SHOW INFO
FAIL: stories about mistakes & mishaps
Thursday, May 21 / 7:30-9:30 (doors open at 6:30)
Hey Nonny / Arlington Heights
Everyone makes mistakes – some more than others. But that’s how you learn (…some more than others). This month, stories about not getting high, escaping Machu Picchu, raising killer plants, DIY disasters, the worst bus ride ever…and a love story that redeems it all.
This show is appropriate for ages 18+ unless accompanied by an adult. All sales are final - no refunds or exchanges.
Producer & host, First Person Live
Clinical psychologist
Restaurant & wine consultant
Director, Chicago Youth Center
Comedian
Legal Eagle
Publishing executive
High school math teacher
Diane Kastiel is the producer and host of First Person Live. A writer and storyteller from Chicago, she’s a three-time winner of the National Public Radio’s Moth StorySLAM; her work has been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, its podcast, and at special events for WBEZ, NPR’s Chicago affiliate. Diane has told stories on stage at The Second City, Steppenwolf, the Park West and the Writers’ Theater among others, as well as comedy clubs, art galleries, the basement of a tattoo parlor - she even did a show in the middle of the woods! Diane works with libraries, schools, community centers and homeless shelters to bring storytelling to a wider audience, and leads storytelling workshops at Northwestern University. Diane is an alumna of The Second City Conservatory and the University of Chicago’s Great Books program. She also has an MBA from Northwestern University…just in case.
Rick Bolnick is a clinical psychologist with 77 years of stories to tell. A married father of two, grandfather of four, Rick - who was quiet and shy as a kid - decided later in life to take some risks and get the most out of life. He’s still a practicing psychotherapist, but he’s also become an avid bike rider, sees a mobility specialist once a week for “stretching,” is in a men’s personal growth group and a book club, sings tenor in a choir, performs as part of the improv ensemble “ImprovBus” - and recently, he went into therapy. Most of all, though, Rick loves to be a storyteller.
Sarah Belyeu is a restaurateur and wine consultant from Tampa who built Wine Spectator award-winning programs across three restaurants. She also spent a year and a half traveling continuously across the country with the Center for Disease Control, working on a national health study in communities from coast to coast. Sarah is a Moth StorySLAM winner and has been doing improv for eight years - long enough to know that making everyone else on stage look good is the ultimate goal, in improv and in life. She recently moved to Chicago to join the love of her life, and they rang in the New Year by getting engaged in Paris.
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Clarence (Sonny) Hogan moved from the small town of Pontiac, MI, to Chicago in 2000. He runs a youth center on the westside, and teaches storytelling workshops and curates live storytelling shows on the west and southside. Sonny enjoys meeting new people, reading, writing and using his creative skills to bring people together.
Michael Emody grew up on the south side of Chicago. In 1978, he moved to Austin, where he found plenty of stage time doing sketch comedy, theatre, improv and ultimately stand-up, travelling the country as a “road warrior” comic until 1996. Since then he’s run a defensive driving company, drove a cab, painted houses and cashiered at Whole Foods. He insists he’s retired but still enjoys performing for a lively crowd. His motto is, “Sleep late!”
Adam Bottner is a former litigator and, for the past 17 years, the Director of Business Development for a legal technology company. Born in New York, lived in Pittsburgh, and raised in unincorporated Des Plaines (“the Third City”), he is a frequent Moth storyteller, thre-time StorySLAM winner, and has been featured on the Moth Story Hour radio show and podcast. He is a graduate of the Second City Training center and has written multiple screenplays, including "Searching for Frenchy Fuqua.” Adam is the father of two amazing sons and lives in Buffalo Grove.
Ken Cozette is retired from a career in publishing, following career segments in engineering and psychology. He recently put his name in the hat for a Moth StorySLAM…and won! Ken has an archive of story materiel from hitchhiking across the U.S. and France as an illicit freight train passenger, as well as 30+ years of marriage and family life. He has a passion for all forms of the arts and appreciates the full expression of them in Chicago. Ken enjoys non-horror films, reading thought-provoking books, and actively avoiding yard work.
Steve Miller has been teaching math to high school students 25 years. His favorite topic is algebra and his favorite victims are freshmen. Prior to teaching, Steve was a patent lawyer who specialized in disposable absorbent non-woven hygiene products (tampons and diapers). He likes to believe that spending 2-1/2 hours a day driving to and from work makes him smarter as long as he listens to audiobooks. When not driving, Steve enjoys discussing politics podcasts with his wife and ‘70s music with his stepson.