Blog: Getting on the Moth
22.09.2020
This, it has to be said, hasn’t been a solid year for career highs. Or highs in general really. We all know that. My comedy shows at Brighton Komedia - that I’ve been running for over two years - have been cancelled since March. Edinburgh Fringe cancelled. The tour I intended to take my play on is made up of theatres that may not ever reopen and the writing course I was so thrilled to have been accepted on back in January has just restarted with less classmates, a dependence on wobbly technology and the ever-present threat of re-closure. So any little thing is counted as a win at the moment. But today’s win isn’t a little one! It’s one I’d always count as a massive, joy inducing win! Because I’ve had a story selected for The Moth Radio Hour!
I’ve been a huge fan of The Moth ever since, years ago, my friend Dan bought me one of The Moth collected stories books All These Wonders for a perfect Christmas gift. I’d heard the odd Moth story on my podcast of choice This American Life, but now I started seeking them out, going to live storytelling shows and scouring YouTube to watch the live shows, revelling in how simple, yet powerful the art form was. I never really pursued my interest in acting after falling headlong into the comedy world, but because I wasn’t interested in becoming a stand-up comedian I started to find that, despite scratching my creative itch in a myriad of ways, the industry I was working in never offered me the opportunity to perform. And I started to want to again. Storytelling though, seemed like a potential option.
A couple of years ago, when I accompanied my husband to New York for his work contract, I moped around (yes, in New York, I know, I’m awful), lonely, still working my London job long-distance and utterly terrified of the lift I had to take everyday to get to the 44th floor apartment we’d been set up in. I started attending Adam Wade’s classes after I overheard someone describe him as ‘The Rock Star of Moth Style Storytelling’ (I think he’s gonna like that description.) and I can truly say I loved every single afternoon I spent learning how to shape and tell a story with him and the rest of the class. When it got to performance time I forgot what stage fright felt like. I was shaking like a leaf in the run up to the performance, running the words round and round in my head until I thought I’d never get them back in the right order. Once up on the little stage at Magnet Theater Training Center though and I loved every second.
In February last year I finally went to a live MOTH show. I bought tickets for a London Slam and took my Dad for his birthday in a packed room (oh those were the days) at Rich Mix in Shoreditch. I popped my name in the bowl at the back of the room and, not knowing if I’d get picked, sat back with a glass of wine to nervously watch the show. The standard was pretty incredible, topped only by Sara Barron’s hilarious hosting (first time meeting her and now she’s one of my favourite comedians). After the interval my name got picked and, although my body had turned to jelly, I somehow got up to the stage without falling over and told my story once again, switching out the word ‘elevator’ for our anglicised ‘lift’. Even if I did somewhat take the spotlight at my Dad’s own birthday outing he was delighted and we downed our second wines with relief as I came offstage and my story came second place in the Slam voting.
To have found out recently that The Moth selected this story for their podcast is a genuine delight. I was so in awe of the night, the book, the community - I just love it all! I dreamed of getting my show picked, and it seemed like such a vague possibility. Now I need to up my dreams! A mainstage show one day? Man I hope so.
Mum, Dad and me in NYC where my story takes place!