Second Sunday Story Slam's September Success!

Second Sunday Story SLam at Six - hosted by CSz Philadelphia’s Bobbi Block

From left to right: Steve Clark, Heidi Davis, Brandon Mitchell, Tamica Tanksley, Brianna Benozich, Sarah LeClair, and OLivia Roth.

The very first Second Sunday Story Slam at Six kicked off on Sunday, September 14th.  Host Bobbi Block brought a group of area storytellers together and opened the inaugural event alongside support from production assistant Olivia Roth and Dave Jadico in the booth.

Each month, amateur and veteran storytellers are encouraged to come to CSz Philadelphia and deliver a 5-minute crafted story on a given theme.  In September, the theme was “Falling,” which is deliberately open to varied interpretations and tones.  The storytellers delivering their takes on “Falling” were Heidi Davis, Olivia Roth, Brandon Mitchell, Steve Clark, Sarah LeClair, Brianna Benozich, and Tamica Tanksley.  Several of these participants are known figures in the Philadelphia storytelling scene, many with accolades and prizes to their names.  Others added their names on the day of the event, which is the spirit of the occasion.  Block invites people to attend each monthly SSSS to sign up to tell a story, and participants will be randomly selected and added to the list. 

October’s SSSS theme is “Costume Changes,” completely open to the interpretation of the person crafting the story.  The time limit is a maximum of five minutes.  While CSz Philadelphia is known for improvisational comedy, the stories can be preplanned and rehearsed, and do not need to be comedic.  The only other rule, however, is that they are delivered without notes or scripts in a delivery that connects teller with audience.

There are other ways to participate in the SSSS!  For sure, come get a ticket for the next event on October 12 at 6 PM and laugh, cry, celebrate, and vote for your favorite storyteller to win the $60 prize money.  If you feel moved to speak, add your name to the list for the main storytelling event.  Alternatively, dip your toes in the water of storytelling by joining in the Lightning Round!  After the showcased stories, anyone in the audience who would like to tell a 1-minute story is absolutely encouraged to take the mic and give it a try.  We have a variety of other prompts to stimulate creative thinking and the joy of telling our stories together.  Our spontaneous storytellers in the Lightning Round this September were Olivia Roth, Heidi David, Mikey Matchesky, and Brianna Benozich.  Winners are voted on for this round, too, for a $16 bonus prize.

This September, we congratulated Tamica Tanksley as our Grand Prize winner, as she told a story about Falling….in Love?  Heidi Davis won the Lightning Round.  Audiences were thrilled with all of the stories and will be headed back to hear how October’s stories come to life.  Make sure you are in the audience on October 12, as we welcome the Second Sunday Story Slam at Six into our monthly rotation at CSz Philadelphia!