On May 13, 2021, join storyteller and emcee Jessica Robinson and storytellers Nick Baskerville, Calvin S. Cato, Heather Forest, Mo Reynolds, and Jack Scheer for “Anniversaries,” the first of 2 shows in May celebrating Better Said Than Done’s 10 year anniversary!
In the “Buy Tickets” box, click on the amount you’d like to pay and then “add to cart.” At the top of the “Buy Tickets” box, a little box that says “Go to Cart” will appear. Click on that.
Confirm everything in your cart is correct. Click “Review Cart and Make Payment.” Then click on “Make Payment through Paypal.” That will take you to Paypal where you are given the choice to login to pay OR to pay with credit card.
Check out Jessica’s interview with Simon Brooks on 
Check out Jessica’s interview with Ellouise Schoettler on 
Calvin S. Cato has performed all across the United States and has even crossed the border into Canada. His television appearances include the Game Show Network, Oxygen’s My Crazy Love, National Geographic’s Brain Games, and an unaired pilot for Vice Media called Emergency Black Meeting. His comedy has been featured in numerous festivals including San Francisco Sketchfest, Brooklyn Pride, Austin’s Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, Gotham Storytelling Festival and the Women in Comedy Festival. In addition, you may have heard him on Sirius XM or on the popular podcasts RISK! and Keith and the Girl. In 2017, Calvin was named one of Time Out New York’s Queer Comics of Color to Watch Out For. 
Claire Castell lived a life full of stories which she now crafts and tells for our entertainment. Her performance venues throughout the Bay Area include The Oakland Story Slam, Orinda Tale Spinners, Silk Road, Delta Word Weavers, the Frank Bette Center, The Marsh Theater, and The Moth at Berkeley Freight and Salvage. 
Silvana Clark is the author of 12 books. Silvana also appeared on the FOX reality show, Trading Spouses. As a corporate trainer, she’s told stories for the last 25 years. Silvana is proud to have trained her Springer Spaniel to star in commercials and print ads. As soon as travel restrictions lift, she’ll join her husband in housesitting unique homes around the world. 
Chetter Galloway is a graduate of East Tennessee State University with a Master of Arts in Storytelling. Chetter has performed nationally at venues such as the National Black Arts Festival, National Association of Black Storytellers Festival, The National Storytelling Summit, The Art of the Story Festival, and the Smithsonian. He is also a contributing storyteller featured on Race Bridges Studio. Chetter also serves on the Board of Directors for Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia. For more information, check out: 
Len Kruger has performed stories with DC-area storytelling groups such as Story District, the Moth DC, Perfect Liars Club, and Story Collider. He did his first-ever storytelling gig at Better Said Than Done’s inaugural show in 2011. Len also writes fiction and has had short stories published by magazines and journals including Zoetrope All Story, The Barcelona Review, and Gargoyle. He lives in Washington DC. Len has a flash fiction piece entitled, “I’m Not Sorry, America” in the anthology, This is What America Looks Like: Fiction and Poetry from DC, Maryland, and Virginia, published in February 2021 by The Washington Writers’ Publishing House. 
Nina Lesiga’s favorite place to be is outside of her comfort zone. She tells stories of adventures from growing up in Brooklyn, NY to her present day life in Stratford, CT. NIna’s performed on PBS’s “Stories from the Stage”, “Generation Women” and “The Story Space. Nina is the host of the Bridgeport Art Trail Storytelling Exchange, an informal online story sharing gathering and one of the organizers of PechaKucha Night Bridgeport visual storytelling. Find more at 
Howard Lieberman moved from NYC to rabidly Republican Stillwater, MN with a New York accent and a jaded sense of humor, and his unique blend of performance art, improv and storytelling has made him a fixture in the national performance art scene.
Victoria Rocha is based in L.A., but has performed in storytelling shows in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. This will be her first virtual storytelling show. You can hear Victoria on several podcast episodes of 
Anu Senan is a mom, storyteller and corporate leader. She is a two time Moth StorySLAM winner. Anu hosts the podcast 
Sarah Brady is based in Virginia, but recently spent three years in the U.K. Her repertoire includes history, from the Civil War to World War II to the Civil Rights movement, as well as folk tales and Bible stories. She’s also taught speech at the college level.
Bonnie Gardner is relatively new to storytelling, having debuted at Better Said Than Done in January 2020. She’s also performed with the Scheherazade Project and Stories for Healing. In her spare time, she helps run Big Big World Project, which supports children at orphanages in Vietnam.
Jenn Kamara is a policy analyst by day and an absurdity magnet by night. She has performed on the stages of Story District and Risk! with stories that include the Worst Job and the Worst Date.
Vijai Nathan had been scheduled to be a featured teller at last year’s Women’s Festival, but withdrew due to the pandemic. She’s told at numerous venues in the D.C. area, include Better Said Than Done and Story District, and has also appeared at the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and Constitution Hall. She draws inspiration for her stories – and stand-up comedy – from her experiences growing up as an Indian-American in the DC burbs. Her newest show is “I’m not racist, but …”
Kristin Pedemonti has performed numerous times for Better Said Than Done and other local venues. She has also been a storytelling consultant to the World Bank. She moved on from being a children’s librarian in Pennsylvania to performing her stories at festivals in Colombia, Poland, Kenya, and Romania. She was the first American storyteller to be invited to participate in the Kanoon International Storytelling Festival in Iran. Her current focus is trauma recovery and healing stories and she founded Steer Your Story to further this work. She is also now working on a master’s degree in Narrative Therapy.
Margarita Rozenfeld has performed with Better Said Than Done, as well as other D.C. stages. She’s also been part of both the Rochester and DC Fringe Festivals. Her stories focus on growing up in the Soviet Union and on her experiences as an immigrant to the United States.
Andrea Young has performed for Better Said Than Done and emceed at last year’s Women’s Storytelling Festival. She finds her stories from her global nomad experiences, having lived on four continents outside of North America for over 10 years and having traveled to over 26 countries.
Mary Theresa Archbold is a New Yorker. She’s part of the New York Times bestseller Occasional Magic, and has performed on the Moth MainStage, NPR’s This American Life, and Risk! She has her own storytelling podcast, Funny Parents, and has acted on television and off-Broadway stages, as well as musicals throughout the U.S.
Robin Bady lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she produces a house concert series at her home. She’s also toured nationally, internationally, and virtually, performing at fringe festivals, theaters, schools, museums, and storytelling festivals. In her stories, Robin takes on ghosts, bullies, and even J. Edgar Hoover.
Laura Deal lives in Boulder, Colorado. She tells traditional, original, and personal stories to children and adults. She is also a reader of dreams and a teacher of creative writing.
Rachel Hedman was the first recipient of the J. J. Reneaux Mentorship grant from the National Storytelling Network. She is a family folklore expert and an advocate for youth storytelling. She’s the founder of the Story Crossroads festival in Utah, conducts storytelling workshops, and maintains a blog with tips for telling.
Claire Hennessy was born in Great Britain and now tells funny, true, and often embarrassing stories in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a podcast, The Bonkers Brit, and has written a memoir that she is trying to find an agent for before she is too old to go on a book tour. She is also the co-founder of Six Feet Apart Productions, a virtual storytelling program whose able staff is helping with some of the tech for this festival.
Priscilla Howe comes to us from Kansas, but has traveled far and wide, including collecting Bulgarian folktales on a Fulbright Scholarship. She performs folktales, personal stories, and literary stories for children and adults, often accompanied by her family of puppets. She is also known for her skill at paper cutting and her quest for the best restaurant pie on earth.
M.J. Kang was born in Seoul, Korea. She comes to us now from Los Angeles. She has won a Moth slam, as well as telling stories on the RISK! podcast and on Stories from the Stage on PBS.
Rona Leventhal is based on Massachusetts and has performed for audiences and taught workshops throughout the country. She has a new family CD, “Raps, Rhythms, and Rhymes: Stories to Tap, Rap, Shake and Sing,” due out later this year, joining her adult and teen CD of creepy stories, “Into the Dark: Stories From the Shadows.”
Cindy Rivka Marshall is a Boston-based teller of multicultural and Jewish folktales, as well as personal stories. Her focus is on community building, including diversity awareness and social justice. She also offers workshops for educators, congregations, and organizations, as well as story coaching.
Jenice Matias was born and raised in New York and now lives in New Jersey. She has told stories for the Moth, Monti, Story Collider, and Risk! and has written and performed four solo shows. Her most recent show is “I don’t suffer from insanity, I enjoy every moment of it.” She is also a dancer, singer, actor, and comedian.
Misty Mator comes to us from Pittsburgh. She learned about storytelling from her German grandmother and now uses both traditional myth and her experiences as a mother of four to teach history, celebrate culture, and promote moral values for audiences of all ages. The venues she has performed at include Better Said Than Done, the Ellwood City Storytelling Festival, and Pittsburgh’s Alphabest Trails and Tails.
Mo Reynolds is based in northwest Montana and travels throughout the state with her combination of folk tales and personal narrative. She’s been a featured teller at the Florida Storytelling Festival, the Teton Storytelling Festival, as well as performing with Better Said Than Done, Artists Standing Strong Together.
Regina Stoops has led a life that took her from Normal, Illinois to the San Francisco Bay Area. Her stories deal with her life as a Catholic, Democratic, lesbian stay-at-home soccer mom with an Autistic son. In other words, navigating the normal of modern suburbia, complete with minivan and grocery shopping. She is the co-founder (with Claire Hennessy) of Six Feet Apart Productions.
Sage Tyrtle has been described as the Queen of Storytelling in Toronto, Canada. She’s been a Moth StorySLAM and GrandSLAM winner, appeared in Stories From the Stage on PBS, and has been featured on NPR and CBC Radio. She performs her funny and sad personal stories and folktales, and teaches workshops, for both adults and children.
Carol Birch has been featured on over 100 festival stages, included nine appearances at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She also received the Circle of Excellence award from the National Storytelling Network (NSN). American storytelling doesn’t really have bigger honors than those. But she’s also written books and made numerous media appearances.
Lyn Ford was the first storyteller in the state of Ohio to be nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts. That’s in addition to appearing at the National Storytelling Festival, Hawaii’s Talk Story Festival, and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Utah. She’s written several books, alone and with Sherry Norfolk. She’s also an NSN Circle of Excellence and a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers Circle of Elders.
Jennifer Munro is another NSN Circle of Excellence member. She’s performed at both the National Storytelling Festival and the Timpanogos Festival. She’s also received Storytelling World awards for three CDs and a book of short stories.
Ingrid Nixon has not only performed in the National Storytelling Festival, but she’s performed in lots of unlikely places – like an island in Antarctica. Her three recordings have won gold seals from Storytelling World Magazine. And she’s been a teller-in-residence at the International Storytelling Center. She’s won numerous liar’s contests, including those at the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival and the Northwest Folklife Festival She’s coming to us all the way from Alaska – and that’s no lie.
Laura Packer is one of the most recent additions to the roster of NSN Circle of Excellence members. She’s been a teller at the National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place and numerous other festivals, including the Texas Storytelling Festival and Three Apples Storytelling Festival. She’s also won the Brother Blue and Ruth Hill Award for Storytelling Excellence, Service, and Leadership from the League for the Advancement of New England Storytelling.
Ellouise Schoettler performed at the National Storytelling Festival Exchange Place, as well as the Stone Soup Storytelling Festival in South Carolina and the George West Storytelling Festival in Texas. She won an NSN Oracle Award for Leadership and Service. She’s also had three one woman shows in the Capital Fringe Festival and produces a storytelling show on cable television.
Kim Weitkamp had been scheduled to be a featured teller at last year’s Women’s Storytelling Festival, but had to withdraw due to the pandemic. We’re delighted to have her join us virtually this year. She’s performed at numerous festivals, including the National Storytelling Festival and the Timpanogos Festival. She’s been a teller-in-residence at the International Storytelling Center. You can hear her regularly on NPR and on Sirius radio, as well as on her nine recordings, seven of which have won Storytelling World awards.
