After winning this year’s Austin Chronicle Readers’ Poll for Best Comedy/Storytelling Showcase, Queer to Tell is returning for another night of stories this August at Captain Quack’s. The upcoming show is produced by creator Nick Eibler along with Charlie Rodriguez and Tom Delbello. Eibler says the structure is pretty simple. “I compare it to like the format of the comedy show, except people will get up and read their pieces,” he says. “Some are on the more humorous side, some are in the more emotional side. But it's really an opportunity for queer people who just have a story to tell to get up, share that story, and connect with other queer people. And for audience members to just sit, listen, and celebrate.”
Sometimes the stories are both humorous and emotional, as is the case with “Squishy Spaghetti Cake,” a story shared by storyteller and Queer to Tell producer Allison Price during their holiday event a few months ago. “They start the story and it was like my family loves three things: lasagna (which is the squishy spaghetti cake), each other, and God,” Eibler remembers. “And it was about them exploring the holidays and their family's relationship with these three things and how things changed for them as they came out. And [their family] basically treated them like they had died when they came out as queer. And it's a really, really, emotional story but really, really beautiful, especially knowing Allison now. They’re an incredible human being.”
Queer to Tell’s upcoming event at Quack’s is a two-night affair; Thursday, August 8 will be a release party for Price’s new memoir Just Another Dead Daughter. Then on Friday, they’ll present a full night of storytelling on the theme ‘Tales of Pride.’
“[We just want] to create safe havens for these people in these communities,” Eibler says, “and create spaces where people can go and share their stories and if everything is hard in their day to day life, at least they can depend on like, OK, I can go here, listen to my people and also just find community.”
Creating and fostering a welcoming community is the ultimate goal for Queer to Tell. “I just want everyone to feel good,” Eibler says. “Especially this day and age where people's rights are being stripped away and it's becoming harder to find spaces that are for us. Part of this was to create safe familial spaces that are just for us. [But] the show is welcome to everyone.”
Eibler says that on show night, he finds himself full of pride for the people onstage. “Something I always tell the storytellers [is] I always feel, after every show, I just feel like a proud mom for all these people that I like just met,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I'm just like sitting there like, oh my God, my baby!”
And he wants those positive feelings for the audience members, too. “I want audiences to be impacted, to realize that they're not alone in their story. I mean, everyone's stories are different. But the beauty of the queer experience is that we do have a lot of similarities. And we also have a lot of differences. And also our experiences are very human. So even if you're not queer, there's something that is probably being shared in the story that you will be able to relate to. So it's just, it's very nice to know that we're doing something right, and creating a really joyous space for people.”
