Sometimes it’s nice to get out of the office and do something a bit different. So last Friday a couple of us headed across town to an event called The Story. According to the event’s founder/curator/organiser Matt Locke, it was not concerned with the theory of stories, but rather the “sheer visceral pleasure of telling a story”. Frankly we weren’t really all that sure what to expect, but it sure sounded like it would make for an interesting day!
Looking around at the people pouring into Conway Hall in their hundreds gave us no further clue as to the sort of day that lay ahead of us. Often you can get a feeling for an event by the audience it attracts, but this was a real eclectic bunch of folk.
The day got under way with a brief word from compere Russell Davies, before he introduced the first speaker, sci-fi writer Cory Doctorow, who read his short story about the future of book-selling (alternative version here). It quickly became clear that we were in for a real treat. The second speaker up was Dr. Aleks Krotoski of BBC 2’s Virtual Revolution fame, who gave a personal account of the making of the documentary. Next up was Jon Spooner who gave a mind blowing monologue about the science of coincidence, and then Tim Etchells read three short stories (one of which was in fact a string of obscenities).
If prizes were given, the award for most awe-inspiring story would have gone to Sam Conniff from youth specialist communications agency Livity. His story started the day he met 15 year old Jody Mcintyre, a hip hop loving teen from south London with cerebral palsy. It was clear from the start that Jody was a ‘mould-breaker’, after being tasked with writing a feature for a magazine he came back with a very frank critique of the editorial. Shortly after joining Livity, Jody attended a demonstration in central London and got a taste for political activism which resulted in a trip to Gaza to join peace protests. Jody continued to challenge peoples expectations, and after conquering Machu Picchu in Peru, he said “that’s just how I role”.
Another highlight of ours, was Tim Wright, who shared a true story that was as witty as it was tragic. ‘Harrison Fraud’ was the tale of his elaborate ruse to trick his colleague into thinking he was going to meet his hero Harrison Ford. Tim took on the persona of Harrison’s agent and faked letters and faxes, and even went to the trouble of sending them to an old address so that the new occupant would would forward them to add to the illusion. The saga came to a close when his business partner travelled out to Canada to find out that the whole thing was in fact a practical joke, and Tim realised that he had been using ‘Harrison Fraud’ as a form escapism from his failing marriage.
The day ended with the legendary David Hepworth telling the story of how he finally accepted the advice of his late father, by buying a made-to-measure suit.
So there you have it. It certainly was a bit different, but we’ll certainly be buying a ticket next year!
