interpret it in so many ways, like your worse moment story or a story about how you literally got filthy.”
While the stories told at the live events vary, they relate to the
storyteller.

Storytellers range from young to old and come from different walks of life.
“I’ve had 6-year-olds all the way up to older grandparents,” Bush said.

Audience members shared anonymous confessions on slips of paper. Some even came on stage and told their own tales.

Juliet Barrett had the crowd laughing with her story of an embarrassing audition. Barrett used to have her own storytelling show on WIUX.

After her show ended, Barrett found herself missing the experience, so she began working with WFHB and the Bloomington Storytelling Project as a story collector. Friday was her first time telling a story live.

“Telling stories is awesome, and I especially love this story because it was the birth of my entrance into the theater world,” she said.

Alycin Bektesh, WFHB news and executive producer, said the live storytelling events are one of her favorite parts of her job.

“It’s very different to be there while someone is sharing a part of themselves that they would not share if you just met them on the street,” she said.

Something the group often comes across, Bektesh said, is people not thinking they have stories to share. However, she said she wants people to realize their stories are significant.

“If anyone would take something away from here, it would be they have stories to tell and that all of these stories help us identify our community more wholly,” she said.

Follow reporter Rachel Osman on Twitter @rachosman.