Nisse Greenberg hopes to cultivate a community-centered art practice away from the lure of fame.

“Fame is stupid. Hopefully this is an art form that is divorced from fame,” Greenberg said about the new storytelling open mic at the Greenfield arts venue 10 Forward, located at 10 Fiske Ave.

True storytelling from a performer’s own life in a performance was popularized by the national non-profit The Moth, founded in 1997. The practice, similar to stand-up comedy, gives the stage to a performer with a microphone to entertain the crowd with their stories. Storytelling often takes the form of an open mic where anyone in the audience can perform, or a booked show where a producer curates a set of performers.

Greenberg, a practicing storyteller for more than a decade, explained they are interested in storytelling because it offers an easy avenue for entry compared to other art forms. They explained people naturally tell stories constantly, and creating a space for anyone to share them allows people of all experiences to join the medium.

Greenberg, of Northampton, said storytelling attracts a diverse group of people who “experience life in a variety of ways” from a range of ages, interests and backgrounds.

Greenfield is an especially attractive location for starting this new scene, Greenberg explained. They said the city of Greenfield naturally facilitates interaction with a variety of people, having places like the common, Franklin County’s YMCA and Stone Soup Café for people to come together.

Living in New York City in 2010, Greenberg was around at the start of a new storytelling scene. They explained storytellers often would try telling true stories in poetry and stand-up comedy open mics, but it would get “awkward.” Storytellers started meeting in the back of bars for their own designated nights and created their own space for this new art form.

Now there is a robust storytelling scene in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as well as smaller scenes in other cities. Most cities have their storytelling centered around The Moth, but venues with open mics and shows often pop up as interest expands.

Greenberg noted that other storytelling takes place in the area with Valley Voices and Happier Valley Comedy, but the new open mic at 10 Forward is set to happen more regularly to allow people to develop their skills.

After attending storytelling open mics for years, Greenberg began focusing on producing their own curated shows. By 2020, they realized that the energy brought at an open mic was something they craved and they pivoted to hosting open mics again. They have now restarted this after the pandemic.

“With an open mic format, it feels like you couldn’t contain what energy was coming into space,” Greenberg said.

On storytelling nights, people are invited to come and just watch, or tell their own stories. As for advice to new storytellers, Greenberg suggests knowing the first and last lines of the story.

“Knowing A and Z is good. The rest of the story will come together,” they said.

“We all have experiences that are memorable,” Greenberg continued. “The point of storytelling is sharing memorable experiences with others to learn the way it shaped your perspective.”

The next nights for storytelling open mics will happen May 25 and June 22. Five names will be chosen from a hat to perform and stories are cut off at seven minutes.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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