The most recent crop of storytellers at The William TELL Storytelling Show
The William TELL Storytelling Show at the Provincetown Theater
by Steve Desroches
The late, legendary journalist Jimmy Breslin once said about New York City, “there are eight million stories in the naked city.” While Provincetown is much, much, much smaller, it at times feels like it has just as many stories, if not more. Stories can unite us and build community. And while storytelling can be an art, so too, can the practice of listening. A well-told story with a receptive, open-minded audience, creates constellations of empathy. No longer are strangers abstract once we know something intimate about them and their inner world is revealed. Stories make us feel less alone, they teach us about our shared humanity, even if the source is someone wildly different from ourselves. Stories can heal and stories can make us laugh. Stories are the foundation of civilization, whether we live in a booming metropolis or on a small spit of land flung out in to the North Atlantic. And it’s events like The William TELL Storytelling Show at the Provincetown Theater that seek to harness the power of hearing stories live, unscripted from the stage.
Created by actor and comedian William Mullin in cooperation with David Drake and Gary Garrison, artistic director and managing director of the Provincetown Theater, respectively, “The TELL” kicked off this past July to much acclaim. With a focus on community, the Theater wanted a resident storytelling show and tapped Mullin, former co-host and co-producer of the Mosquito Story Slam to create such a night.
Coming off starring in the successful summer run in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Mullin is eager to get back to what is really his home base in his life on the stage. A talented storyteller himself, Mullin loves the organic, vibrant nature of a person at a microphone just telling a story. After graduating from Boston University, he moved to New York City to pursue acting and found himself in a sketch comedy group called The Jakes. Ed Helms, a fellow member who would go on to star in The Office, The Daily Show, and The Hangover, urged Mullin to try his chops at stand-up comedy.
“I was so scared,” says Mullin of his first try at stand-up. “But he got me on the stage and I was hooked. I struggled though with the set-up, punchline, set-up, punchline pacing of traditional stand-up. What I did was tell stories. That’s how I got laughs. Once The Moth hit the scene I was like, ‘Oh my god! This is exactly what I want to do!’”
With the success of The Moth, which expanded into the public radio show The Moth Radio Hour, storytelling events became a nationwide phenomenon. Mullin started attending various storytelling nights around New York and in particular fell in love with Closet Cases, a show created by Shawn Hollenbach, where LGBTQ comedians told their coming out stories. When Mullin mentioned the show would be a huge hit in Provincetown, Hollenbach said Mullin should do so as he was too busy. And Mullin was right. Closet Cases ran at the old Vixen (now the Pilgrim House) for several years, to packed houses and bringing in talents like Frank DeCaro and a pre-Saturday Night Live Kate McKinnon.
Several years later Mullin moved to Provincetown full-time, got involved with the Mosquito and performance, and now The TELL, shifting away from stand-up to storytelling, earlier this year being a featured storyteller on WGBH’s Stories from the Stage. With his extensive experience Mullin is also part coach with The TELL, which features a list of curated storytellers along with a few slots for attendees to throw their name in a hat for a chance to tell a story. There are also giveaways from local sponsors, “Tiny Tells” where someone can anonymously write a brief snippet for Mullin and co-host to read aloud, as well as music by Mullin’s partner Phil Spletzer, who plays the “William Tell Overture” to let participants know when to wrap it up. His advice for those interested is to write an outline, rather than memorize a written story, practice beforehand for friends, and time it to keep it under seven minutes.
“It’s not a performance,” says Mullin. “You’re a human telling a story and you want to keep it organic. Be yourself. Go with it. If you forgot to mention something, just say so. That’s how people talk when telling a story. If something comes to mind, just mention. I love that. That’s the sweet spot. That’s what makes it exciting.”
That’s not all that thrills Mullin about providing a platform for storytelling, particularly here in Provincetown. The tight year-round community can be swallowed up by summer and the flow of people to and fro can at times feel disorienting. But stories can create a bond. And The TELL has begun to create a community unto itself with people who love to listen to stories told by people who love to tell them. In our often-digital world it’s worth remembering how important it is to have live, shared experiences.
“When you hear stories, you feel close to the community,” says Mullin. “You could be living in Provincetown for years and somebody else could be living here just as long and you’ll never meet. But you hear their story and you have this connection and the next time you see them you might stop on the street and have a conversation. Stories build community.”
The William TELL Storytelling Show is at the Provincetown Theater, 238 Bradford St., 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 20 (Theme: Wanderlust), Saturday, November 15 (Theme: Home for the Holidays), and Saturday, December 13 (Theme: Locals & Washashores). Tickets ($25) are available at the box office and online at provincetowntheater.org. For more information call 508.487.7487.
