I have told my stories here and heard stories many times here as well. It is my favorite venue of the various MOTH houses. It's the only one in which the audience has been receptive to stories of sweet remembrance, painful memories or life-changing moments; stories that are not recieved well in other places that seem only to welcome comedy riffs. I feel at home there. And also love the Housing Works mission of fighting AIDS, a battle we still are engaged in. I feel embraced here . . . both as story teller and audience to the magical stories I'm privileged to be a part of. And to be snuggled within racks of books, sipping wine and hearing words shared of the lives of others---Heaven! My safe place.

We attended the reading slam held in October in Brooklyn. The subject was disguise. Twenty-three potential readers submitted their names. Ten were selected. Each had five minutes to talk about disguise. The venue was slightly off the beaten track a few blocks from the closest train station. Entrance was a very modest ten dollars. Food and beverages were available for sale. The venue was not huge with limited seating. We chose to stand. It was a very enjoyable evening among supremely clever and talented presenters. There were three judges who awarded points for each presentation. We would most heartedly recommend an evening at The Moth reading series.

I am a fan of the stories on www.themoth.org. I had a business trip to New York City and extended my trip so that I could attend my first Moth StorySLAM (this took place at the Bookstore Cafe - Housing Works). I tried to get tickets online in advance and was unsuccessful because they went on sale and were sold out in hours. I was informed that I would need to wait in line the evening of the storySLAM for up to a couple of hours to get tickets. Fortunately, my friends got in line in time and we got tickets after about a 1 1/2 hour wait which gave us time to chat and catch up. There was a very long line for tickets and I'm not sure if some were turned away. It is a cozy bookstore with limited seating on chairs. However, people seemed happy to sit on the floor or stand for the stories. The MC/host was terrific and we could have listened to her the whole time. This Thursday evening in November 2014, 17 people put their names into the hat and were hoping for the 10 storytelling spots. The stories were heartfelt, funny, diverse, just like those I've heard on the radio show and the website. Hearing stories in a small space together with friends, food and drinks felt warm and wonderful. We all loved it any my New York friends said they would like do it again. It is fantastic that so many people enjoy live storytelling by regular people. Definitely a unique experience. I plan to attend a storySLAM again and will look for it in other cities. However, I suspect that seeing a storySLAM in NYC cannot be duplicated. This is well worth the effort you may have to make to attend!

we discovered The Moth from their radio podcasts and were hooked instantly. It us basically people telling stories, but they must be true stories, told with no notes and usually limited to 5 minutes. There is a theme set for each event and the stories should relate to that theme. Winning an provides an opportunity to compete in a future competition against other winners. The event we went to at Cooper Union Friday night was a little different as the story tellers were all published authors and their stories could last up to 12 minutes. Just a fascinating evening and such a diversity of people and experiences. Very highly recommended !

Our night enjoying The Moth at the Bell House in Brooklyn ranks as an all-time classic evening. We bought our tickets in advance, and our recently arrived New York friend managed to get on the guest list, so we were able to bypass the long line up and score some highly coveted seats. The crowd was stylish and hipstery but not in an obnoxious way; we did not see one handlebar moustache. In fact, we could not have imagined a friendlier crowd. We enjoyed meeting all sorts of new people at the event, whether it was staffers from The Moth's broadcaster WNYC, or fellow audience members. The Bell House also had some incredible drink specials that night, which might have helped make the crowd extra friendly. The show we experienced was a Moth Story Slam about Trust. Ten storytellers shared real life tales about trust. Pretty much every story was entertaining or enlightening, making it very difficult for the judges to pick a winner. Amazingly, our New York friend was called up on stage to recite his story about lying to a world-renowned pop-punk band. He set the bar pretty high, leading to a cathartic night of laughter and tears. It seemed to be Canadian night at the Moth that evening, as evening the host was a Canadian ex-pat, so there were many jokes at the expense of the United States' norther neighbours. This was a particularly special night for us as it was our anniversary. We couldn't have imagined a better way to spend it. If you like the Moth from its podcast or NPR show, you must check out the real deal.