Last September, Ex Fabula’s five founders broke bread and schemed-up the live storytelling event series. Less than six months later, the group can now claim four successful events in three different neighborhoods with over 500 happy listeners served. If that’s not progress, the five founding members of Ex Fabula challenge you to prove them otherwise… in the form of a five-minute, well-rehearsed story on the theme of “Luck” at their next event on March 24th at Mo’s Irish Pub on Bluemound & Highway 100 in Wauwatosa, of course.
Ex Fabula’s March event is fast approaching, and the stakes are higher than ever as Ex Fabula’s inaugural season nears an end. There will be one additional regular event in April, and then it’s on to the playoffs, baby! Ex Fabula will be bringing back its audience favorites and some special guests for “Ex Fabula All-Stars” live at the Turner Hall Ballroom in May.
What does all that mean? You only have three chances left to see Ex Fabula before the series goes on break over the summer, and only two chances left to actually tell a story.
At Ex Fabula’s most recent event on February 16th at the Bay View Brew Haus, the theme of the night was “Now or Never.” Eleven performers took the stage—including five volunteers from the audience—and shared the kind of stories you hear every day. You know, “I was born a woman in a man’s body,” and, “The actor from the arcade game Golden Tee and I were really drunk so we decided to drive down to Florida.” Nothing special.
The pinnacle of the night came with the last story, when Brian proposed to Norah—literally proposed marriage to her onstage—after the dynamic couple finished recounting their drama-filled first Christmas together with Norah’s family. Brian and Norah were crowned King & Queen of the night by the audience, though some speculated the proposal was merely a ruse to capture the prize for the audience favorite: a five-disc CD collection donated by sponsor WUWM.
Like the previous events, this fifth event at Mo’s in March will feature three different storytelling formats:
• “The Solo.” Individual storytellers—some selected in advance, and some drawn at random from audience volunteers—tell true, five minute stories without notes.
• “The Rashomon.” This format is named after Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s classic that explores multiple perspectives. Two storytellers take the stage to share their versions of the same story.
• “The Terkel.” A question and answer format featuring one interviewer and one interviewee.
As always, audience members will crown their favorite storyteller at the end of the night.
Those who are interested in vying for a storytelling spot should put their names in the hat by 7:45 pm. The volunteer storytellers for the evening will then be randomly drawn to compete side by side with storytellers arranged in advance. Would-be storytellers should choose stories that tie in to the theme “Luck”. They should practice without notes and to the five-minute time limit as they will be cut off if they run over five minutes. Storytellers should pay particular attention to the first and last lines of their stories and ensure that they are vivid and compelling.
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