Well good day everybody — I’m Matt Goldberg, and this is the brand new Confabulation blog. Confabulation is, for the uninitiated, Montreal’s premier all-true storytelling series. In the vein of NYC’s The Moth, Confabulation is a monthly showcase for true stories from some of Montreal’s finest… Well. People. Everyone is welcome to tell their personal, true life stories, without notes, props or gimmicks. It’s not stand-up or performance poetry, and not speechifying; but something a little bit different than any of those.
Confabulation has really been inspired by this great wave of true-life story telling that has been catching on. But my actual motives behind Confabulation were somewhat more sinister. I started the event because, like many people, I was convinced that I had no stories. Or rather that I had somehow lost all my stories, which suggested they were none-too-important to begin with. I think you all know what I mean.
We just don’t tell a lot of stories anymore. And when we do, they tend to be short sound-bytes of story, brief moments that we find funny or odd. And these are great. We all tell these. But I think something’s changed in us — we don’t see the connections in these moments. And we rarely reflect on how these choice moments affect us. Admittedly, sometimes it takes us years, but I think by limiting our stories in this way, by self-editing and selecting, we lose something. We lose the confidence that our life is full of meaning.
I wanted to steal stories. Okay, not literally.
I wanted to hear what stories other people had. I wanted to be inspired by my friends and fellow Montrealers, figuring that one of them would remind me of something worth sharing. I asked my friends and colleagues to draw out and explore those seminal moments in their lives; those moments where they became themselves. We had six storytellers tell true life stories way back in May, and these charming people shared charming stories about important firsts. These firsts really said a lot about how they saw the world, and how they became the people that they are today.
And then something crazy happened — I took my own advice. I thought about what made me me, or at least one big part of me, and a story jumped out of my mouth. I got up there myself, and said my piece.
Now in my role as host, I typically share at least brief anecdotes for every one of these events. It’s a mixture of addiction and personal challenge. I started convinced I had no stories, and now I’m sharing tons.
And that’s what brings us to the new idea in this project — the blog. Yup. We’re in the future now. Now, you’ll be able to listen to recordings of Confabulations past at your leisure. Now, you’ll also be able to read reflections on the events from me and my Co-Confabulation Coordinators. Now, you will have a space to share your own stories on-line, as part of this broader community. You can expect one blog post from me weekly, as well as a new sound clip from one of our events.
So here we go, ladies and gents. The first ever Confabulation the Blog entry is complete. Go get some stories!