LISTEN!! Ex Fabula Radio Show

The next Ex Fabula Radio Show will be on Sunday March 27th, at 10pm on WUWM 89.7. The show  will feature stories from the Ex Fabula Spectacular that was held at Turner Hall Ballroom, in December 2010 – The theme: ‘Gifts’

This Weekend: Spectacular and Debut of WUWM Ex Fabula Radio Special

THIS Saturday night at 8 pm! The first Ex Fabula December Spectacular.

$10 at the door! 8 great storytellers and warmhearted fun for a wintery night.

More information here:

http://pabsttheater.org/show/exfabulaspectacular

WUWM Ex Fabula Radio Special: Stranger in a Strange Land debuts on Sunday, Dec 12th at 10 pm!

This episode will feature stories and shorts from April 2010.

Tune into WUWM 89.7 or wuwm.com to stream it live.

More information here:

WUWM Ex Fabula Radio Specials

Recap of Ex Fabula ALL STARS at Turner Hall Ballroom

***Thanks to our guest blogger and Ex Fabula volunteer Lane Burns!***

How else do you tie up an epic first season of Ex Fabula? You bring your Audience Favorite storytellers to the Turner Hall Ballroom, and give them twice as much storytelling time and the theme of Epic Fail, of course!  Add in live art by dwellephant, hilarious UltraShorts, and great sponsors, and you’ve got a night to remember.

Friday night, May 14th, 300 people poured into Turner Hall for two hours of hilarious and teeth-gritting personal stories of EPIC FAILs. Emcees and founders Leah Delaney and Megan McGee introduced the speakers and shared audience ultrashorts, while founder Amy Schleicher was the timekeeper.  The event was sponsored by WMSE 91.7 and WUWM 89.7. During the stories, local artist dwellephant created visual interpretations of the tales; at the end of the night, the drawings were raffled off and taken home by 7 lucky winners.

The first storyteller of the evening was our special guest Anthony Umlauf.  Anthony has had his name drawn from the hat several times during our events and always has a story to keep the audience involved.  He’s been a big supporter since day one. Anthony finished his season of Ex Fabula with the tale of how he was banned from the state of Ohio.  Alcohol WAS involved.

Next Leah Leone, winner of Ex Fabula #2, told the story about how it took a trip to China to realize that it was time to break up with her “boyfriend”, much to his relief.  Then, Brian Moore – Winner of Ex Fabula #4 – Barney Baggett and Liza Bielby of the Hinterlands took us all on a side-splitting Technicolor rollercoaster ride in their Rashomon about Special Milk and the last celebration of the Hindu holiday Holi in Humbolt County, California.

Winner of Ex Fabula #5 Drew Brhel followed up with a tale of his first, and last, experience living a double life when he found himself explaining to airport authorities why he was flying under the name Nehasapenapetalam when his American Express said Brhel.  There was a short intermission, and right away, Paul Finger (winner of Ex Fabula #1) led the crowd through a merry romp along Milwaukee’s Mitchell Street where his holiday spirit was sorely tested.

Then, Laura Halfmann and Stephanie Halfmann, winners of Ex Fabula #6, performed a dynamic duo including story, song, and dance about their quest to EPICLY FAIL specifically FOR this event – by becoming Erotic Movement Technicians for an amateur night. Closing the night was Tom Crawford of WMSE, winner of Ex Fabula #3, who gave us a heart-wrenching solo story of a son and his father just beginning to come to terms with over 20 years of conflict and loss.

At the end of the night, the audience voted and crowned the Halfmann sisters the Grand Champions of Ex Fabula Season 1.

If you’re not on the Ex Fabula mailing list, contact us at exfabulamilwaukee at gmail.com with your request. We’ll notify you of upcoming events, which include a podcast on WMSE, Guerrilla Story Slams around town, and even mobile storytelling booths done in conjunction with WMSE and WUWM. See you soon!

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LISTEN! WUWM Lake Effect Interview with yours truly & Richard Newman’s “German Wheel/Milanese Mafia/Airport” Story

WUWM’s Lake Effect had us founders in for an interview and also aired Richard Newman of The Hinterlands who was drawn randomly to tell at Ex Fabula 6: Stranger in a Strange Land. WUWM is having their pledge drive this week and they need some bucks – WUWM is one of our favorite stations and it’s probably one of yours too – show show them some love: Contribute to WUWM!

You can listen to both here:

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=973

His story was told at Stonefly Brewery on April 13, 2010.

Richard Newman - Photo by Kat Berger

WUWM Lake Effect – Ex Fabula Founders Interview

Listen for an interview on WUWM’s Lake Effect – Mitch Teich interviews the Ex Fabula founders this Tuesday May 11 (10 am).

Richard Newman’s story will be featured as well.

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/index.php

Recap of Ex Fabula6 at Stonefly

Audience at Stonefly (photo by Kat Berger)

The last regular event of Ex Fabula’s inaugural season took place on Tuesday April 13 at Stonefly Brewing Company. 150 people packed the house for true, personal stories on the theme “Stranger in a Strange Land“. The event was sponsored by 91.7 WMSE and 89.7 WUWM. Interspersed with the nine stories, emcee Matt Sabljak read Ultra-Shorts written by audience members during the course of the 2-hour event.

Lane Burns (photo by Kat Berger)

The first storyteller drawn from the hat was Ex Fabula veteran Dan Niederloh; his tale of escape from clinical depression featured a therapist that looked like Pete Townsend of “The Who”. Next, Lane Burns took the stage and shared her own tale of escape- in this case, from a layover in an airport in South Korea. Unable to pay the “Korean currency only” airport tax and unable to contact anyone outside the airport, Lane was saved by the kindness of strangers. Then, sisters Laura Halfmann and Stephanie Halfmann debuted “The Duo”, a new format in which two people tell a single story about a shared experience. Their story of a long journey hiking up a mountain included a sketchy tour guide, a monkey attack, the “click, trudge, trudge” known as the Halfmann trudge, and many other memorable moments.

Conn Hagen (photo by Kat Berger)

After a beer break, the audience was treated to 3 more Solo stories by audience volunteers. Conn Hagen’s story highlighted how a simple sandwich pick-up can turn into a complex circus. Then, Richard Newman told of his travels in Europe while part of a theatre group; to summarize, he does not recommend Air Italia, their fish brothy coffee, or their baggage handling services- unless you are a puppet looking to rack up some miles. Liza Bielby wrapped up the trio of Solos by recounting the time she spent in China, studying a traditional form of opera. When a Chinese man asked for her help as an interpreter, little did she know that she would accidentally become part of a failed attempt to scam some investors from Texas.

Cindy Grover (photo by Kat Berger)

The last person drawn from the hat was Jeanie Dean, whose Solo focused on her brief journey into a world of violence and addiction; as a shooting was about to happen, Jeanie told herself that “this will not happen in my presence” and eventually found herself being a human shield. Then, Cindy Grover told of a mishap in Costa Rica, where “I need bus. You go fast.” in broken Spanish was sufficient to get her back on track; “reunited with my luggage and it feels so good,” she quipped. Finally, Melissa Kingston, a member of the comedy troupe Broadminded, and her brother’s wife Kerri Ladu took the stage for the Terkel, an interview format. Melissa asked her sister-in-law what it was like to join her loud, liberal family after growing up in a quiet, conservative family that didn’t even go to movies. “My mom made June Cleaver look like Sharon Osborne,” Kerri mentioned. Over time, she’s no longer shocked by the loud passionate arguments and she loves the family’s honesty and openness.

At the end of the night, storytellers who had thrown their names in the hat but did not get to tell a story had a moment to come up on stage and share the first line of their stories; there were hints of many more fascinating tales, and we hope to hear those stories at future events.

To round out the evening, the audience members voted, and Laura and Stephanie Halfmann were selected as the Audience Favorite storytellers. In being selected, the sisters have earned a spot at Ex Fabula ALL STARS which takes place Friday May 14 at Turner Hall. The night’s theme is “Epic Fail” and will feature new, longer stories from all the Ex Fabula Audience Favorites. $10 tickets can be purchased here.

Laura and Stephanie Halfmann being crowned (photo by Kat Berger)

More photos from this event can be found on the Ex Fabula facebook page.

Worth Your Attention: Radio Diaries from NPR

Radio Diaries creates great nonprofit audio documentaries that deserve ears and dollars. The latest is:

Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair

http://www.radiodiaries.org/

Video hosted by Ira Glass:

Thanks to WUWM!

Ex Fabula 5 Luck Recap!

The crowd turned out again on March 24 to listen to fellow Milwaukeeans share true stories from their lives at Ex Fabula 5 at Mo’s Irish Pub in Wauwatosa. The theme of the night was “Luck”. Co-founder and MC Leah Delaney introduced the night’s storytellers, some of whom being drawn from audience volunteer hat. We’ll be posting some selected stories from the event over the next few weeks.

A storyteller being drawn at random from the hat - Photo by Adam Ryan Morris

Marcella Kearns kicked off the night with a Solo story about attempting to win the affections of a man using her super power of winning scratch off tickets.  The next two Solos, both randomly drawn from the hat, happened to both focus on crashes. First, Drew Brhel talked about an extremely lucky car accident after his friend had an epileptic brownout; the ambulance in the lane next to them was “fortunate icing on a very lucky cake.” Then, Grant Hagen recounted a helicopter crash in Vietnam. “Airplanes want to fly,” he mused. “Helicopters don’t. They want to crash. …When you don’t have hydraulics, they don’t work very well.”

For the Terkel of the night, Matt Sabljak interviewed his friend Clif Phelps. They met several years ago via Mosaic, an organization that combats racism by bringing people of difference races together. Clif shared accounts of a couple of kids he has known through Running Rebels Community Organization. One initially reluctant student ended up become an A student who attended Tuskegee University. The other was on his 9^th year of a 12 year sentence in prison. Then, Dan Zarwell recounted tale of an incident with some drunken skinny-dippers that were running from the police and the lengths he and his roommate Jim went to in order to free one of them from the trunk of a confiscated car. Following him was authentic Irishman and luck-skeptic Padraig de Burca took the stage to share a tale straight out of an action movie; “running down a dark alley after a fugitive, late at night – life doesn’t get any better than that,” he fondly recalled.

An appreciative audience member - Photo by Adam Ryan Morris

The last section of stories started with Stacy Williams-Ng had to promise to her mother that she would not contact her biological mother. When she was 18, her dad told her birth mother’s name and she was able to locate a picture. Stacy wondered if that was all she would know until a chance encounter with a birth family relative luck in a college class. Then she was faced with the momentous decision of what to do with this stroke of luck.

Anthony Umlauf - Photo by Adam Ryan Morris

Anthony Umlauf bought a 1973 cutlass for $50 and had it for a year. One day he realized it was on fire as he was driving. Not wanting to pay for a tow, he drove the car while it continued to burn from Kenosha to Twin Lakes. He sold the car for scrap and managed to make back his $50.

The Rashomon ended the night with James Carlson and Jenn Turner of Bucketworks telling two sides of an “urban spelunking” adventure, during which they discovered an abandoned building full of antiques and artistic creations. The highlight was a 30 foot, yellow, beer-drinking robot made out of pieces of cranes, backhoes, and other industrial equipment. “We will not give the coordinates,” James quipped, while simultaneously giving the impression that he would be delighted to share them with anyone who asked.

James Carlson tells his side of the story while Jenn Turner looks on in the Rashomon - Photo by Adam Ryan Morris

The audience provided many memorable Ultra Shorts read by MC Leah Delaney that will be posted here over the next few weeks. The end of night audience vote was awarded to Drew Brhel’s lucky epilepsy car crash story. Drew picked up a 5 CD Set from World Café contributed by sponsor WUWM and bragging rights. He’s also invited to participate in Ex Fabula ALL-STARS on May 14, where winners from this season’s events and a few special guests will face off to tell all-new, longer format stories on the theme “EPIC FAIL” at Turner Hall.

Winner of the Audience Crown Drew Brhel taking in the glory - Photo by Adam Ryan Morris

Storytellers have just one chance left to compete for an All-Star storytelling slot on April 13 at Stonefly Brewing Company in Riverwest, just a few blocks from where Ex Fabula held its first event at the Art Bar. The theme of Ex Fabula 6, the final event of the first season of Ex Fabula, will be “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

,The brilliant guys at High Frequency Media captured our event and will be sharing another short film version of a story or two with us soon. We can’t wait to see what they’ll create from the night.

Selected stories from the March event, graciously recorded by WMSE’s Ryan Schleicher, will be posted here in the upcoming weeks. Drew’s winning story will be aired on WMSE – check back soon for more information!

Thank you to Adam Ryan Morris for the lovely photography of the evening! More photos coming soon on our Facebook page!