The Moth

The Moth is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It was founded in 1997 by the novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales. The first New York Moth event was held in George’s living room but tonight's event was held in a slightly grander setting: the Main Hall of the Cooper Union which at various times has served as a platform for historic addresses by Presidents Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, Taft, Roosevelt, Wilson and Clinton.

Impressive though it is, the biggest problem with the Main Hall is that a great many seats are directly behind pillars which means impossible sightlines. After much trial and error we located seats that at least allowed us to see the storytellers for the evening.

The Moth has presented more than three thousand stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life to standing-room-only crowds. Each show features raconteurs as diverse as Teri Garr, Dominick Dunne, Margaret Cho, Spalding Gray, Buck Henry, Salman Rushdie, Frank McCourt, Suzanne Vega and John Cameron Mitchell who develop and shape their stories with The Moth’s directors. They have exactly ten minutes in which to tell their story.

The theme for tonight was chosen in honour of Valentine's Day. The charming and affable writer/ comedian Mike Birbiglia (below) opened the evening with a reminiscence about being introduced to his first girlfriend's parents which he took as a hopeful sign until the girl's REAL boyfriend arrived as well. Somehow he ended up back at the other boyfriend's house to meet HIS parents but only because he thought it might impress the girl that he was "good with parents in general."

Todd Bush, a West Village hairstylist, told an intense story about being forced to hunt deer with his father as a rite of passage which he endured from the ages of ten to fourteen in an attempt to win his father's love and respect. Novelist Tina McElroy Ansa told of growing up in Georgia where all the local girls had great juicy stories about their sex lives, prompting Tina to orchestrate perfectly the circumstances in which she would lose her virginity so she would also have a great story to tell afterwards!

Respected jazz bass player Christian McBride told of how he hero-worshipped legendary trumpeter Freddie Hubbard as a youngster and finally won the opportunity to "sub" with his band at the age of eighteen only to be crushingly ignored by the star throughout the set. Dejected, he was astonished when Hubbard introduced him to the audience at the end of the evening as a hot new discovery, and it marked the beginning of a long collaboration.

"Saturday Night Live" alumni Rachel Dratch (the reason we attended this event...we're devoted fans) told of the perils of dating in New York, when the perfect man who seemed to be shaping up as Mr. Right gradually revealed himself to be an alcoholic with an unhealthy curiosity about cannibalism.

And finally, best-selling author Walter Mosley finished the evening with a poignant tale about his physically and emotionally distant mother and his tactile, affectionate father who nonetheless beat him regularly. Mosely left home at 18 to escape them but reconnected with his mother after his father passed away. As he noticed the onset of her dementia he made a point of telling her every day that he loved her but she was completely unable to respond in kind until near the very end of her life when she finally said the words he was so desperate to hear.

We've fallen in love with The Moth and will watch out for any future events.