swag for a story
https://www.facebook.com/yourdnto
I may or may not have mentioned before that I’m a big fan of DNTO (“Definitely Not The Opera”) and listen to the podcasts if I’m not near a radio on Saturday afternoons. When they announced a live taping in Toronto, I was on it like nobody’s business, immediately emailing for a ticket. They confirmed the ticket — the next day, I think? — and yesterday they announced that there would be some audience participation in the form of stories around the theme “In Over Your Head”, specifically about:
- home renos
- parenting/babysitting
- at work
- exercise / physical activity
You know, I have stories for ALL of those topics, but the first one that came to mind yesterday was about babysitting.
So I thought about it today, and when the five of us arrived at The Tranzac to find good seats, I flagged down one of the show’s producers to tell him I had a story. When I gave him the rundown he laughed and said I was the only one with a babysitting story and that he’d try and put me in the show. Soon after, he came by to confirm that I was in the show and he wanted me to sit in the front row.
Eeek!
I have very little experience in public speaking, but all occasions were rather high-pressure: speech at my cousin’s Vancouver wedding in September 2003 (I introduced her to hubby), emceeing a retirement party I hosted at a Vancouver hotel in November 2003 (my employers), David’s memorial in Pennsylvania on December 2005, Vinny’s memorial in Germany in March 2006, and the last time was Arliin’s memorial in January 2008.
Weddings, retirement, funerals. It was high time I told a story where it didn’t make people cry, don’t you think? I’d much rather make people laugh.
Marin joined me in the front row for moral support while the others stayed at the side. When it came time for audience stories, of which there turned out to be only two (the other participants were doing other things), I was asked to stand along with another guy. I stood behind him… on purpose, because I didn’t want to go first. I really dislike going first.
Guess who went first?
For some reason, Sook-Yin Lee didn’t point the microphone at the guy standing closer to her, she looked straight at me and I panicked…
“So what happened that made you feel in over your head and stressed out?” she said.
All I could think of was, “You making me go first!”
She even requested they turn UP the lights so I could see out into the sea of people, but I couldn’t bring myself look out there and said, “Um, I think I’ll just look at you instead.” I thought it would be easier to think of me just telling a story to ONE person, like two people in a cafe, rather than the whole country.
The rest was a blur, but I did vaguely hear through the rush of blood in my ears the muffled sound of laughter from light years away, and I did remember the one thing I made sure I said to close the story.
If you want to hear the “In Over Your Head” stories, stay tuned to Definitely Not The Opera this Saturday, March 3. You can always hear it later on the podcast soon after that, too.
The rest of these photos below were taken with my cameraphone. I tried to shoot a video of a random guy from the audience volunteering to try balut (don’t click unless you have a strong stomach!), but my Android stopped recording partway! Oh no! So I just have some pictures instead and one minute of video.
It’s probably funnier if you live in Toronto because there are lots of reference jokes, but I’m sure you’ll get most of them whether you live here or not.
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