Comedy through storytelling event creates community connections
The lights dimmed and the audience murmured. Once Taylor Williams started talking, they were silent.
“We hope you're here indulging in the vice of storytelling,” Williams said.
Williams, 42, founded Guts & Glory GNV and organized “So Fresh & So Clean,” a comedy storytelling night centered around new beginnings, to bring the Gainesville community together. Williams, who used to host a podcast on WUFT called “Unvarnished,” held the storytelling event at The Wooly on Thursday, and when the doors opened at 6:30 p.m. it was to a steady stream of close to 80 people.
Williams said she originally got inspiration for the quarterly event while doing improv and participating in storytelling groups in New York City and Washington, D.C..
Instead of stand-up comedy, where a comic performs improvised and scripted jokes often poking creative fun at the audience, Williams’ storytelling comedy show connects the community in a different way.
The performers deliver a scripted monologue that they pitch and workshop with Williams in the weeks leading up to the show.
Each show is centered around a theme. January’s theme was new beginnings and fresh starts to match the start of the new year. Williams said she sees each show as an opportunity to help people find their voice.
“I came from a world of athletics, where I performed in a very different way,” she said.
Williams said she learned how to perform for comedy as part of improv groups in New York City. She said she was inspired by her experience and brought it with her when she returned to Gainesville.
Williams started Guts & Glory GNV eight years ago as a comedy storytelling organization. Its anniversary is coming up in April, and Williams said she would like to organize something special. Williams said the first Guts & Glory GNV event drew a crowd of 80 people, and she quickly moved to a larger venue with more regular scheduling.
“Building a community was one of my major motivations,” she said.
Now, Guts & Glory GNV sees a mixed audience of regulars and newcomers. The mixed audience is her goal and Thursday’s show delivered, Williams said.
Williams worked directly with the five storytellers, and said the most difficult part of organizing “So Fresh & So Clean” was figuring out how to balance what each storyteller wanted to express while maintaining the audience’s perception of their story. She said clarifying the story and clearing up discrepancies can be the hardest part about making a storyteller stage-ready.
But Williams said the best part for her is to watch the storytellers walk out there, perform and see their pride in their performance.
“I always hope they don’t sleep well the night after,” said Williams. “Just because of how excited they are about their accomplishment.”
Brian Mathien, 43, was one of the five storytellers who performed and he shared an emotional story with the audience through jokes and a storyboard of photos.
His story focused on how he completely refreshed his life after he moved with his family to Gainesville from Illinois after his wife accepted a job with the University of Florida. The drastic change resulted in him starting his own clothing design business and following his passion for screen-printing.
“I never really thought about the story until I was tasked with doing this,” said Mathien. “Until you really sit back and write it down you don't realize how fast and wonderful your life is going.”
Mathien said he used to be a member of the audience, only watching the storytelling shows, until Williams convinced him to give his own performance. The audience and the community the shows create was what helped make him feel comfortable sharing his story, Mathien said.
“I think it's really important to see all these slices of the community and their different takes on what a fresh start is,” he said.
Audience members Taryn Jones, 32, and David Bartlett, 52, said they shared Mathien’s sentiment for community engagement.
“I think Taylor really creates a great community to allow people to feel safe to tell their stories,” Bartlett said.
“So Fresh & So Clean” was the second show Jones attended, and she said she liked how people can submit their stories and share that part of themselves.
“I think the best word to describe it is connected,” Jones said.