Dublin Story Slam: Competitive storytelling night returns to Tallaght

GET ready for another open mic competitive storytelling night of the Dublin Story Slam, where members of the audience are invited to get up and share true personal stories inspired by a different theme.

Returning for the third time to Tallaght, by popular demand, an open mic competitive storytelling night where members of the audience are invited to get up and share true personal stories inspired by a different theme each night.

This time the theme is ‘Luck.’

Hosted by comedian Colm O’Regan, this  event is a safe and supportive space to share those personal experiences, memories, and events that might be funny, sad, serious, or silly but are all about bringing people together.

At the end of the night, they have a winning Story Slam Champion who is then invited to take part in their biannual Grand Slam at The Abbey Theatre.

Interested in telling a story on the night? Check out civictheatre for more info.

This week, we sat down with producer Julien Clancy to discuss ‘Luck,’ which performs in the Civic on March 20; make sure to get your tickets before it’s all sold out!

What inspired the ‘Dublin Story Slam’?

The Dublin Story Slam is an open mic competitive storytelling night based on an original concept and format of another amazing storytelling organisation called The Moth.

In 2017, we decided to reinvent ourselves as The Dublin Story Slam and incredibly have gone on to sell out every single show since.

We host open mic storytelling nights at the Sugar Club, the Pavilion Theatre, and of course our new home in the Civic Theatre in Tallaght.

The winners of each night are then invited to take part in our Grand Slam storytelling competition at The Abbey Theatre.

We’ve been going for nearly 9 years, and I think it’s the fact that no two nights have ever been the same; that’s what keeps us inspired after all that time.

How did you go about making the idea a reality?

We come up with different themes for each of the storytelling nights, and we then invite members of the public to come share personal true stories inspired by that theme.

We have a host, a venue, a scorecard for judges, and even some pens and paper, but the rest all comes from the audience at each show.

The audience is the night. Without them, we’d have no show or storytellers or stories.

So while we’ve come up with the idea for sharing stories this way, it’s the audience who definitely turns it into a reality.

Have there been any highlights or challenges involved in preparing workshops and performances like this?

After nearly 9 years of Slams, I’m still amazed when someone genuinely believes they don’t have a story worth sharing.

In Ireland I think we’ve become convinced that storytellers are just born with that natural ability to share stories.

After hearing well over a thousand stories onstage, I know that even the most nervous, inexperienced speaker can be more engaging, funny, and memorable than the most polished speaker.

So it’s all about being yourself onstage, even if it’s not perfect or polished.

I think being authentic is the most important quality of a storyteller. So helping people be their authentic selves onstage can be challenging, but it’s also the most rewarding part of the experience too.

How did the idea for this particular storytelling night, ‘Luck,’ come about?

Obviously this being the month of St. Patrick, we were inspired by our nationwide fascination with that theme, Luck.

But when you dive deeper, luck is really about something unexpected happening in your life, and the outcome is either good or bad.

So Luck can be a way to explore how you see the world and have a bit of fun along the way.

Also, given the state of global affairs, I think we could all do with a bit more luck in our lives, so we can’t wait to hear what stories come our way!

Would there be any particular workshops or stories that stand out in your memory, and why?

We’ve had so many pinch me, is this real? moments onstage that it’s hard to choose.

I always remember hearing a story from a mother whose infant daughter had a peanut allergy, and she lived in the middle of nowhere.

I always remember her description of being on the side of the busy motorway, waiting for an ambulance in the pouring rain, and it was just terrifying but also incredibly moving.

At the time, my daughter was a year old, and I remember the story being so vivid and real.

I was a nervous wreck and nearly crying onstage with the rest of the audience when it all turned out ok.

Story Slam stories, though, aren’t always as dramatic, and one of the loudest laughs we ever got was for an unassuming Kerry man, who decided to go skinny dipping on a deserted Dublin beach, only to emerge with his carefully folded clothes on the sand, having vanished.

It took him a while to get some help, but it was so funny.

We learned that he passed away last year, so it’s little stories like that that will preserve him forever in people’s minds. I like that we can live on through our stories too.

Are there any more events planned for Dublin Story Slam this year?

We are so looking forward to this month’s show at The Civic. After that we are back on April 5th as part of the Five Lamps Arts Festival, and then we headline a show on April 9th at the Sugar Club.

We’re also busy planning away our Grand Slam storytelling event at The Abbey, which the winner of this month’s show at the Civic will be invited to take part in.

The GrandSlam is our storytelling headline event of the year, so we can’t wait! More details via our mailing list, which you can join through thedublinstoryslam.

Who would you like to thank for the success of the programme?

Apart from our wonderful hosts, Colm O’Regan and Sharon Mannion, our support team, and all of the venues, including Niamh & Mary at The Civic Theatre, the biggest thanks have to go to the storytellers who’ve enriched so many nights and so many lives with their wonderful personal true stories.