Conundrum Chronicles
(A StorySlam)
Hosted by Fred Brill

Where Stories are Told * Moral Dilemmas Unfold * Judgements are Bold!

In Person at The Marsh San Francisco Mainstage

Second Tuesdays at 7:00 pm

Upcoming Performances

July 14
Storytelling Summit
Theme: Stranded!
Winners from the past year will compete for the Conundrum Chronicles Crown

Throw your name in the hat for a chance to tell a true, 5-minute story, about you, or be the judge… or kick back and enjoy the transformational power of live storytelling!

Ticket Information

Tickets: $10 – $25 General Seating sliding scale | $50 & $100 Reserved Seating

Online ticket sales close 2 hours before each performance,
and additional tickets may be available for purchase at the door.

105 minutes | No Intermission | All Ages
Please do not bring infants to the show

Please read our
Health, Safety and COVID-19 Information
Our commitment to our patrons

Theme & Featured Storytellers

July’s Theme: “STRANDED!”

Featured Storytellers

JP Frary has been designing and making things out of recycled wood and metal in the SF Bay Area since 1995. Specializing in using recycled materials that straddle the line between sculpture and furniture. He just finished a solo show at The Monterey Museum of Art. JP’s second passion is storytelling. He won The Moth GrandSlam at The Herbst Theater in October and has been a featured storyteller at StorySlam Oakland, Beyond Borders, Back Pocket Media, In A Nutshell, The Naked Truth, KQED’s Bay Curious and The California Report….and he is the Resident Storyteller at Redwood Nights in Fairfax, where he has told 61 different stories over the past two years. He was born in San Francisco but grew up in Mendocino County where his ability to come up with a story got him into trouble as often as it got him out of trouble.

 

 

Maria Goodfellow Maria Goodfellow is a desert dweller from Albuquerque, New Mexico. After studying Biology in Iowa, she joined the Peace Corps and served as an Agricultural Extension Agent in Mbatoví, Paraguay. She returned to the U.S. with her greatest souvenir: a Paraguayan street pup named Bug. Maria moved to the Bay Area two years ago for a job with the National Park Service and is currently on temporary assignment in Yosemite National Park. When she’s back home in the Mission, you can usually find her throwing clay at The Pottery Studio, foraging for mussels with her fiancé, or sprinting after Bug.

 

Ruven Hannah Born in London, grew up in Jerusalem, came out in Amsterdam, now lives with his husband in San Francisco. He co-founded a clown-puppet theater, participated in Solo Mio Festival SF, and wrote and performed several solo shows. Recently, puppets and costumes have taken a backseat to pure storytelling. Ruven is a winner of both a Moth StorySlam and twice The Conundrum Chronicles StorySlam SF.

 

 

Lisa Beth Hoffman is an accidental storyteller, falling into the craft when she fell into nonprofit fundraising and consulting many years ago. She is, also accidentally, an ordained Zen priest with San Francisco Zen Center, and storytelling is a natural part of teaching and talking about Buddhism.  She is surprised and humbled to be part of the Conundrum Chronicles Storytelling Summit!

 

 

For William Humnicky, storytelling is like a friend—one who makes you laugh when your sandwich dives jelly-side down, nudges you out of your own head, and wraps you in a warm blanket when the world makes you shiver. We all need friends like that. So don’t hold back—he’s all ears for YOUR story.

 

Abdul Kenyatta has been the Executive Director of the Speakeasy Storyteller Series since 2012. He is an actor, poet and jazz and blues musician. He has administered programs for the African American Historical and Cultural society and produced and performed in productions of the San Francisco International Art Festival. He has appeared on National Public Radio -Snap Judgment and has won Bay Area storytelling competitions including The Moth. He has appeared in productions of Beyond Borders, Stage Werx, and Marsh Theaters in Berkeley and San Francisco and in New York, performing one-person shows: Back in the Day and Strictly Harlem.

 

 

Alec Lee is a midwestern transplant who landed in San Francisco in 1985. Alec taught at a San Francisco high school and also co-founded the education non-profit program, Aim High, where he served as Executive Director for 35 years (and told the Aim High story often!). Alec stumbled into storytelling about a year and half ago and has loved writing, telling stories and connecting with the storytelling community. He and his wife, Susan, enjoy travel and spending time with their two adult kids who also live in SF (a small miracle)

 

How it Works

The Conundrum Chronicles uses a StorySlam format that challenges storytellers to share a five-minute story about a moral dilemma they have confronted. (First-time storytellers are especially welcome!) Audience members are then invited to discuss, and score each story based on the elements of the stories, giving meaningful feedback to the storytellers.

Guidelines:

  • Seven storytellers are drawn from a hat on the night of the performance. There will also be a featured storyteller
  • All stories must be true, about you, and connected to the theme.
  • No notes are allowed.
  • Stories must be respectful of individuals, avoiding disparagement based on culture, class, race, sex, religion, language, gender identity, sexual preference, age, and ability/disability.
  • Stories must be five minutes long (with a one minute grade period).
  • After each story is told, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss the qualities of the stories with their friends and elbow partners.
  • Audience members will then score storytellers using a Google Survey based on:
    • Authenticity
    • Entertainment
    • Stakes/Tension
    • Heart-touching
    • Reflection and Resolution

Through this unique scoring system, not only will the winning story be determined, but storytellers will receive real-time feedback on the impact of their narratives. Celebrate the power of storytelling to entertain, inspire reflection, and empathy.

Each year, the winning storyteller from each month will be invited to participate in THE STORYTELLING SUMMIT OF THE CONUNDRUM CHRONICLES!

Storytellers may purchase videos of their performances for $35.00