Check out where we've been featured!
Chicago Reader
"More stripped-down than spoken word, more intimate than a reading, less frantic than stand-up, less showy than theater, [live lit is] essentially a reader and a mike and a room full of people. Live lit is verbal seduction, polemic, rhythm and lyric, bedtime story, bombast, and lament all at once.
'People don't get true stories anymore,' says Dana Norris, who founded and produces the monthly Story Club. 'We've had a lot of reality created around us that is in fact fake. We're looking for somebody to come in on a train from Schaumburg and stand on a stage and say, "This is what happened to me." And you feel like, "Oh, yeah, now I can see the world. I know what the world looks like now."' "
Chicago Tribune
"Norris founded Story Club in 2009 because she couldn't find a venue for the kind of material she herself was interested in performing. At the time, most open-mic events in Chicago were geared toward poetry, stand-up and 'people with guitars.' Around the same time Norris started Story Club, a number of like-minded people launched similar storytelling groups and lo and behold — a scene was born...Norris thinks the storytelling scene is booming in part because of Chicago's long-standing history of oral narratives in the Studs Terkel vein. 'We understand the importance of the working man, the working person,' Norris says. 'We think an individual's experience has merit, and by hearing about it, we learn something about the way the world actually is.' And that, she adds, is what makes the stories told onstage by ordinary people 'the opposite of reality TV.'"
Chicago Literati
"I think that’s one of the other things that Story Club will give you. A diverse array of readers who come at the same theme from all angles. A night that is bullshit free, that focuses on community. Get up, read. Nice bar, new faces, big names, a focus on the artists instead of a gimmick. You end the night feeling hopeful, sad, happy and in love. You walk away from Story Club still feeling like you’re there. You come for the stories and you get more than you ever bargained for."
The Chicagoist
"This showcase of new talent is a part of each show and makes for a really wonderful soup of rookie and veteran tales from the front lines."
Time Out Chicago
“Everyone from shy wallflowers to Moth Story Slam Champions has read here. One of the most memorable performances was a woman who read passages in a 1940s Southern accent, without dropping character.”
WBEZ.org
"Norris is the host and founder of Story Club at Holiday Club, and she argues that the act of sharing your fears in public 'creates a weird community,' one that she’s found 'incredibly open and supportive' to her perspective."
Gaper's Block
"...[I]t's a pot-luck of whoever happens to show up that night with a few pages in their hand and the urge to speak into a microphone."
The University of Chicago Magazine Interview with Dana Norris
"What does Story Club add to the Chicago live literature circuit?
'Story Club is the only show that has both an open mic and curated performances. The audience gets to experience both the excitement of watching new performers step up to a mic for the first time and the pleasure of watching polished storytelling from our featured performers.'"
DePaul Writing Center
"If you want a good cocktail and to hear some great (though a bit crass or shocking) nonfiction, true stories it’s an excellent place to spend an evening and get involved in the Chicago literary scene."
AWP Chicago 2012 (Live Lit Panel)
"They inject attitude into their nostalgia, take you to the ledge with their humor, then let you hang in the midst of their vulnerability."
Vocalo.org
Listen to interview with our founder about the growth of storytelling in Chicago.
"More stripped-down than spoken word, more intimate than a reading, less frantic than stand-up, less showy than theater, [live lit is] essentially a reader and a mike and a room full of people. Live lit is verbal seduction, polemic, rhythm and lyric, bedtime story, bombast, and lament all at once.
'People don't get true stories anymore,' says Dana Norris, who founded and produces the monthly Story Club. 'We've had a lot of reality created around us that is in fact fake. We're looking for somebody to come in on a train from Schaumburg and stand on a stage and say, "This is what happened to me." And you feel like, "Oh, yeah, now I can see the world. I know what the world looks like now."' "
Chicago Tribune
"Norris founded Story Club in 2009 because she couldn't find a venue for the kind of material she herself was interested in performing. At the time, most open-mic events in Chicago were geared toward poetry, stand-up and 'people with guitars.' Around the same time Norris started Story Club, a number of like-minded people launched similar storytelling groups and lo and behold — a scene was born...Norris thinks the storytelling scene is booming in part because of Chicago's long-standing history of oral narratives in the Studs Terkel vein. 'We understand the importance of the working man, the working person,' Norris says. 'We think an individual's experience has merit, and by hearing about it, we learn something about the way the world actually is.' And that, she adds, is what makes the stories told onstage by ordinary people 'the opposite of reality TV.'"
Chicago Literati
"I think that’s one of the other things that Story Club will give you. A diverse array of readers who come at the same theme from all angles. A night that is bullshit free, that focuses on community. Get up, read. Nice bar, new faces, big names, a focus on the artists instead of a gimmick. You end the night feeling hopeful, sad, happy and in love. You walk away from Story Club still feeling like you’re there. You come for the stories and you get more than you ever bargained for."
The Chicagoist
"This showcase of new talent is a part of each show and makes for a really wonderful soup of rookie and veteran tales from the front lines."
Time Out Chicago
“Everyone from shy wallflowers to Moth Story Slam Champions has read here. One of the most memorable performances was a woman who read passages in a 1940s Southern accent, without dropping character.”
WBEZ.org
"Norris is the host and founder of Story Club at Holiday Club, and she argues that the act of sharing your fears in public 'creates a weird community,' one that she’s found 'incredibly open and supportive' to her perspective."
Gaper's Block
"...[I]t's a pot-luck of whoever happens to show up that night with a few pages in their hand and the urge to speak into a microphone."
The University of Chicago Magazine Interview with Dana Norris
"What does Story Club add to the Chicago live literature circuit?
'Story Club is the only show that has both an open mic and curated performances. The audience gets to experience both the excitement of watching new performers step up to a mic for the first time and the pleasure of watching polished storytelling from our featured performers.'"
DePaul Writing Center
"If you want a good cocktail and to hear some great (though a bit crass or shocking) nonfiction, true stories it’s an excellent place to spend an evening and get involved in the Chicago literary scene."
AWP Chicago 2012 (Live Lit Panel)
"They inject attitude into their nostalgia, take you to the ledge with their humor, then let you hang in the midst of their vulnerability."
Vocalo.org
Listen to interview with our founder about the growth of storytelling in Chicago.
