Smart phones, convertibles, skyscrapers, computers—the present day is a fast-paced, impersonal sea of chrome and automation.  But amid the smog of big business and the ever-present buzz of city street chatter, The Moth is dedicated to reviving the lost art of storytelling.

Aside from its StorySLAMs (audience members place their names in a hat, and are randomly called upon to present their true stories on stage), The Moth offers story-crafting workshops led by seasoned authors and StorySLAM contributors.  Dubbed MothSHOPs, the two-month long classes are led in a cool, comfortable environment reminiscent of a campfire get-together—participants share funny quips and anecdotes of daily life as they come (one of many: a MothSHOP participant was forced to buy five Airheads sticks for ten dollars by a persuasive teenage candy salesman).  The workshop encompasses essential storytelling principles and proper presentation style, and culminates in a performance in true StorySLAM fashion:  live on stage, without notes.

Countless awkward English class discussions have proven that getting strangers in a room to talk is as hard a task as any—but from day one, everyone in the MothSHOP was eager to recount life’s hardships and heartbreaks, joys and laughter, and bittersweet victories. The Moth is a sought-after antidote for jaded urbanites; sharing stories in an intimate, laid-back setting is an exercise in the empathy that often gets diluted in the self-absorption of everyday life.