Army v Pele

FoxTales is a story telling event in it’s fourth season at the Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Each year the organizers come up with monthly themes and have storytellers pitch ideas for a seven minute story that if selected they perform live. The audience votes on the best story each night and the winning storytellers are invited back for a “best of” event to kick off the next season.

I discovered them quite by accident. There’s a bulletin board in my gym halfway between the squat racks and the men’s room that I must pass fifty times a week. One day a flier there caught my eye. It said, “Step into the spotlight of storytelling. Share your tale.” I’ve always considered myself a storyteller more than a writer. If there’s one thing I’m good at it’s running my mouth, so I emailed the organizers and pitched a few stories based off of blog material and in November was invited to perform an edited version of “Fear and the World’s Greatest Turkey Sandwich”.

It’s funny that I’d talk about fear because I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had close encounters with monkeys and black bears. I’ve been in fist fights and high speed pursuits. I’ve had loaded guns pointed in my face. I lived through dying, and yet I was still shaking like a leaf when I stepped up to the microphone. I had to force myself to look up from my paper and look at the audience but man when you can see they connect with what you’re doing, when you see they get it, when you get a fucking laugh, it is an amazing feeling. The experience was awesome, not just on the stage but in the audience as well. It was a fun time.

So I leapt at the chance to do it again this month. And this time I was smart enough to have my spouse film it. So without further ado, I present “The Army v Pele”

And in honor of the setting I offer a Hawaiian cover of an eighties country classic.

I know this audience is largely outside of Massachusetts, but just in case, if you're near Foxboro FoxTales is a fun evening out. Check them out here: https://mrpac.art/foxtales