An invitation
to support live storytelling, independent art, and showing up in real life for each other
Hi everyone! How’s your December going? Miss us? We miss you. We’re busy putting together another year of fantastic storytelling, and I gotta tell you . . . 2026 is looking pretty darn entertaining!
IAN started in January 2025 innocently enough. Three friends meeting weekly to bond over writing and stories (and yeah, coffee and hot dogs . . . ask Keith about his dancing hot dog cart sometime). After a fateful night watching live storytelling under the Redwoods, we began to wonder what might happen if Sacramento had more nights where people showed up in real life, sat together, and listened to each other’s tales.
We weren’t sure exactly what it would become. We definitely had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! We just knew we wanted Sacramento to have the same lively storytelling scene you see in the Bay Area (entertaining, active, rooted in community), and we wanted it at our favorite live arts venue, The Sofia.
Over the course of 2025, that idea grew.
Our mainstage IAN show expanded into WILDCARD, a monthly open mic for true, personal stories, and Prompt, a podcast for people who love stories. What started as one night has become a small ecosystem of shows, storytellers, and audiences who keep choosing to come out, put their phones away, and be entertained together, live and in real life. Seriously, it doesn’t get much better than that, and we love seeing you show up.
That part still matters to us more than anything. Thank you.
As we head into our second year, we’re trying something new to help keep IAN healthy and sustainable.
Starting in January, we’ll be printing a monthly program—more keepsake than flyer.
It’s a way to spotlight the storytellers, give the audience something to take home, and acknowledge the local support that makes these nights possible.
Alongside equal space for each storyteller (always paid equally, btw), we’ll be acknowledging a handful of local/regional supporters, small, for-profit businesses and community members who believe in independent art and want to help keep rooms like the one we have at The Sofia full.
We’re not looking for corporate sponsors. We are inviting a few local/regional businesses (coffee shops, bookstores, neighborhood spots, creative spaces, people doing good work) and individuals to support live storytelling in Sacramento in a way that feels good to everyone involved.
Supporting In a Nutshell Storytelling means supporting:
independent artists and storytellers
small, for-profit local businesses
nights where people show up in person
connection, laughter, reflection, and ENTERTAINMENT
a Sacramento that invests in culture while it’s happening, and when it’s needed most
Early supporters will be recognized as our Ride or Dies—just our way of thanking the folks who help us get this off the ground for our upcoming year. No flashy perks. No weird hierarchy. Just acknowledgment, gratitude, and locked-in pricing through the year.
Here’s a simple one-page overview of the different ways to support:
If you have questions or want to talk it through, reply to this email, and we’ll connect you with Aaron. And if someone comes to mind, like a coffee shop, bookstore, neighborhood spot, or just a person who cares about live art, feel free to pass this along. Word of mouth has been how IAN has grown since the beginning.
And if this isn’t for you, that’s okay. You’re already doing what we love most:
Coming to the shows, listening closely, telling a friend, and showing up again next month.
That will always be the heart of this whole thing.
Thanks for being part of it.
See you soon and IN REAL LIFE, HUMANS!
xoxo
Amy (and those other nutty nutshells, Keith and Aaron)