Stories of 'Substance' aka Drugs are NICE
A note before our January show
The three of us love the theme “Drugs are Nice.” Not only is it the title of an excellent Lisa Carver book, but it also encapsulates the kind of stories we wanted to share with our audience at the start of 2026: stories about drugs gone right.
Then The Sofia asked us to change the name for their promotions.
Totally fair. Most of the stories we hear about drugs, especially in public, especially in the media, end in disaster. The cautionary tale. The after-school special. The “and that’s why you never . . .”
Addiction is a real thing that can tear a person’s life and the lives of their families apart. But that’s not the whole truth, is it?
Sometimes drugs show up in a person’s life not as the villain, but as the catalyst. Something cracks open, a connection is made, and life takes an unexpected turn. We learn something about ourselves, about love, about grief, about living that sticks with us and profoundly alters us.
Also, to be SUPER totally fair, sometimes a person does drugs and has the best night of fun and adventure ever. It happens!
That’s what we’re after this month. Drugs going right.
On January 23, In a Nutshell kicks off our 2026 season with Stories of Substance (aka Drugs are Nice), an evening of true, personal storytelling about moments of experimentation, transformation, and unexpected outcomes. These aren’t “drug stories,” exactly (though drugs do show up). They’re stories about the insight, the humor, the humanity, the part that stays, and yes, hella good times.
If you’ve been to a Nutshell show before, you know the vibe. People arrive in groups, in pairs, or alone. They say “Hi, KEITH!” and laugh harder than they expect. They may not know exactly what flavor of stories will be told, but they do know they will feel something both big and universal and yet uniquely individual. And wherever the stories land, they know for sure they’ll be discussing or thinking about it on the way home.
If you haven’t been yet, January is a pretty good place to start.
Four exceptional storytellers will be onstage on the 23rd, each bringing a story that surprised us, not because it was shocking, but because it was honest. Because it went somewhere we don’t often let stories go in public.
So you’re invited.
Consider this your personal invitation to leave the house.
To sit in a room with other humans and feel the stuff all of us feel in our own strange, particular ways.
To hear stories that don’t flatten life into easy morals.
To kick off a new year with curiosity instead of fear.
If this sounds like your kind of night, tickets are available through The Sofia. We’d really love to see you out in the world. You KNOW you’re our favorite humans, don’tcha? DON’TCHA?!
xoxo,
Amy Bee and her Nutty Nutshells Keith Lowell Jensen and Aaron Carnes
If you’re enjoying this show, one of the best ways to support it is by becoming a paid subscriber here on Substack. That support helps us pay storytellers and ourselves, keep live shows going, and keep making our podcast, which will be free in 2026. No pressure, but it really does make a difference. xoxo, Amy