Tumblr and Twitter are probably already out-of-date examples of new media trends that continue to provide new ways to tell a story. So, it’s notable that, despite the novelty of these genres, possibly the most noteworthy method of telling a story is to simply just tell it. In a room. In front of people.

Thanks to podcasts like The Moth and their national live events, storytelling has been gathering impressive momentum in the last decade as an entertaining form of live event culture. The rules vary, but generally include a strict time limit in which each storyteller tells a true, personal story — a beginning, middle, and end strongly encouraged.

This winter, as part of FRIGID New York, Toronto-based writer, storyteller, and comedian Amy Cunningham is bringing her storytelling show (here we don’t limit our repression to just our sexuality) to the East Village. With a three-week run at UNDER St. Marks, the writer/performer uses her unique point of view to tell the story of striving “to uphold the family’s standard of repression while navigating the delicate politics of ordering pornography for her brother in prison.”

You’ve been involved in the literary magazine sect within Toronto, but as a solo artist are venturing into alternative forms of “literary publishing.” Storytelling, to be precise. Like spoken word in the late 1990s, which had a major renaissance, storytelling is gaining momentum as a popular form of live entertainment. What has your experience in this fledgling genre been like thus far?

It’s weird hearing it called a “fledgling genre,” because there are so many regular storytelling shows and podcasts now. But, I guess if you’re hanging out somewhere near the middle of a subculture, it starts to look pretty mainstream. Like, you could start thinking that all people everywhere are currently working on their one-person storytelling show.

But in reality (I mean the bigger, realer one), when I mention The Moth to most people, the best I can hope for is, “I think I know…” And then they don’t.

Oh, right, that’s not your question. My experience has been…good? Definitely good. I met some of my favorite people at Raconteurs, which is one of the more longstanding, well-attended storytelling shows in Toronto. The audiences are great — intelligent and discerning, but also supportive.

Do you ever imagine your performed pieces will transcend into traditional forms of literature (i.e. fiction or a play that is published in book form)?

Some of the stories have been converted from pieces of nonfiction… Which isn’t a huge conversion. Usually just a streamlining process. I’ll remove some literary flourishes that I think are intolerable onstage and usually find that they’re also intolerable on paper.

Who have been some of your influences as a storyteller, playwright?

I’ll say this: the writing style of David Sedaris (neither a storyteller nor playwright) has been influential — that he goes into great detail about minor events and addresses heavier topics more obliquely, through some intentionally trivial lens.

[Also] Maria Bamford (also not technically a storyteller or playwright), because for a while I had convinced myself that I had to simplify all my ideas to get laughs. Her comedy, which is very complicated and dense, was a reminder that I didn’t need to adapt my style to something more palatable. She’s probably got a smaller audience because of it, but you know…she’s a genius. So, trade-off.

[Lastly], Marc Maron (you could make a good case for storyteller but technically a stand-up) because he’s not afraid to take his time to arrive at what are inevitably very impressive and honest insights.

When did you put together your latest show, (Here we don’t limit our repression to just our sexuality)?

I’ve performed most of the show, in parts, at storytelling and comedy venues in Toronto. And I’ve been assembling it into one thematically cohesive story-beast for the past few months. There’s just one part of the show, maybe 10 minutes of material that I have tried on several occasions to perform, but something always got in the way or I backed down. Those 10 minutes are giving me a lot of anxiety. I’m concerned that if I do successfully tell those 10 minutes onstage, I might die immediately after.

—

Amy Cunningham’s show takes place February 21 to March 8, 2015 at UNDER St Marks, 94 St. Marks Place, New York, NY. Tickets are available online at www.horsetrade.info