Reality Storytelling Arrives at the Regency Theatre Thursday

Leave tweeting and texting behind for a night, and get back to real storytelling.

On Thursday, Rick’s Café at the Regency Theatre will present an event that challenges people to tell a true, personal story in five minutes, as might Garrison Keillor or David Sedaris. Such storytelling is an old art form that event organizer Mariana Williams is helping expand. 

Williams is an author and a winning storyteller at similar events held by the “gold standard of storytelling,” the Moth in New York City. The venue is “hailed as New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket,” per the Wall Street Journal.

The live storytelling performance in San Juan Capistrano, called Wince-Worthy Tales, will be held from 7-9 p.m. The event is free.

“Wince-Worthy Tales is open to different walks of life, people of different ages (18 and older),” said Williams. “You don’t know what goes on in the life of the mailman—what his day was like.” Firemen, bartenders, working mothers and college students all have stories to tell.

Williams said the average person likes this event because “it’s getting away from our technical world of texting, Twittering and e-mail. It brings us back to the basics of one person telling a story and one person listening.”

Her goal is to develop an audience in South Orange County, beginning with the Regency Theatre venue. The night will also include musical guest John Fullwood.  Williams will host the event, tell some stories and then turn it over to the audience.

She recommends preparing an opening sentence. The story needs a beginning, middle and end. “It should have a consequence or a nugget of wisdom they learned from the experience,” she said. Just remember, it must be a true story that happened to the person telling the story.

The stories can be funny, sad or make you laugh, frown or … wince.

Williams, the wife of composer Paul Williams, held her first Wince-Worthy Tales at her home in Naples Island, part of Long Beach, bordering Seal Beach. “The group kept growing,” she said. “I thought it was my turn to take it to a venue.”

She is taking her version of the Moth storytelling model on the road, including an event in Long Beach in April.

The Regency’s Larry Porricelli said Wince-Worthy Tales will be touching. “There’s humor, and you actually feel every minute of it.”

For more information on Thursday’s Wince-Worthy Tales event, call the theater at 949-661-3435.