Since 2009, How I Learned has featured some of the best live storytelling, comedy, and readings in New York City. It all happens a couple of times a year, and sometimes more than that, which basically means you'll have the best night of you life on those nights, repeatedly.




"...Always hilarious, sometimes touching, and without fail entertaining."
- Brooklyn Magazine

"Hostess Blaise Allysen Kearsley makes sure to keep it awkwardly funny."
- CBS New York

"One of Five Best Storytelling Shows in New York City."
- Time Out New York Critics' Pick

"One of Five Best Comedy Shows Hosted by Women."
- CBS New York

"A raucous raconteur series"
- Brokelyn

"A celebrated series."
The New York Times

"Two times now this show has renewed my faith in this whole storytelling endeavor and what it means in the world."
– David Crabb, Bad Kid

"Each show was a packed, standing room only crowd that would be lit on fire as the show progressed... Storytellers are permitted to read—if that's how their material is served best—which means it also draws a lot of brilliant writers."
- Ophira Eisenberg, NPR's Ask Me Another


"If you've never been, it's the best and you should go."
- Midnight Breakfast

"The night proves that, with time and liquor, some of the most painful lessons make the best stories." 
- Electric Literature's The Outlet

"It's the Berlitz of bad behavior."
- Emdashes

"Had a great time at How I Learned last night! Packed to the rafters!" 
- Scott Rogowsky, Running Late with Scott Rogowsky

"One of the best reading series the Big Apple, and possibly the world, has ever known."
- Greg Olear, The Weeklings

"A raucous raconteur series." 
- Brokelyn

"Writers, comics, musicians, and general wordsmiths take the phrase 'How I learned...' and propel it into engaging, hilarious, and even extreme territories." 
- Sosh

"Basically The Moth meets A&E Biography, but live, and featuring NYC microcelebrities.
- NBC New York

"Quasi-social events where literature meets comedy meets performance."

- Brooklyn News Service

"The founder of the How I Learned Series, Blaise Allysen Kearsley, is a charming host with an irrepressible, humming little laugh that seems to be a compromise she’s made with some wicked guffaw within."
- Rachel Lyon, LitWrap

"Best show ever."
- Joe Veix, Death and Taxes

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How I Learned has also been named a Critics' Pick in three separate Time Out sections: 
Own This City, Books and Comedy.

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Named 1 of  5 Best Storytelling Series in NYC by Time Out New York: Comedy. And we're in great company.


Named one of the best things to do on a date in Time Out New York's summer dating issue.


How I Learned gets a lovely shout out from author, essayist and HIL alum Chloe Caldwell on Book Stalker.


How I Learned is mentioned on Critical Mob in the Critical Reads column, the Comedy Relief Edition, in a blurb about writer and HIL alum Courtney Maum.

How I Learned gets a nod from The New York Freakin' Times.


The many merits of How I Learned are explained for Tin House in "Six Ways Reading Series Can Improve Your Writing" by HIL alum Courtney Maum.

"How I Learned To Say I'm Sorry," featuring Elissa Schappell, appears on the front page of Time Out's Books section online.

Electric Literature's The Outlet covered the April 2011's installment "How I Learned It's Not Me It's You (Or Maybe It's Me)."

CBS New York listed How I Learned as one of the Five Best Things To Do

How I Learned appeared in the "Notable New York" column on The Rumpus.


How I Learned is featured in two separate articles on The Ticker: "How I Learned... live series takes off!" and "How she learned from her 'mis-education.'"

Time Out interviews featured How I Learned guests, including Julie Klausner and Stefan Merrill Block: 'What Life is Like.'


Flavorpill cites How I Learned as a get-there-early-it-fills-up-fast kind of series.

How I Learned goes to NEW ORLEANS for a sold out two-night stand, and gets featured in Best of New Orleans.


How I Learned shows up on the front page of The L Magazine online. (Left)

How I Learned is featured on the front page of Time Out's Own This City blog with a post about learning to live in New York for, what else, the "How I Learned to Live in New York" show.

Other favorable mentions:
The Awl
Bedford + Bowery
Best New York Comedy
BookVibe
Broadway World
Brokelyn
Brooklyn Based
Brooklyn Paper
Brooklyn Vegan
The Culturetrip
Flavorwire
F*cked in Park Slope
G.L.O.C. (Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy)
Galleycat
Gothamist
The Lo-Down
Media Bistro
New York Magazine
New York Observer
New York Press
New York Times' Urban Eye
Nonsense NYC
Park Slope Stoop
The Rundown
The Skint
The Village Voice