MAY 22: HOW I LEARNED TO LIE, CHEAT OR STEAL

Remember in "The Great Muppet Caper" when the lights go off in the ballroom and they come back on and Lady Holiday puts her hand to her bare throat, gasps and screams, "My jewels!" because her jewels were stolen? And Charles Grodin is there? I really hope something like that happens at this show.

The How I Learned Series Presents

HOW I LEARNED TO LIE, CHEAT, OR STEAL

Featuring:

Mike O'Brien

SNL, 7 Minutes in Heaven

Elna Baker

This American Life, Studio 360

Joe Veix

The New Yorker, McSweeney's

Juliet Hope Wayne

The Moth GrandSLAM, "Best Comedian in Philadelphia 2012"

Tara Clancy

The New York Times, The Rumpus

Creator / Producer / Host:

Blaise Allysen Kearsley

Wednesday, May 22nd

8:00PM / Doors at 7

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street

Between Forsyth + Eldridge

B, D to Grand

F, J, M, Z to Delancey

FREE

www.howilearnedseries.com

MIKE O'BRIEN has written for SNL since 2009. Before that, he performed at Second City and iO in Chicago, where he was a founding member of the group The Reckoning. He also makes the web series 7 Minutes in Heaven, for which he has interviewed many celebrities inside his closet, including Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig and Patricia Clarkson.

 

ELNA BAKER is a writer, storyteller, monologist and the author of The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. She is a regular contributor for This American Life and has told stories for The Moth, Studio 360, RISK!, Radiolab and BBC Radio 4. Elna has also written for ELLE, Glamour and The Onion, among others.

 

JOE VEIX is a writer and comedian who contributes to The New Yorker, McSweeney's,The Awl, and Someecards. He was also briefly the official t-shirt cannon shooter for the Chicago Desire Bikini Basketball team.

TARA CLANCY has most recently written for The New York Times and The Rumpus.She has also written and performed several full length monologues, including Channel Rat, which ran at the NY Fringe Festival. A native New Yorker and third-generation bartender, Tara is a licensed tour guide for the City of New York. She lives in Manhattan with her wife and son.

JULIET HOPE WAYNE was named Best Comedian in Philadelphia in 2012 byPhiladelphia Magazine. She was the first female to win the Moth GrandSLAM in New York City and has been featured on the Moth Podcast, Moth Radio Hour on PRX, and toured with The Unchained Tour  in 2010. She received her undergraduate degree in Animation and was recently nominated for the 2013 PEW Arts and Culture Fellowship.

STORYTIMES STORYTIMES STORYTIMES -- MAY 9TH

Oh, look! It's the third biannual super special How I Learned STORYTIMES Slam.

Tell or read a FIVE MINUTE "how I learned ______" story in front of an audience and 3 judges.

No scores. Just wise and friendly feedback based on story, delivery, length of time, and probably something else that Brad Lawrence has in his head that the rest of us don't know about.

One "Best in Show," picked by the judges, will win a prize. Not sure what. Maybe a bag of chocolates from Duane Reade, like last time. MAYBE THIS TIME IT WILL BE FROM RITE-AID.

Also, you don't have to share a story at all. You can just come for the drinks and the entertainment and maybe someone will share with you their hard earned chocolates or whatever. Either way: FUN.

STORYTIMES #3
A How I Learned Series Production
Thursday, May 9th
7:30 Sign-Up
8:00 Stories

JUDGES:
CAMMI CLIMACO 
(Co-host, ASK ME Stories; Host, Six By Six)
MARK SAM ROSENTHAL
(Writer, Comedy Central; Winner, STORYTIMES #2)
BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY
(Creator/Producer/Host, The How I Learned Series

HOST:
BRAD LAWRENCE
(Performer, And I Am Not Lying; Co-Host, STORYTIMES #2)

HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE
302 Broome Street
Between Forsyth + Eldridge
NYC
B, D to Grand
F, J, M, Z to Delancey

HOW I LEARNED I MIGHT BE OBSESSED (VOLUME II)

Back in 2010, How I Learned brought you "How I Learned I Might Be Obsessed," featuring stories of infiltrating an anti-gay Christian conference, competitive eating,  a rock band employing chickens for percussion, chasing a one-night-stand all the way to Hong Kong, getting locked out of the house half naked with a vibrator and a baby, and also Oprah Winfrey. This month, come out for new stories on the same subject from a wicked hot lineup that may or may not include people with addictive personalities and/or some sort of borderline sociopathic bipolar disorders. (Not judging. Might be projecting.)

* * *

The How I Learned Series Presents:

How I Learned I Might Be Obsessed (Volume II)

Featuring:
OPHIRA EISENBERG

(Storyteller / Comedian / Host of NPR's Ask Me Another / Author, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy)

JAMES BRALY

(Performer / Author, Life in a Marital Institution)

ALEX GALLAFENT

(Actor / Writer / Correspondent for the BBC)

ROSE SURNOW

(Humorist / Writer, New York Magazine; VICE)

CHRISTINE GENTRY

(Storyteller, Story Collider; The Moth)

Creator / Producer / Host:

Blaise Allysen Kearsley

Wednesday, April 24th

8:00PM / Doors at 7

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street

Between Forsyth + Eldridge

B, D to Grand

F, J, M, Z to Delancey

FREE

OPHIRA EISENBERG is a comedian, writer, and host of NPR’s new weekly trivia comedy show, Ask Me Another. She has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central, and VH-1. Selected as one of New York Magazine's Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny, and featured in the New York Times as a skilled comedian and storyteller with a “bleakly stylish” sense of humor, Ophira's debut memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy is in stores now. She is also a regular host and teller with The Moth.

JAMES BRALY is the author and performer of the monologue Life in a Marital Institution, reviewed as "gaspingly funny" by Variety and "never less than excellent" by the New York Times. The monologue has become a memoir by the same name, published by St. Martin's Press, and has also been optioned for film and television. His stories have been broadcast nationally on This American Life, NPR and Marketplace. 

ALEX GALLAFENT is a former producer for the BBC Radio in London and currently a correspondent for the BBC and Public Radio International's The World. He has performed sketch comedy and one-act plays in New York and the UK, and can be seen regularly at  The Pit with his improv troupe, Skycopter, or playing drums and trumpet with the BTK Band, NYC's hardest-drinking, improvised storytelling rock band.

ROSE SURNOW used to be a tiny baby, but then she was like, "F@#$ that." Now she's a performer and humorist whose writing has appeared in New York magazine, VICE, Jezebel, The Hairpin, Thought Catalog and elsewhere. She is 9 feet tall and weighs 6 pounds.

CHRISTINE GENTRY  joins BBQ on the short list of good things to come out of Texas. A high school English teacher at heart, she currently teaches creative writing and oral storytelling to NYC public school students while getting her Ph.D. Christine has performed at The Moth, The Story Collider, and The Adam Wade From New Hampshire Show, and her short stories have been published in Word Riot, Flashquake, and Printer's Devil Review magazines.

We Feel Pretty Good About It

Photos from the March installment of How I Learned: "How I Learned To Let Go" 

Shot by Jesse Chan-Norris.

L to R: TAYLOR NEGRON, ELIOT GLAZER, JACKIE MANCINI, TRACY ROWLAND, BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY

TAYLOR NEGRON, actor, writer. stand-up comic. (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Aristocrats)

BRADY DALE, writer, storyteller, and creator of the webcomic Eat The Babies, and the storytelling podcast The World Exists.

JESSICA GROSE, author of Sad Desk Salad and columnist for the New York Times blog Motherlode.

ELIOT GLAZER, creator of the web series It Gets Betterish and Eliot's Sketchpad, and best friend JACKIE MANCINI, associate editor at Guyspeed and longtime contributor for xoJane.

Writer, storyteller and producer / host of How I Learned, BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY

TV editor and storyteller (The Moth GrandSLAM, The Liar Show), TRACY ROWLAND

HOW I LEARNED TO LET GO

Remember when we had so much fun together the last time? Let's have another fun time together again. Plus, wow -- TAYLOR NEGRON.

The How I Learned Series Presents:

How I Learned To Let Go

Featuring:

Taylor Negron

(Writer / Actor, Curb Your Enthusiasm)

Eliot Glazer + Jackie Mancini

(Creator, It Gets Betterish + Associate Editor, Guyspeed)

Jessica Grose

(Columnist / Author, Sad Desk Salad)

Tracy Rowland

(TV Editor / Storyteller, The Moth GrandSlam)

Brady Dale

(Writer / Storyteller, First Person Arts)

Creator / Producer / Host:

Blaise Allysen Kearsley

Wednesday, March 27th

8:00PM / Doors at 7

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street

Between Forsyth + Eldridge

B, D to Grand

F, J, M, Z to Delancey

FREE

TAYLOR NEGRON is a writer, actor and stand-up comedian. His TV appearances include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Reno 911, Seinfeld and many others. He has also appeared in numerous movies including The Aristocrats, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Last Boy Scout. Taylor wrote and performed the solo show The Unbearable Lightness of Being Taylor Negron, which ran at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Best of New York Solo Festival at the SoHo Playhouse and at the Barrow Street Theater. His plays include Gangster Planet and Downward Facing Bitch. He is one of the original members of Un-Cabaret, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "the mother show of alternative comedy."

ELIOT GLAZER + JACKIE MANCINI are best friends. Eliot is a writer, comedian and the creator of two popular web series, It Gets Betterish and Eliot's Sketch Pad. Jackie's childhood diagnosis of Oppositional Defiant Disorder is possibly related to her current position as Associate Editor and only female employee at Guyspeed.

JESSICA GROSE is the author of the novel Sad Desk Salad (Wlliam Morrow/HarperCollins) and a columnist for the New York Times blog Motherlode. She has also written for Slate, Jezebel, New York Magazine and many other publications. She is the co-author, with Doree Shafrir, of Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages From Home based on the blog Postcards From Yo Momma.

TRACY ROWLAND is a writer, storyteller and TV editor. She is also that rare New Yorker who likes to talk. Except she's from New Jersey, which makes her rarer still. She has appeared onstage with The Moth, The Liar Show and the notorious BTK Band. She makes her living as a promotion and marketing editor and is, among other things, responsible for that Dateline promo involving 50-year-olds who want to hook up with your teenage daughter. She's got a one-eyed cat, a passport and a knack for physical injury. The stories write themselves. Also, she won an Emmy.

BRADY DALE worked as a progressive community organizer for over a decade before quitting his job to pursue writing and performance. He performs stories in and around New York and Philadelphia, including at First Person Arts and Philadelphia Improv Theater. He is the creator of the webcomic Eat The Babies and a roundtable storytelling podcast called The World Exists. Brady is also the author of the ebook Dream Her Back: Two Sci-Fi Breakup Novellas.

FOUR!

March 4th, 2013

Here are photos, taken by Jesse Chan-Norris, to prove we had fun at last month's 4 year anniversary show. We totally did. Evidence!

KAMBRI CREWS, author of Burn Down The Ground, on smuggling gum in to a prison where her deaf father was incarcerated.

Storyteller and writer for the United Nations, ELICIA BERGER waxes off on her awkward excursion to a Buddhist monastery.

Here's me in my anniversary tiara saying something that at least KATHERINE LANPHER thinks is funny. That's How I Learned Assistant Producer LYRA SMITH behind me, also in a tiara.

Some people in the audience (like that guy in the background) wore bright blue party hats for the anniversary because LYRA asked them to and she was kind of a bully about it. Don't mess with Texas. Or wherever she's from. Nashville, I think.

 DAVID CRABB, writer, storyteller, co-creator of Ask Me Stories and sometime host of The Moth, tells a true tale he describes as "kind of gothy, Halloweeny." That's what I like to hear. Plus, he brought me flowers, so yeah.

Writer and performer TED TRAVELSTEAD talks about a (fake) novel called My Donkey, excerpted from his new book, The Petraeus Files: All the Photos, Chats, Poems, and Other Super-Secret Emails They Don't Want You To See. The book My Donkey is a book for children that's highly inappropriate for children.

In honor of How I Learned's 4th anniversary, KATHERINE LANPHER--journalist, broadcaster, author and host extraordinaire--told a story about throwing her parents a party for their 60th wedding anniversary. Committed to the bit, she wore a vintage apron.

That was a great time we had. Let's have another great time, say, on March 27th. Does that work? The theme will be How I Learned To Let Go. Details forthcoming. You'll love them.

Everything Is Going To Be Great

February 22nd, 2013

This is happening on Wednesday and I couldn't be more excited. I'm gonna hug the shit out of everyone at this show. Fuck boundaries. Get ready.

The How I Learned Series

4 Year Anniversary Show

Wednesday, February 27th

8PM (Doors at 7)

Free

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street NYC
Between Forsythe + Eldridge

B, D to Grand Street

F, J, M, Z to Delancey

MORE DETAILS HERE

***

NEW PODCAST EPISODE: Erin Barker - "Firestarter"

February 18, 2013

When Erin Barker (Co-producer, The Story Collider) was a teenager, she was known in her neighborhood as the girl who tried to burn her house down and kill her whole family as they slept. Psychopathic or just really emotional?

Listen:

Erin Barker - Firestarter 

(Music: "Float On," Modest Mouse)

Subscribe in iTunes

Subscribe elsewhere

PODCAST EPISODE #16: David Crabb Comes Out (Or Does He?)

February 7, 2013

Trapped in a winnebago with his father in San Antonio, Texas, a 13-year-old David Crabb (Co-host, ASK ME Stories) unexpectedly comes to terms with his homosexuality. Performed at How I Learned To Tell It Like It Is.

Listen:

David Crabb - Gay Groundhog Day

(Music: "Bring On The Dancing Horses," Echo and The Bunnymen)

Subscribe in iTunes

Subscribe elsewhere

And We're Back

February 1st, 2013

Back from our winter hiatus, we are four years old now and we're mixing things up just for this occasion. Instead of one overall theme, each performer will hold forth on a different "how I learned..." topic. It's like a free-for-all. It's a cornucopia of How I Learned delights. 

There will also be special surprises, but I'm not sure what they are just yet. Anyway, anniversary presents are welcome and encouraged. We can't wait to see you.

The How I Learned Series

4 Year Anniversary Show

Wednesday, February 27th

8PM (Doors at 7)

Free

Happy Ending Lounge

302 Broome Street NYC
Between Forsythe + Eldridge

B, D to Grand Street

F, J, M, Z to Delancey

* * *

KATHERINE LANPHER is an award-winning writer, journalist, broadcaster, and podcaster. She was the co-host of The Al Franken Show on Air America.  She is the host of Upstairs at the Square where she has interviewed such notables as Patti Smith, Cheryl Strayed, and Jimmy Fallon. She is a frequent guest host and contributor on WNYC's Soundcheck and The Takeaway, and is the author of a collection of essays called Leap Days.

KAMBRI CREWS once lived with her deaf parents in a tin shed  in Montgomery, Texas. She now owns and operates Ballyhoo Promotions, a PR and production company in New York City specializing in stand up comedy. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed memoir Burn Down the Ground (Random House) and a renowned storyteller and public speaker.

TED TRAVELSTEAD is a writer and performer. He is co-author of SEX: Our Bodies, Our Junk, and has written for Esquire, Vanity Fair, Radar and McSweeney's. As an actor he has appeared onstage performing sketch and stand-up at various venues in NYC, and in a broad range of films, comedic shorts and music videos. His new book, The Petraeus Files: All the Photos, Chats, Poems, and Other Super-Secret Emails They Don't Want You to See, comes out in February.

ELICIA BERGER is a freelance writer and storyteller. By day, she writes smart-sounding things for the United Nations. By night, she spews her various neuroses onto the page and/or stage to delight and/or appal readers and audiences alike. She can be seen performing in various storytelling shows throughout the city.

DAVID CRABB is a performer, writer, storyteller, and 2-time MothSLAM champion. He is the co-creator of the live storytelling series ASK ME, and has told stories at RISK!, Stripped Stories, The Soundtrack Series, and The Story Collider. David is a member of NYC's Axis Company Theatre where his solo show, Bad Kid, was named a New York Times Critics' Pick. He teaches storytelling at The PIT and Kevin Allison's The Story Studio. He generally dislikes sorcerers, dragons, and anything having to do with "wizardry."

Thank You For Saying So

January 23rd, 2013

Hello. As we gear up for the 4th season of The How I Learned Series, I'm looking back at some of the accolades we were fortunate enough to receive since the whole thing started in 2009 when I was young and spry and a lot more sexually active in my youth, but that's private.

Wanna see some press? Check out what people are saying. What can I say? I feel a little proud. Thank you for coming out to How I Learned shows, you guys. You're the ones who keep it going.

New fun times are headed your way soon because we're back in February. So, get ready.

It Was A Little Funny, A Little Sad, A Little Raunchy

Friday, November 16th, 2012

So, STORYTIMES, How I Learned's special bi-annual storytelling and reading slam, was last night. Mark Sam Rosenthal walked away with the crown, which was not actually a crown but a leftover bag of Halloween chocolates because this is the big leagues, obviously.

A big fat shout-out to the rest of the slammers -- Nick H., Dawn Fraser, Cyndi Freeman, Kathy K., Rachel P., Lynne, and Chloe S. -- and, because they didn't get picked in the lottery this time, extra special thanks goes out to Mindy O., Rob W., and Glen Rosenberg for preparing stories and courageously dropping their names in the bag.

Last but not least, huge thanks to Brad Lawrence, Lyra Smith, Andy Ross, and Rosie Schaap for their exceptional co-hosting, judging, and drinking talents.

So, guess what. That's it for live shows for 2012. Oprah-sized gratitude forever from the bottom of my heart to every single person who came out to How I Learned this year--and during the last three (omg) years--and to all of the super-talented performers who've been on the show since the very beginning.

We've got more podcast episodes coming your way so stay tuned to this very website. Or, if you want to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, you can totally do that!

Until next year!

Shhhhh....

Friday, October 5th, 2012

I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, so promise me it won't leave the room. It'll just be between you and me and the performers in this month's show, and also the rest of the audience and everyone who listens to the podcast. Our lips are sealed. Until they aren't.

The How I Learned Series Presents:

HOW I LEARNED TO KEEP A SECRET

Featuring:
DIANA SPECHLER
(New York Times)
AARON WOLFE
(The Moth GrandSLAM)
MATT KOFF
(Tosh.0)
JOANNE SOLOMON
(De La Guarda)
JENNIFER GLICK
(The Soundtrack Series)

Creator, Producer + Host:
BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY

Assistant Producer:
LYRA SMITH

Wednesday, October 24th
8pm / Doors open at 7
HAPPY ENDING
302 Broome Street between Forsyth + Eldridge
J, M, Z, F to Delancey
B, D to Grand 
FREE!

***

DIANA SPECHLER is the author of the novels Who By Fire and Skinny, and of stories in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, GQ, Esquire, Paris Review, and elsewhere. A four-time Moth StorySLAM winner and a 2012-2013 LABA Fellow, she teaches writing classes in New York City and for Stanford University's Online Writer's Studio.

AARON WOLFE is a writer, musician, and film editor. He is a Moth GrandSLAM champion, and has been featured on The Story Collider, Risk!, and Ask Me. His short film, Record/Play, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and recently won Best Short Film at HBO's Urbanworld, and at Fantastic Fest in Austin, and the Audience Award at NYC Shorts.

MATT KOFF is a comedian and writer. He has written for the Onion News Network and currently blogs for Comedy Central's Tosh.0. He performs stand-up comedy nightly around New York City. His favorite Spice Girl is Sporty and in his spare time he thinks about death a lot.

JOANNE SOLOMON is a writer/performer. She started telling stories at Luna Lounge in 1992. She can be found about town at The Moth and The Liar Show, and will be hosting her own reading series, starting in November, called FIVE. She is also an aerialist working on her solo show combining her writing and movement skills. She was in De La Guarda for many years.

JENNIFER GLICK studied Radio, Television, and Motion Pictures at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has told stories at The Soundtrack Series, WordUp's No Name Storytelling Series, and elsewhere around New York City. Jennifer takes being a Virgo very seriously.