Phoenix Staff Writer
Ten student storytellers participated in the fifth annual First Voice Story Slam in the Hall of Governors on March 28. This year’s theme was “When the Wheels Came Off,” and all the storytellers had stories that were both literal and metaphorical around this theme.
Guest host and storyteller Shannon Cason kicked off the event telling his “when the wheels came off” story about going to Freaknik, the annual spring break party in Atlanta, in the early 1990s and using the pick-up line: “Hi. My name is Shannon. I go to Michigan State University. Can I get a kiss?”
In his story, Cason was a shy student and not very experienced with women. His friends didn’t expect this pick-up line would work, but each woman he used this line on gave him a kiss.
Once Cason’s story was finished, Orville Brown launched the student storytelling with a tale about what you do for love. In-between the stories, Cason read short, one-sentence stories submitted by both participants in the story slam and audience members.
Three stories took the story of when wheel literally came off with Brittany White’s story of witnessing a car speeding down her street losing its tire which caused damage to a few parked cars yet was still able to speed down the street for some distance. Mark Lewis shared a story how his father taught him and his friends the important lesson of changing a flat tire during inclement weather. Miaa Brooks, a return First Voice Story Slam storyteller, shared her story about learning how to ride a bike without training wheels even if she fell down several time.
The 10 storytellers were competing for six slots for the Grand Slam taking place at 6 p.m. on April 11, in the E-Lounge of Governors State. The students going on to the Grand Slam are: Miaa Brooks, Orville Brown, Mark Lewis, Shawn Townsel, Chaitanya “Chay” Vepareddygari, and Brittany White.
The student storytellers will be competing for cash prizes at the Grand Slam. These students are receiving coaching by Cason, Eddie Gamboa (GovState Director of Forensics), and Dr. Patrick Santoro (GovState Theater and Performance Studies Professor and Artistic Director). The judges for the First Voice Story Slam were Gamboa, Santoro and Dr. Lara Hrycaj, Jaguar Student Media faculty advisor and Media Studies professor.
The First Voice Story Slam is an event developed by Dr. Kerri Morris and Dr. Novia Pagone as part of the Media Across the Curriculum (MAC) section of the Center for Community Media (CCM). Morris and Pagone wanted a Moth-style storytelling competition at Governors State University. Pagone said the 10 storytellers at this year’s event was the most in the five years of the event.
