The crowd wasn’t sure what to expect when Elizabeth Edwards took the stage a few months ago at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.
The headliner of The Monti, a monthly Triangle-based storytelling event, Edwards was in the midst of another round of tabloid scrutiny after officially separating from her husband, former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards.
With all the turmoil in her personal life, her appearance could have gone any number of ways. But for the event’s creator, Jeff Polish, that’s the beauty of The Monti.
“There are many different ways any given night can go,” Polish says. “It’s sort of this Frankenstein-ian thing where a lot of different types of folks with different stories gather, and somehow, magically, it all comes together.”
Polish has played the mad-scientist role for more than two years now, guiding his stand-up comedy/drama monologue-hybrid that regularly sells out in minutes.
Because of its runaway success in the Triangle, Polish recently decided to establish another regular performance series in Greensboro, where he has held special shows in the past. He plans to start slowly at first, with events every other month or so.
The success of those earlier events, coupled with the vibe of the community, made Greensboro a natural fit for The Monti.
“You need a couple of things to have success with something like this,” Polish said. “One, there has to be a good academic community that brings in a lot of intellectual people. And two, you need a young, vibrant scene — because I want 20- and 30-somethings to show up.”
That’s one of the things that makes The Monti different from many traditional storytelling events, which are often skewed for either children or an older crowd. At The Monti, audiences might hear profanity or stories about sometimes taboo subjects, such as sexuality and race.
“I want to throw storytelling on its head and say, 'We all love it, we all want it, and we can tell any kind of story we want — it can be dirty, it can be wholesome, it can be poignant, and it can be raunchy,’ ” Polish says.
Dirty or no, the stories must follow a set of guidelines. They must fit the night’s theme and time limit, the storyteller can’t use notes, and the story must be true. The Monti’s performances range from gut-bustingly funny yarns to tales that leave audiences in tears.
“There was this woman named Dr. Clark, she was about 50 years old, and she grew up in Thomasville, Ga.,” Polish said. “She told a story that was littered with the 'n-word.’
“It was a word she heard every day — it was thrown at her every day as she walked down the street. The story she told was how, through a series of events in her life, that word lost its power over her. And her story was so powerful on so many levels.”
Like Dr. Clark, Elizabeth Edwards’ performance elicited a strong emotional reaction, as she told a tender story about the devotion between her parents, punctuated by a few jokes throughout. It was the kind of emotional mixed bag for which The Monti is known.
“The best stories, to me, are when you’re laughing one minute and you’re crying the next,” Polish said.
“(The Monti) is about those open and honest experiences, and it gives people a forum to explore these very personal issues in their lives.”
Contact Jennifer Bringle at jenniferbringle@gmail.com
