Earlier this week, I went to my first The Moth StorySLAM, an open-mic storytelling competition. These events are held around the United States — weekly in New York City; three times a month in Los Angeles; twice a month in Chicago, Michigan, Boston, Portland and San Francisco; and monthly in Louisville, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Seattle, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, Houston and Philadelphia. Held at Philly’s World Café Live, the night’s theme was rivalry. Themes vary with each event. Anyone with a five-minute story to tell on rivalry is invited to put their name in a bag, and 10 storytellers are selected throughout the night. Teams selected from the audience judge the stories, and one winner is selected. After 10 SLAMS, the winners face off in a GrandSLAM Championship. The night’s host was R. Eric Thomas; he kept the audience entertained between stories, reading submissions from the audience about rivalries people were involved in. A producer keeps storytellers on time, ringing a bell at the five-minute mark, and another sound when they are over time and in danger of losing points. It was a different way to spend an evening in the city, and each story was wildly different. It’s interesting to see the perspectives each person brings to the same theme. The stories ranged from a guy participating in a marathon unprepared to another man’s wilderness tale, and a teacher’s awful first year teaching to a first kiss gone wrong and a high school student’s struggles with his classmates. The winner told a story about his rivalry with his father and his bladder, as a five-year-old on a road trip. I bet you can figure out who won! I was merely an observer, not a participant — I don’t think I could get up there in front of all those people and share, but I admit the bravery it takes and the courage some people have to expose their tales. Next up in Philadelphia is the October StorySLAM on hunger, which I’m sure will produce some hilarious stories. — Kim Krol, managing editor