February 08, 2024
Courtesy/First Person Arts
Eight locals will share their real-life stories of heartbreak at the Ex Files StorySlam on Valentine's Day. The audience and two judges will award $100 to the best storyteller.
Bitterness is encouraged at an upcoming Valentine's Day event, where speakers share stories of love gone wrong.
The storytelling nonprofit First Person Arts will host the 14th annual Ex Files Anti-Valentine's Day StorySlam at Underground Arts on Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. For $15, patrons can hear real-life stories of woeful situationships, heartbreak and the ones that got away. Four storytellers will be pre-selected and another three will be chosen from the audience; those who want to participate can throw their names into a hat that night for consideration.
Stories need to be true and about five minutes long, and participants are scored based on content and presentation. A winner will be determined by standup comic Lamarr Todd, an additional mystery judge and an audience score. The prize is $100.
Neil Bardhan and Kelsey Stewart, a married couple who met at a StorySlam in 2014, will host the event.
"Almost everybody has the shared experience of having been in a relationship of some sort, but we all have unique takes on that," said Bardhan, the director of applied storytelling for First Person Arts. "Within there, there's combinations and shared versions of broad strokes of relationships and breakups and aftermath. So it's just a really fun way to put yourself out there and connect with people."
Stewart has participated in a number of StorySlam events, but started off as an audience member years ago. Many of the stories have unexpected twists and are unpredictable, she said, but they're also relatable and a way to feel a little less alone in the dating world.
"I feel like when when people are telling relationship stories and ex stories, a lot of times the person starts one way and ends in a slightly more empowered way," Stewart said. "The audience gets really into it, there's a lot of fun moments, shared experience moments with dating and there's laughter."
First Person Arts hosts a number of storytelling events, including a StorySlam for nurses and one on online dating. Events like this, Stewart said, offer the chance to bring people together, especially during a holiday about love.
"It's a really nice way to feel like you're a part of something slightly bigger, and it's just fun to hear stories that you know are real," Stewart said.
