![You may be surprised to hear this, but Saturday’s trip to the Jelly Belly Factory was not the destination of our journey. Instead, we were headed to MKE for a very special evening with Mr. Ira Glass at the Pabst Theater. Until about 10 minutes before it began, I thought it was going to be a live recording/taping of This American Life, but apparently I don’t know how to read event descriptions. This is what it was actually about:
“The creator of the public radio show This American Life talks about his program and how it’s put together: what makes a compelling story, where they find the amazing stories for their show, how he and his staff are trying to push broadcast journalism to do things it doesn’t usually do. As part of this, Glass mixes stories from the show, live onstage, combining his narration with pre-taped quotes and music, recreating the sound of the show as the audience watches. And he plays funny and memorable moments from the show, and talks about what was behind their creation.”
It.was.awesome. And my inner Ira Glass fangirl had a complete spazz attack. He made a joke when he came out about “this is what I look like when I’m talking” which was apt of course, because I’ve never actually seen him speak before. I told Kelly that my fingers were crossed that I would get a picture with him, which - I have no idea what I was thinking because this was like an actual concert hall full of people. So no, no pictures with Ira Glass were acquired that night.
The whole discussion was intriguing and hilarious and touching and every other effusive word you would use to describe TAL. I have always been fascinated by stories, the art of storytelling, and people who are amazing storytellers. And I remember the first time I listened to TAL it was like a dream come true - an entire program devoted to something I love so much! [warning: cheese alert] Getting to see the creator and main voice of the show in person was just the cherry on top of the already amazing experiences that TAL has given me through its stories.
And if you aren’t a devoted listener [which is redundant] - what are you waiting for?! Every single episode is available online for free or via an iPhone or Android app.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz1j6x5Zip1qzue8po1_1280.png)
You may be surprised to hear this, but Saturday’s trip to the Jelly Belly Factory was not the destination of our journey. Instead, we were headed to MKE for a very special evening with Mr. Ira Glass at the Pabst Theater. Until about 10 minutes before it began, I thought it was going to be a live recording/taping of This American Life, but apparently I don’t know how to read event descriptions. This is what it was actually about:
“The creator of the public radio show This American Life talks about his program and how it’s put together: what makes a compelling story, where they find the amazing stories for their show, how he and his staff are trying to push broadcast journalism to do things it doesn’t usually do. As part of this, Glass mixes stories from the show, live onstage, combining his narration with pre-taped quotes and music, recreating the sound of the show as the audience watches. And he plays funny and memorable moments from the show, and talks about what was behind their creation.”
It.was.awesome. And my inner Ira Glass fangirl had a complete spazz attack. He made a joke when he came out about “this is what I look like when I’m talking” which was apt of course, because I’ve never actually seen him speak before. I told Kelly that my fingers were crossed that I would get a picture with him, which - I have no idea what I was thinking because this was like an actual concert hall full of people. So no, no pictures with Ira Glass were acquired that night.
The whole discussion was intriguing and hilarious and touching and every other effusive word you would use to describe TAL. I have always been fascinated by stories, the art of storytelling, and people who are amazing storytellers. And I remember the first time I listened to TAL it was like a dream come true - an entire program devoted to something I love so much! [warning: cheese alert] Getting to see the creator and main voice of the show in person was just the cherry on top of the already amazing experiences that TAL has given me through its stories.
And if you aren’t a devoted listener [which is redundant] - what are you waiting for?! Every single episode is available online for free or via an iPhone or Android app.
