“You must be the oldest of your siblings,” people say when I’m being bossy and trying to schedule social events three months ahead of time. “You must be the middle child,” people say when I’m feeling melancholy and mopey and like no one really gets me. “You’re obviously the baby in your family,” people say when I’m acting silly or hedonistic or a little bit entitled. “Are you an only child?” I’ve been asked once or twice, when people see […]
Originally told at Miss Spoken on August 30, 2017. You can read the full text of Jasmine’s story here. Jasmine Davila has read in venues small and medium sized for shows such as Funny Ha Ha, Feminist Happy Hour, Tuesday Funk, 20×2, and Essay Fiesta. She tweets, tumbls, and instagrams as @jasmined. If you liked this story, help support Story Club Magazine with a donation. Just $10 helps pay our contributors.
LeeAnn Yops (long “O” in that “Yo”) is a Chicago-based stand-up comedian, storyteller and writer originally from Wisconsin. She’s your go-to guide for all thing 80s and 90s related. LeeAnn is the creator of the website BH9021WHOA, the site that’s better than a Mega Burger about everyone’s favorite teen drama zip code. When she’s not busy gushing over Luke Perry, she also runs a monthly storytelling show about music called Appetite for Rock n’ Roll Storytelling. You can catch Appetite […]
Chloe Riley is a journalist, skeptic, and bullshit fighter, depending on the day. She writes about death and old magazines in a blog called Pimp to the Mouthbreathers and she’s also written for The Guardian, the Chicago Reader and Huffington Post. She writes about criminal justice, politics, and theater, and she eats oatmeal even though it deeply pains her to do so.
“Guilt” was read as part of Miss Spoken’s March 2017 show. The theme was Sibling Rivalry, and you can listen to the live show here. This story appears at 51:23. Jordan was born the year I first kissed a girl. (I was six and my first love told me kissing was just for boy-girl couples, after I’d planted my lips firmly on hers – my first vivid lesson in consent.) Jordan’s mother was not my mother and his father, gone before […]
Julie’s story was told as part of Miss Spoken’s October 2015 show. The theme was Sex Ed, and she’s at the 35:03 mark. My sexual education started with my first kiss at 14. My neighbor Justin was 16, drove a Mustang with the vanity plate “JUSTANG” on the back, and kissed me while I was sitting in his lap on a sidewalk. So, like, from behind. I had braces, and he had one muscular arm and one flabby arm because of […]
Lifed: Past Tense, Present Continuous was read as part of Miss Spoken’s July 2016 show, Road Trip. You can find Shay at the three-minute mark. After being forcibly removed from my job of 19 years I need a change: a career change, obviously, though that’s been decided for me, but also a shift in perspective, in priorities—in the way I live my life in general. Is there anything meaningful I want to do? Because helping kids through art school, draining […]
Inner Adjustments was read as part of Miss Spoken’s May 2016 show, Birth Control. You can find Christina at the 40:56 mark. The decision to get an IUD was almost spur-of-the moment. I wasn’t thinking about it when I went to see my gynecologist for my annual checkup: I was thinking about birth control pills. I’d been taking the pill on and off for about 10 years, which started making me nervous when I hit 30. I’d become inconsistent about taking them, and paranoid […]
No Way, Cupid was told as part of Miss Spoken’s November 2015 show, Online Dating. You can find Gina at the 1:07 mark. It was a typical Saturday night: I was on the couch eating peanut M&Ms and watching a show about murder. I stared at my open laptop, anxiously gnawing through a thin candy shell as I hovered over the cheery green button in front of me that oh-so-innocuously encouraged me to “Join!” I took a deep breath and clicked. I began […]
