The key to great storytelling, says the Moth founder George Dawes Green, is vulnerability. Great storytellers “always focus on weakness and loss, and their own humanity, their own clownishness.” Well, get out the makeup kits, because the circus is most definitely in town. Those narrative addicts at L.A. Story Works, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the storytelling bug, have organized a weeklong event at multiple venues around town. The Los Angeles Storytelling Festival, which kicks off tonight, will undoubtedly be the best place to find folks recounting their most horrible and embarrassing moments in the name of public sharing and human togetherness. In addition to the already established and beloved storytelling shows on the roster (UnCabaret, Show & Tell, the Trunk Show and WRITE CLUB, among others), there will be an intensive workshop led by Deana Barone of the TellTale Company/the Trunk Show, focused on expanding the outlook of novice raconteurs, which culminates with a performance by workshop participants on Sunday. The opening-night party takes place at the festival's hub, Hollywood Boulevard's iO West Theater, at 7 p.m. Visit lastoryworks.org for a complete schedule of the hilarious, traumatic and cringe-inducing events. iO West Theater, 6366 Hollywood Blvd., Hlywd.; Fri., Oct. 4-Thurs., Oct. 10, times vary, see online schedule for details; $10 for individual shows, $30 for a festival pass. (323) 962-7560, lastoryworks.org.

Fri., Oct. 4, 2013

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