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Luck of the Draw

Luck of the Draw
Or What You Missed At The Moth
by Jeff Jordan

I sent a draft of my five-minute presentation for The Moth to my friend Niki Robinson. Now just because Niki produces the Milwaukee version of the internationally produced The Moth doesn't mean I get any special treatment. All participants are urged to submit their ideas and presentations to the program for vetting and mentoring. Niki got back to me with a thumbs up and a couple of suggestions.

I tweaked and futzed with the piece every day for a week. Contestants have five minutes to present. I timed my presentation as I performed it to my ever-patient computer screen. There is a loosely enforced theme for each slam. That evening, it was Family. Your story must be true, It has to be about something that happened to you or profoundly affected you. As a story, it should have a beginning, middle, and ending. Besides having a five-minute constraint (Remember I'm Irish), you can not use any notes, scripts, or cheat sheets.

This contest is held at Anodyne Coffee at 225 W Bruce St. in Walkers Point. This event is billed as a Slam. Ten contestants will compete. Later in the year, all of the winners of the Slam events will compete in the Grand Slam.

When I got to the event, I had to sign a release form, and then they dropped my application into "The Bag." The audio and video people were setting up the equipment to present and record the show. The producer is recruiting, from the arriving crowd, neutral teams of three to judge the contestants. The room fills to a capacity of approximately one hundred and fifty or so. And we begin.

The moderator comes out welcomes the crowd, explains the rules, and introduces the three teams of three judges each. There is a scoreboard on an easel that has ten blank lines of four boxes, which will eventually display the contestant's names and their scores.

The moderator is a hilarious, crude, and talented comedian, who entertains and rouses the crowd with improvised patter in between performers. First, she draws a name out of the bag. The lucky winner moves to the "On-Deck" position while the moderator reads answers to a pre-distributed question.

In our case, it was, "What was your reaction to the discovery of a family secret?" She will riff on the answers from the entries she reads. As the night progresses, it appears a lot of people find out they or their siblings are from sperm donors other than the person they think is their parent. They find this out because of death bed confessions or increasingly DNA analysis.

As our moderator is doing her thing, the judges are conferring. Another drawing, more jokes about uncles who are problems and relatives marrying relatives, then the judge's report, the recording of the scores, lots of clapping and then wash, rinse and repeat.

I was a little concerned because part of my story is about discovering I have a daughter I didn't know about. The commonality of this has the moderator struggling for pithy jokes. But I need not worry, I did not get to participate in the contest. My name was not drawn.

Disappointed? Yes. Discouraged? No. Not only did I have a great time, but I'll be better prepared next time. I'll be back on January 17 when The Moth will have its first presentation in 2020.

The Milwaukee version of The Moth is held at the
Anodyne Coffee Roaster
225 Bruce St.
Milwaukee, WI
Doors open at 7:00 pm
Performance starts at 8:00 pm
For Milwaukee Performances, go to the website, click on Live Events. Select live events, Scroll to Ticket Info, Choose Milwaukee as location, and Slam as the event.

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