August 8, 2022 • 8:00 p.m.
GreylockWORKS — State Road, North Adams, Mass.
* ADVISORY: The stories told by participants may contain mature themes, profanity, and/or descriptions of traumatic (or at least highly embarrassing) events.
We’re delighted to be following the North Berkshire Artist Meet-Up, presented by Commonfolk Artist Collective at 5:30 p.m. with music afterwards by Melanie Alanna Glenn! Common Folk will be presenting some data from their 2022 North Adams Artist Census.
So looking forward to adding this location — an actual former mill, elegantly revived — to the Berkshire Yarn Mill series! GreylockWORKS has the coziest co-working spaces, with food and beverage purveyors on site to slake your appetite and thirst. The Break Room, Berkshire Cider Project, and Berkshire Distillery.
The radiance of June, igniting vivd colors and possessing actual…firepower in the truest sense, is welcome after so many grey and frigid nights. Something begins to happen in July, though. The reviving glow seems to jump from 60 watts to 120, with no dimmer switch in sight. The Spring crispness of our concentration gets clouded and wooly. Not a stitch of clothing seems comfortable outside under the sun. Those of us with basements in our buildings seriously start to consider taking up subterranean resident with the cellar spiders and cave crickets rather than stick to the sheets one. more. freaking. night. Real New Englanders wait until Labor Day to see if it’s hot enough yet to drag the window units out.
Ahhhh…but some nights are like heaven’s garden aren’t they? Those are the ones that started when the afternoon heat shimmering off the road up ahead threatened to reveal actual mirages to your Eazy-Baked brain. And then a breeze picked up, barely perceptible at first, then growing. A real change in the weather, a real break in the heat. Sometime around 4:30, maybe. Or maybe not until 7:00, but those gentle threads of cool relief making their way through the trees and yards comfort and assure you that that’s the last time you’ll be mopping your brow with a cloth held limply in your weighty hand.
The oppressive side of Summer has given way for now. In the cool, cool, cool of the evening, rejuvenation is possible. The idea of gathering with friends and family infuses the majesty of sunset with optimism and peace. Tell us about an event that occurred or some activity you engaged in as the sun set and the ocean of air around you began to revive you and propel you forward, or at least not weigh you down like some blanket of torture.
There was only one more. Doesn’t matter what it was.
Sure, it might have been that last slice of pizza that you KNEW you should have saved for your little brother.
Maybe it was that funny looking runt of the litter that no one wanted and you ended up keeping and turned out to be the best furry friend (or any friend) you ever had.
Could have been that last cancer stick in the pack that made you realize how hooked you were when the thought of not being able to smoke on the way to the store to get more smokes filled you with dread.
But after that? Not a one more.
Either way, tell us a story about your experience reaching the final item in whatever category. The Berkshire Yarn Mill is just the place to spin that tale. The rules are simple:
• Must be true
• Must have happened to you
• No notes or props
• You’ll have five minutes
Our panel of judges (Wanna be a judge? Talk to me at the event) will pick a winner, who may just go home with fabulous prizes.
Of course, The Moth is widely regarded as the authority on story slamming, and we encourage you to read their Storytelling Tips & Tricks.
Other great resources and advice concerning story slam success can be found:
StorySlams
Don’t practice in the mirror – 8 tips to prepare for a Story Slam
Story Slams for Fun and Development