June 26 show: NSFW
Featuring four spicy stories for grownups. Meet the tellers!
We, The Nutshell Three, are very excited about the June show we have for you: NSFW.
Not because it’s spicy, although it IS spicy, and I want you to know that going in—but because the stories we tell about our bodies, our desires, and our identities are some of the most human stories there are. And for some reason, we don’t talk about them out loud very often. Not really. Let’s change that!
🎟️ Get your tickets here (yes, they’re cheaper in advance than at the door)
A little context, because you deserve it:
When we say NSFW, we mean it. Sex will be discussed. Desire, bodies, intimacy, identity . . . all of it is on the table. If that’s not your thing, no hard feelings, truly. We’ll see you in July (The theme is BEST IN SHOW! Tales about our animal companions).
But if you’ve ever sat with thoughts and feelings about your own body or your own longing and thought, I could never say that out loud, this night is for you. Come watch four people say it out loud. Beautifully. Bravely. Hilariously.
There’s a reason this kind of show exists. And there’s a reason people leave them feeling cracked open in the best possible way. Because the stories we’re most afraid to tell are almost always the ones other people need to hear most. And maybe the stories we’re afraid to hear are the ones we hope one day we’ll be okay with ourselves enough to tell.
That’s what bawdy storytelling actually is, by the way; people standing up and telling the truth about the most vulnerable, confusing, exhilarating, occasionally disastrous parts of being a being, a being burdened with a body and a brain that have wants and desires (often counterintuitive to each other!). These “truths” told through spicy stories can be explicit and hilarious, heartbreaking and cathartic; they can be predictable or inevitable or so confoundingly particular, but whatever they expose, confess, or declare, sooner or later you’ll probably catch yourself nodding along, thinking, yes, oh god, yes, that, and then look around and realize everyone else in the room is nodding, too. And maybe you’ll be a little flushed in the face; maybe not. But you will be tuned in.
Bawdy storytelling is honest in a way that most of us are trained, from a very young age, not to be. And when you hear it done well, candidly and with craft, in a room full of people listening together, it’s like a tight knot in your gut loosens. Like you’ve been given permission to be a little more yourself. And no matter what your mom or your dad or your priest or the gym teacher told you, it’s good to be a little more you.
What if none of what you hear, none of these stories of bodies being, sounds familiar? That’s okay, too. You don’t have to relate. You just have to be willing to listen. Go ahead and be a passenger, enjoy the ride. There’s something powerful about sitting with a story that’s nothing like yours and finding yourself moved by it regardless. That’s called empathy, and it’s exactly what we’re here for.
The Storytellers:
Dixie De La Tour is the woman who literally helped invent this format. As the founder of Bawdy Storytelling (described by the LA Weekly as “The Moth for Pervs” and celebrating its 20th anniversary this year ), Dixie has spent two decades coaxing true, brave, hilarious stories of sex and intimacy out of people who didn’t know they had them. She is a sexual folklorist, a storytelling coach, and one of the most compelling presences you will ever encounter in a room with a microphone. Having her at a Nutshell show feels less like booking a guest and more like a visit from royalty. (But she’s so wonderfully down to earth. Go say Hi to her!)
Her story for June 26th: When a beloved friend passes away, Dixie decides to honor his memory by doing something she swore she would never do: have sex with her friends. A birthday orgy, grief, joy, and a complete rethinking of a lifelong conviction. I mean, come on! I know you wanna hear this!
Addy Sakler is a Sacramento poet, abstract painter, breast cancer survivor, vagabond, and, as of a life-changing diagnosis, a newly self-aware autistic woman discovering, for the first time, what great sex actually feels like. Her story is one beautiful arc: from missed cues and mediocre intimacy to awakening and joy, and it is exactly the kind of story that makes you want to call someone you love and say, you have to hear this. Addy is a Sacramento original, and we’re so proud to have her on the Nutshell stage.
Amber Elektra is a storyteller and producer of Word of Mouth Storytelling in Placerville, a veteran of both Mortified and Bawdy Storytelling, and a woman who has spent years turning questionable life choices into community entertainment. Her story begins with a back-page ad and ends with fate stepping in for quality control. She will make you laugh at things you probably shouldn’t, and you will love every second of it. Also, her dog is named Dr. Gonzo, and that says it all.
Alex Paez is a Communication Studies professor at American River College, a former Disney character performer, a 2001 national speech champion, and a man who didn’t tell his own stories onstage for 25 years until last year, when he finally started. He is making up for lost time. His story: she said they were going to lunch. When they parked in the back of an empty corporate parking lot, he realized the only item on the menu was him. He knew immediately he had met the most amazing person in his life. For better or worse, we’ve all been there, haven’t we?
Why you should be at this show:
Here’s what I know about our audience: you are curious, you are open-hearted, and you understand that showing up in real life, in a room with other humans, listening together, is one of the few things that still feels like genuine connection in this world.
We need each other. We really do. And there is something about sitting in the dark together while someone tells you the truth about the most tender, complicated, funny, mortifying parts of being human that has become almost radical. We are so rarely truly witnessed. We are so rarely truly present with each other: phones down, nowhere to be, just listening. Two hours where a stranger trusts you with something real, and you trust them back just by staying in your seat. That exchange, that quiet, mutual act of showing up, is special. It’s magical! And when it happens, you feel it for days. That’s what you come for. That’s what you carry home. That’s what you’re still thinking about on Monday.
This is one of those nights. Don’t be the person who meant to go. There are no regrets in going!
🎟️ Tickets are here—cheaper in advance, and seats will go early!
I can’t WAIT to see you at this one, humans! You know how much I LOVE seeing you in real life.
xoxo, Amy Bee, her spicy friend Keith Lowell Jensen, and her hot-tamale guy, Aaron Carnes)
(P.S. Speaking of Keith [HI KEITH!], Nutshell is hosted by the one and only Keith Lowell Jensen, who will hold the whole beautiful, spicy night together with his usual charm and impeccable comic timing. Consider yourself in good hands.)
If you enjoy what we’re building here, one of the most helpful ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps us pay storytellers, pay ourselves, keep live shows going, and continue producing the Nutshell True Story Hour podcast for everyone to enjoy. No pressure, but it truly does make a difference.
And as always: showing up, listening, and bringing friends is already real support💜
(You’re receiving this email because you either signed up for it or interacted somehow with Keith, Amy, or Aaron in the past. We’re so glad you’re here!)