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's Kellogg Graduate School of Management…just in case. 

Tyler Fowler is a nationally touring comedian who appears regularly at The Laugh Factory and Zanies Comedy Clubs. When he’s not on stage, he can be found watching live music or desperately trying to finish a library book before it’s due. Tyler is making his debut at First Person Live tonight!

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,” and 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. Eliana 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, make that “haha”).

LaTia Thomas is a nonbinary, queer, black femme that currently works for City Greens Market, a local nonprofit grocer in St. Louis, as Community Outreach Director. She enjoys reading fantasy, sci-fi and graphic novels, playing DnD, or pouring everything into a new hyper focus. LaTia has been telling stories all her life and has had the privilege of studying under masterstoryteller Gladys Cogswell who also happens to be her godmother. As a person that has to navigate a world carrying various oppressed identities, the ability to remain soft, imaginative, and hopeful is a trying feat. By sharing stories of all kinds, LaTia hopes to till others’ imaginations so that we can all build something better together.

Nadia Greenspan’s OK Cupid profile says that she “still has a trace of an accent that most people find hard to place.” Born in the Soviet Union, Nadia is a proud Ukrainian, a recovering Jew, a practicing witch, and an outspoken disruptor of white patriarchal supremacy. As a psychotherapist in private practice, she works with people in creative and performing arts, as well as those who think that the matrix exists but have not yet found the white rabbit. Nadia is a Moth StorySlam winner, but her favorite way to tell stories is around a dinner table with friends. 

Anne McNamee-Keels is a Moth GrandSLAM winner and, perhaps more importantly, the former reigning Wrightwood Irish Princess of Chicago’s South Side Irish Parade (5-7 year-old division). She’s also the host of Lapsed, a podcast about growing up Catholic. Anne is a board member and facilitator at Race Conscious Dialogues and teaches theatre classes at The Actors Garden in Oak Park, where she lives with her husband, two children, and two very furry dogs.

Francesca Sobrer is a recovering public-school teacher who enjoys using her teaching voice for those cars who ignore pedestrian crossing signs. As a teacher, she realized storytelling was one of the best tools in her toolkit and now can’t seem to stop herself, becoming a Moth StorySLAM winner and GrandSLAM champion. Francesca travels to Brooklyn and Nantucket as much as possible to visit her adorable grandchildren.

Errol McLendon spends his day portraying patients for medical students and guiding them in developing communication skills. He is also an adjunct professor at Indiana University Medical School. Errol has told stories at many venues in Chicago and is a Moth StorySLAM winner. Errol toured his solo show in Indianapolis, Atlanta and April of last year, and recently published the first in his series of middle grade books. 

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