Sep. 10, 2008 - Issue #673: Sex in the City 2008

Story Slam: Grand Slam Off

Competition has created community at monthly Story Slam

In the end, there can only be one, but that doesn’t mean the participants of the season-ending Story Slam Grand Slam Off can’t be friends afterward. 
 

Bringing six previously winning storytellers—Tyler Enfield, Jacki Rudko, Jadon Rempel, Vern Wishart, Roxanne Felix and Marina Michaelides—back to the Blue Chair Café to compete for the title of Story Slam Champ, the Grand Slam Off is both the cap to another year of the monthly storytelling event, and a chance for one storyteller to get some bragging rights and a bit of prize money for their efforts. Not that winning is necessarily what it’s all about.
 

Still, for the special event, each storyteller will bring two five-minute stories to the stage, to be judged as always by a panel of randomly selected audience members. Though any given Slam night is chock full of engaging stories, Susan Hagan, the woman who started the Edmonton Story Slam almost three years ago, is particularly excited for this event, which pits the best against the best. 
 

“They’re all fabulous writers,” says Hagan.  “It’s anyone’s game. The calibre of writing is going to be amazing.”
 

The finalists are a diverse group, include a poet (Rempel), a former minister now in his 80s (Wishart), and a relative newcomer to the Story Slam scene (Rudko), though all have proven themselves adept at the format, which combines aspects of both writing—all stories, typically 700 to 800 words, are written beforehand—and performing. And while that combination always proves potent, Hagan says that having a match for the finalists increases the intensity of the competition, and challenges the writers. 
 

“We’re trying to fire people up, and it seems to be working,” she says. “When you end a season, there’s a new beginning. We’re looking to take it to the next level.” 

 

As per usual, the performers are relying on the audience for more than just moral support: prize money is collected from the suggested entrance donation of $5, which audience members pay when they attend the event. Getting the audience to support the slammers has rarely been a problem, though: Hagan says that more than $400 was collected in June, and she fully expects the pot to double for the upcoming competition, given the stakes. 
 

However, even with more at stake, Hagan expects the Grand Slam Off to retain its spirited-but-friendly aura. Though the Slam does pit contestants head to head, Hagan explains that the monthly challenge has become much more of a community than a competition, with both audience members and storytellers frequently returning.
 

“It’s this really fun, inspiring event that invites people to come out and share their stories. We have gotten so many different, creative people out. We see familiar faces each time, but it also reaches out beyond the circle every month,” she says. “It has its own energy, and everybody makes sure it keeps going.”
 

Hagan admits that she’s felt that kind of vibe ever since starting the Slam back in February of 2006, inspired by a similar event she used to attend when she lived in Vancouver. 

“From the moment we started it, it was magic. It’s a free space, a place where you can take off your mask, and it got people coming back and excited,” she explains. “You don’t have to a persona to be in it. It’s a community, not a club.” V 
 

Wed, Sep 17 (7 pm)

Story Slam: Grand Slam Off

Featuring  Tyler Enfield, Jacki Rudko, 

Jadon Rempel, Vern Wishart, Roxanne Felix, Marina Michaelides

Blue Chair Café (9624 - 76 Ave), $5

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