Something big is coming on November 14, and we want you there for all of it.
All year, WILDCARD! has been creating and experimenting with a monthly open mic story swap where anyone can walk in, put their name in the NOT HAT, and tell a true personal story in front of a room that actually listens. At the end of the night, the storytellers themselves vote for their favorite story. The winner takes home $50 and a feature spot in the following month.
But now what do we do with all these winners?
This:
Welcome to the WILDCARD Shiny Thing Showcase!
Our season’s best storytellers, the ones who not only wowed the audience but moved their fellow storytellers, who won the vote and earned a featured spot, return for one extraordinary night. Every storyteller gets 12 minutes to tell their best true story and have their moment to shine.
And here’s the thing about our particular, Sacramento-style competition: everybody wins!
Every storyteller takes home a Shiny Thing because that’s who we are: a community that believes in celebrating the people brave enough to stand up and tell the truth out loud, with craft and intention. At the end of the night, the audience votes for one story to take home the Even Shinier Thing.
Because some stories are just that good.
This is WILDCARD!’s Grand Slam, but Sacramento-style, with our own twists, and it’s going to be a fantastic night.
The storytellers so far:
Michelle Wood: WILDCARD!’s inaugural winner. She walked into the NOT HAT in June, told her story, and walked out with $50 and a feature spot. Then she came back in July and wowed as a feature. Michelle is exactly the person we had in mind when we came up with our Shiny Thing Showcase idea.
Victoria Goldblatt: actor, playwright, award-winning director, and Neuroscience Health Consultant, which remains the most interesting combination of credentials we’ve ever put on a WILDCARD poster. She brought a story about the day everything changed.
Frances Southwick: friendly family doctor, storyteller, and nonfiction writer from Davis. They told a tale of love and narcolepsy and completely won over the crowd. Bobby and Small (the cats) are very proud.
John Kenan: Told a harrowing childhood story about friendship and a gun that left the audience completely still. It was the kind of story that sticks with you and reminds you exactly why we all love this art form so much.
THERE IS ONE SPACE LEFT! WILL YOUR STORY BE THE ONE? (Come to October’s WILDCARD! and put your name in the NOT HAT!)
(More storytellers will be added as our season continues. Watch this space.)
The venue: Two Rivers Cider Company
We are so excited to bring the Shiny Thing Showcase to Two Rivers Cider, Sacramento’s original micro-cidery, founded in 1996 and a genuine neighborhood institution in Land Park. There’s a real stage, a food truck outside, and a lineup of small-batch ciders that will make you very happy you came.
A special recognition
Some people show up for the storytelling community not because it benefits them directly, but because they genuinely believe in the art form and what it can do for the people involved. John Aubert is one of those people: a storyteller, instructor, story coach, and host of Capital Storytelling’s Do Tell Open Mic. John has spent years showing up for Sacramento’s storytelling scene, teaching, coaching, producing, and cheering everyone else on, while also being a fantastic storyteller, by the way. At the Shiny Thing Showcase, we’re going to take a moment to celebrate him. Details to come, but know this: it’s going to be good.
Your nutshell Three:
Keith Lowell Jensen: host, comedian, and the person Amy Bee trusts most to hold a big night together with warmth, wit, and exactly the right amount of chaos.
Amy Bee: creator, producer, and the woman who had a vision for what Sacramento’s storytelling scene could be and refused to stop until it existed. The Shiny Thing Showcase is proof she was onto something.
Aaron Carnes: author, music journalist, and the steady hand behind every wild card that’s happened this year. He scanned every ticket, held every room together, and, according to Amy Bee, looked absolutely wonderful doing it. Tonight he gets a night off from the NOT HAT logistics, probably, maybe. Ummmm, on second thought . . .
(More info on ticket page!)
We are building something wonderful here in Sacramento, and this is where we celebrate how far we’ve come. Come be a part of it, humans! You KNOW we love seeing you out there in the real world.