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, Victory Gardens and other theaters 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. 

Eliana La Casa is a bilingual Argentinean standup comedian. She has been featured on Comedy Central’s Latinoamerica, as well as BBC Radio 4 London’s “Welcome to Wherever You Are.” She was voted Best Stand-Up Comedian of 2021 by the Chicago Reader. Eliana moved to the U.S. in 2021 and has since fallen in love with storytelling. She claims she moved to Chicago pursue comedy, but her real goal is to try every single vegan restaurant in the city. She loves testing people´s understanding of context by pronouncing “voting” and “boating” exactly the same -on purpose. She could totally pronounce them correctly - jaja. (Sorry, she means “haha.”)

Nick Narcisi was a theater actor before the pandemic and since has worked in a cancer research laboratory in Chicago. (He is as surprised with that career pivot as you are.) Nick has worked with theater companies from Arkansas to Montana, spending a lot of time in small towns and dive bars throughout the country. As an actor, Nick got very good at telling other people’s stories, and only recently he started telling his own. He has performed with The Moth and is thrilled to be back at First Person Live. Nick spends most of his time in Chicago fighting imaginary dungeons and dragons with friends, or hanging out with his definitely real French girlfriend, and their even more real English Bulldog. 

Jonathan Holubiak was born on the north side of Chicago, raised on the south side of Chicago, and currently resides on the west side of Chicago. (He likes Chicago.) Jonathan works in children’s book publishing as a product developer and copywriter. He’s also working on a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling and enrolled in a mindfulness-based transpersonal program in Boulder, Colorado - hippie shit. Jonathan has studied at The Second City’s Conservatory, told stories at The Moth, hosted events and open mics, and officiated weddings as an ordained minister. He loves performing, painting, hockey, biking, and playing outside for hours on end with his best friend, a nearly 14-year-old German Shepherd named Brucedog. Jonathan embraces the three D’s – dancing, death metal, and dinosaurs - and hopes to one day be a valet for a professional wrestler.

Paul Teodo is a retired healthcare executive. Born and raised on Chicago's south side, he’s been telling stories in real life for 67 years and on stage for the past eight. Paul is a five-time Moth StorySLAM winner and a Moth GrandSLAM Champion, invited to perform in New York at the prestigious Moth Ball and featured on CBS Sunday Morning. His two novels and short story collection are available on Amazon. Paul raised two great sons as a single dad and is a lifelong dog lover.

Alina Serban was born and raised in Romania, where she was a TV journalist for 17 years before moving to Chicago five years ago. Alina has taken storytelling classes at The Second City, performing twice onstage, and curated Together for Ukraine, a storytelling fundraising event. She loves The Moth and, after years of listening to the podcast, recently told a story at a Chicago Moth StorySLAM, finishing in third place and making a dream come true. Alina is chief of staff for Embrace Living Communities, a non-profit organization providing affordable housing to low-income seniors and people with disabilities. Alina lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband Matt and their son Daniel.

Steve Glickman has been telling stories at weddings and funerals his whole life to wide critical acclaim. He is the co-host of a monthly open-mic storytelling event in Chicago, and regularly performs at storytelling shows around the city. Steve is a software engineer by day and a proud nerd. He loves classical music and can often be seen air-conducting whatever symphony or opera is playing on his iPod or in his head. Steve lives in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago with his partner Mark and their imaginary dog Ruffles.

.James R. Petersen was the sex editor for Playboy magazine for almost 40 years years. (USA Today once called his column, The Playboy Advisor, “the premier source of sex information in the country.”) As the Playboy Advisor, Jim did stand-up sex therapy on 125 college campuses, wrote about sex when sex was new, and appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. (Note: If you followed his advice, or were injured trying the Chinese Basket Trick, be advised that the statute of limitations has run out.) Jim is a regular at Moth StorySLAMs and other storytelling shows around Chicago.