I have a Substack, the Second Helping Gazette and publish a few times a month with resources on helping helping professionals, well, help. This is a great way to stay in touch! There’s a hilarious practical podcast coming this summer! Subscribe free here.
Want to book me for other trauma-informed, kind comic reasons? You can look around the rest of my site for other presentations, workshops, and leadership humor coaching, and also find me on LinkedIn.
Get it? Like Unbreakable, but made of Bricks? Not Le-o, because I’m not trying to get a cease and desist)
By popular demand (and I mean, literally in the true literal sense of the word demand) I’m doing a one-time only mail order opportunity for the Unbrickable Collection. Each of these one of a kind lego creations (based on Kelli Dunham comedy since when nonbinary dinosaurs roamed the earth) are available now, postage paid (to US destinations, for other places, let’s talk) for a 15 dollar or more donation to Queer Memoir 2025 which is a series of free virtual storytelling/creative writing workshops for isolated queer and trans folks of all ages.
You can refer folks (including yourself!) to these workshops, they fill up as soon as I open them, and they are squeezing my little nonbinary heart to pieces, I’ll tell you!
Anyway, I’m not setting up a whole storefront, because I’m not trying to give Shopify or anyone else anything from these donations. Instead, make note of which of the Unbrickable Items you’d like to order, any customizations you need (all are available as a stand up, a magnet, or a keychain) , hit up this page, for payment. Oh and I’ve got some that are perfect as gifts, so if you want me to write a sweet note (and even to reach out to your friend for their mailing address) let me know.
IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW TYPE UNBRICKABLES–MOSTLY FROM KELLI’S COMEDY
Jesus was no sissy. From Kelli’s Fringe show, art by Stacy Bias. One of a kind. And we mean seriously one of a kind, we only made one so far.
TLDR: I’m running periodic and ongoing storytelling workshops for queer and trans folks of all ages who are feeling isolated. They’re free. They’re supportive. You can do something further if you want with the storytelling and I’ll support you or it can be part of your internal affirmation process. Or a way of building a support network. These are not therapy, just good ol’ fashioned queerfolks making community, one story at a time.
Interested? Fill out this form. (it’s NOT an application, just a bit of a connection)
This isn’t exactly what I look like. But it’s close. [lego person with “queer stories save queer lives]
Hi friends—I’m Kelli Dunham, a nonbinary storyteller, nurse, and stand-up comic. For the past 15 years, I’ve had the joy of curating Queer Memoir, an award-winning live storytelling series that celebrates the wide, wonderful spectrum of LGBTQ+ lives. Through laughter, tears, awkward moments, and triumphant ones, Queer Memoir has built community by helping people tell their stories—and be truly heard.
While Queer Memoir sometimes includes performers and well known folks in the community, the focus is on helping folks tell stories who have a story to share but need help putting it together and need support in writing it down.
The well known Moth storytelling series (and I tell for the Moth Mainstage and LOVE THEM) has a motto “real stories, told live without notes” but we have a slightly different approach at Queer Memoir. We say “real stories, told live with whatever you need to get that story out.” So notes, your friend holding your hand, someone singing “Love Lifted Me” quietly in the background, WHATEVER you need.
Anyway, you can look through the Queer Memoir website (not currently being updated, I’ve moved anything current over to my site to simplify things) to see what we’ve been doing and what we’re all about as well as some sample video from our live and virtual events.
Because 2025 is well, 2025 I’m offering free, virtual storytelling workshops with a very specific purpose: to offer connection and creative expression for LGBTQ+ folks of ALL AGES, especially those who are feeling isolated. Whether you’re physically distant from community, in a period of emotional disconnection, or just want to make sure your story isn’t lost, I’m so glad you’re here.
In our time together, we’ll build a safer space where you can explore your voice, your history, and your imagination—without pressure. You will never be asked to share or write about anything you don’t want to. While some folks may choose to dive into the hard stuff, we’ll also make plenty of space for joy, silliness, curiosity, and the ordinary beautiful moments that make up a life.
There is absolutely no expectation that you’ll participate in a Queer Memoir event or publish anything as part of a Queer Memoir zine as a result of joining these workshops. These are really meant to be something separate and supportive. If you want to take the next step and share your work, I’m here to help you do that in a way that feels supportive and fun.
A quick note: these workshops can sometimes touch on difficult experiences, and we’ll be gentle and supportive with one another. That said, this is not a therapy group—and I’m not a therapist—so we’ll keep our focus on storytelling, expression, and mutual respect.
Wherever you are on your storytelling journey—seasoned performer, journal scribbler, or just-curious participant—you’re welcome here. Bring your full self, your half-finished ideas, your cat on your lap, and your stories waiting to be told. We’ll build something together, one word at a time.
I have a Substack, the Second Helping Gazette and publish a few times a month with resources on helping helping professionals, well, help. This is a great way to stay in touch! Subscribe free here.
Want to book me for other trauma-informed, kind comic reasons? You can look around the rest of my site for other presentations, workshops, and leadership humor coaching, and also find me on LinkedIn.
I have a Substack, the Second Helping Gazette and publish a few times a month with resources on helping helping professionals, well, help. This is a great way to stay in touch! There’s a hilarious practical podcast coming this summer! Subscribe free here.
Want to book me for other trauma-informed, kind comic reasons? You can look around the rest of my site for other presentations, workshops, and leadership humor coaching, and also find me on LinkedIn.
You know how when you get referred to a nonprofit for care or help, you sometimes get there and they look at you blankly and sadly because they lost that grant the previous year? Your Peer NYC (sorry it’s NYC specific) is a service locator that includes when the service was last verified. So you know you’re not wasting your gas money/subway ride/time etc.
About the links: the first link is to the book-specific page on Bookshop, which is a great Amazon alternative that only works with independent booksellers and is generally the same price and same shipping speed. Second link is to Amazon, because sometimes you have a gift card. Or whatever. I’m not here to judge! Both links give me a tiny commission to throw back into workshops, pay for the zoom account, etc.
So, in preparation for changes to um, everything, Kelli is doing some free virtual health workshops this January.
When A Casserole Is Not Enough: Extremely Practical Tips For Building Extended Communities of Care
January 14th at 8 pm ET
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO CHAT ABOUT:
Our nontraditional communities often rely on families of choice, rather than families of origin for social support. However, when we develop serious or chronic illness, the care provided by nontraditional support systems doesn’t always easily mesh with current healthcare and social support systems. This is particularly true if no designated primary caregiver exists, and the person in need of care lives alone. Add in the dominant culture’s excellence at recreating systems of oppression within the healthcare system, and caregiving and care receiving can be challenging, to say the least. We’ll talk about building the existing structures of extended circle caregiving, how to nurture these networks in mutuality, how to deal with the emotional challenges that being a caregiving and a care receiver can bring up and how to find those support folks, especially if you are geographically or otherwise isolated. This very interactive workshop draws on Kelli’s more than twenty years as a community health nurse, her experiences during the early years of the AIDS crisis, and her lived experience as the primary caregiver of two partners who died of cancer, and as well as survivor of a life-threatening post-surgical infection which required many months of community care. Shoutout to the disability justice folks who have been maintaining mutual aid caregiving circles for always!
Emergency! Planning For Unplanned Healthcare
January 18th at 3 PM ET with special guest current ER nurse Harvey Katz and Leah Strock FNP
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO CHAT ABOUT:
In communities traditionally underserved (or worse) by our healthcare systems we are often particularly—and understandably– wary of seeking emergency care, even when care is badly needed. In this interactive workshop, we’ll walk through a visit to the emergency room, talk about general ER infrastructure, and brainstorm/role-playing ways in which we can be empowered to facilitate relatively positive endings to various ER scenarios. We’ll also discuss picking an ER buddy and developing a written ER plan.
If you already know a lot about these subjects, please join us, we need ALL the tips and ALL THE WISDOM!!!!!!!
ALTHOUGH THESE ARE VERY INTENSE SUBJECTS, DON’T FORGET KELLI’S A COMEDIAN AND STORYTELLER IN ADDITION TO BEING A NURSE.. WE WON’T PROMISE IT’LL BE FUN EXACTLY, BUT KELLI WILL DEFINITELY END WITH A KNOCK KNOCK JOKE AND WE’LL BE REMINDED OF THE STRENGTHS OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND WE’LL ALSO BE BUILDING COMMUNITY!
Kelli has some free downloadable health strategy zines that zines and handouts that illustrate her practical, irreverent approach to topics like pap exams, dealing with healthcare trauma, etc. They’re here.
You can register for both/either on this form and we’ll send you the link the day of the event. We’ll be using a paid Zoom, which is the best compromise of accessibility and security we could figure out for now. If you have already voted for a workshop on the form Kelli previously posted, you will automatically be sent a link.
These workshops (and any future ones!) will always be free but they take a lot of resources to make happen. If you’d like and you’ve got it, we’d love for you to support these workshops (or Kelli’s storytelling work with LGBT youth in Florida and Alabama) by donating here.
