Bay Area sweethearts, creators and co-hosts of Porchlight, Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte have been known to track down bounty hunters for the sake of their show, which features true, personal stories told in ten minutes or less by members of every imaginable vocation. No surprise, then, that the roster of names that have told their stories as part of the series represents a wide range of the interesting people that make San Francisco and the Bay Area such a special place. This Friday, July 15, Porchlight will celebrate its ninth anniversary with a special show, themed “Disorderly Conduct: 9 Years of Bad Behavior,” at the Verdi Club.
The bounty hunter is just one example. Equally interesting is the ex-crack addict who runs an Oakland taquería on his bicycle. Or the YA author who’s been on a Disney tour, and blogged about it. Part of the success of the show has been the dynamic of the hosting duo; despite coming from different backgrounds, the two share a passion for interesting stories. No matter where they are, Beth and Arline always have an ear open for the story that just has to be shared, and for this reason Porchlight has been a great way for the two to keep meeting new people. Indeed, after nine full years of shows, the series is a strong reminder to the rest of us that each new person we meet is a potential trove of stories waiting to be told.
Since the only stipulation for participation at a Porchlight event is personal experience and the ability to relay it, Beth and Arline have been able to expand into other communities through partnerships with other organizations, like the SF International Film Fest and Creativity Explored. They also teach a storytelling class as part of the Intersection for the Arts’ literary program, which provides yet another way to meet new storytellers.
“People are always different and people come from totally different backgrounds,” says Lisick. “And audience members really like to be in an audience of people [about] who they’re like, ‘Who in the world is that?'” It is exciting to be in an audience whose performers are representatives of the audience. I know this firsthand because of Porchlight.
After only 2 or 3 months in the Bay Area, I ended up at the Hemlock Tavern for one of the first episodes of Open Door, a monthly open mic version of Porchlight. Beth and Arline were walking up to each person, with a clipboard and a roll of drink tickets. “You people are the show,” said Klatte, urging us to sign up. Despite a $50 reward for the best story (awarded by someone in the audience without affiliation to any of the tellers), there were only two people signed up. At that point, there was no show — just people ready for one. So despite not really having a story that fit the theme, and my lack of experience telling a story — without notes (to a roomful of strangers), I signed up. As did a number of other people, I suppose, who had not planned on telling a story that evening.
