Greensboro, NC, August 19, 2008 - On Wednesday, August 27th, Chapel Hill-based The Monti lands at Greensboro's The Underground to entertain with great stories from six interesting people hailing from Greensboro and beyond. The Monti will capture not only extremely personal and authentic aspects of people's lives but also the rich textures of North Carolina in a way that is so engrained in the roots of the South - through stories. Each narrative will be governed by four rules: they must be true; they must be told in about twelve minutes; they must adhere to a publicized theme; and they must be told without the use of notes or scripts. After that, these stories will be fresh, unexpected, and uncensored. Audiences will embrace this monthly event with a combination of emotions from laughter to tears.
The Monti has been selling out its Chapel Hill venue, Spice Street, since its inaugural event in April. "We expected fifty or so people to show up, and an hour before the show, well over 100 people were lined up out the door," said Jeff Polish, founder of The Monti. "No one, including me, expected a simple storytelling event to create this kind of buzz in the quiet little town of Chapel Hill." That night, thirty or so people were turned away due to space limitations, and it has been no different at each of the monthly events since. One reason that The Monti is so popular is the marquee names that are chosen to tell stories. Clyde Edgerton, Daniel Wallace, Randall Kenan, Frank Stasio, Joanna Catherine Scott, Justin Catanoso and more have all graced the microphone at The Monti.
The inspiration for The Monti came from a similar organization in New York City called The Moth.
For the past ten years, The Moth has been inviting fascinating individuals from the city to tell their stories. The response has been amazing, shows are routinely sold out. Jeff Polish, founder of The Monti, believes that he can capture the same enthusiasm for personal narratives in the Triangle that exists in New York. "All people love hearing true personal stories," says Polish.
"By inviting well-known community members to tell stories, we anticipate attracting a sizable audience and once there, the stories will do the rest."
The Monti is not, however, just about inviting well-known people to tell stories. Its mission is to reach out to the entire community and find the story within everyone. "I think there are a number of people who would appreciate an event like this which crosses a wide spectrum of backgrounds, lifestyles, beliefs, and cultures," said Dasan Ahanu, a Durham-based musician and poet who will be telling a story at the first event. The goal of The Monti is to serve every segment of the community and bring people from different backgrounds closer together through stories. While Polish has been personally contacting people to tell stories at The Monti, he welcomes volunteers from people in the community. "This is a community event," he says, "and that means that the microphone should be open to anyone with an interesting and compelling story to tell." In addition, in the future, The Monti will hold story slams, much like poetry slams that have gain popularity in Durham, where people can compete with one another by telling their best stories on a given theme in a shortened time frame.
The Monti's Greensboro event will take place on August 27th at 7:30pm. The theme will be 'Firsts'.
Slated to tell stories at this show are journalist Justin Catanoso (My Cousin The Saint), author Melissa Delbridge (Family Bible), musician Molly McGinn (Bloody Blackbeard), musician Catie Braly-Sellars (The Popovers), novelist Quinn Dalton (Stories From the Afterlife), and The Monti founder, Jeff Polish. The Underground (1720 Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC 27408) will play host to The Monti; admission will be $7 ($5 for students) and bar service and food will be available. Advanced tickets are on sale at www.themonti.org.
For more information about The Monti, please contact Jeff Polish, the founder of The Monti, at (919) 428-3529 or jeff@themonti.org . You may also visit the organization's websites: www.themonti.org or www.myspace.com/the_monti.
