Did you know that Queer Memoir was the first monthly all-queer, first-person narrative storytelling event in NYC? We started in 2011 and in 2015 we were nominated for the White House Champion of Change award (VERY different White House, obviously). Founded by Kelli Dunham (this is Kelli’s website) and playwright Genne Murphy.
Anyway, if you’ve never been to Queer Memoir before, here’s the deal:
Queer Memoir is a community-based LGBTQ storytelling series that brings together experienced performers and people who have never been onstage before to tell true stories from queer lives. The goal is both simple and kind of enormous: to share our stories, preserve our complicated queer history and experience the particular magic that happens when a bunch of queers sit around listening to each other.
But this Fire Island edition is a little different.
This isn’t one of our usual booked shows. It’s a Queer Memoir Rough Draft — more like an open mic. If you’ve got a story (the theme is OOPS, but we’re not really religious about the theme) you’ll have five minutes to tell it in the spirit of Queer Memoir. It doesn’t have to be polished. In fact, “rough draft” is right there in the name.
And a few Queer Memoir traditions apply: true stories rather than stand-up, no judging or competition, and you’re telling a story in which YOU are the central figure. No requirement that you memorize anything. Notes are fine. Reading is fine. Being nervous is extremely traditional. Our unofficial motto is “real stories told live with whatever you need to get your story told.”
Queer Memoir has been happening in various forms and various places for more than 15 years — theaters, community spaces, apartments, even a the A train — and this week we’re popping up on Fire Island.
You don’t have to tell a story to come. You can just listen. But if you’ve been thinking, “I have a story, but it’s not really ready yet,” well, excellent.
That’s what rough drafts are for. Text Kelli for the address if you don’t have it. Kelli is at 215.964.1963.
WAIT WAIT WAIT I WANT TO KNOW THE HECK THIS KELLI DUNHAM PERSON IS?
Kelli is everyone’s favorite nonbinary ex-nun, current nurse, comedian and storyteller. Kelli is what you call one of those trauma-informed comedians and can be found speaking at nursing conferences, domestic violence continuing education weekends, victim advocates’ annual meeting, and many other places a person would not think a comedian would go over very well.
You can hear their award-winning PRX/Good Get podcast Cared For here. Short on time? Start with the season finale: Heather’s last day, medical aid in dying, chosen family, pudding, inappropriate laughter and a converted Hare Krishna temple.
Hate podcasts? Or at least prefer reading? Check out Kelli’s Substack, Hoping Intentionally, which she did not name ironically. At least not intentionally ironically.
