Tell It On Tuesday

Gwen Carmen, The Mission, After Dark
After seeing one of Aretha Franklin’s final performances, Gwen journeys home only to find herself in the middle of a crime scene. Luckily some of her previous students arrive to save the night.

Joyful Raven, Tactical Frivolity: How to save the world in a unitard (excerpt)
Forced into animal-print unitards and political positions long before she was a consenting adult in her parent’s radical theater company, Joyful never had a fighting chance at anything resembling a normal life. You think your parents were embarrassing? Did you have to sing about salmon sex on stage, in a unitard, at 12 years old… WITH your parents? I didn’t think so. In an attempt to heal her hippie trauma, she runs away from the circus to seek solace in the arms of a spiritual teacher…

Hope Silver, Need a Husband? Get a Wedding Dress First!
“Have you ever been married?” someone asked my date.
“I have,” he answered.
“Do you want to get married again?”
“I do,” he said, looking completely sincere.
I do? On a first date? That caught my attention. I decided to take a closer look at the man sitting across from me.

Gwen Carmen is an activist, actress, educator, and writer whose work has appeared in Essence magazine, Plexus feminist newspaper, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and numerous other small presses. She’s told stories at The Moth, Monday Night Marsh, and MUNI Diaries Live.

Joyful Raven is an award-winning actor, director, and “story midwife” known for her powerful and thought-provoking solo shows, where she tackles thorny social issues with humor, heart, and nuance. Born into an iconic political theater family, she has been devising original work for over 20 years. Her latest solo show, Breed or Bust, was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival, critically acclaimed at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, where it won an Offie (OffWestEnd Award), and went on to have an extended run at The Marsh. Joyful holds an MFA in Dramatic Art from the University of California, Davis, and teaches solo performance and storytelling at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, The Marsh, and her own studio in Berkeley. joyful-raven.com/

Hope Silver is a Siberian-born writer, storyteller, and former journalist whose birth name, Nadezhda, means hope in Russian. After winning the green card lottery, she reinvented herself as an Uber driver, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker. Her award-winning short documentary, Hope Is on the Way, explores hope through conversations with her passengers. Drawing from real-life experiences, Hope shares stories with humor and heart, often leaving audiences with something that stays with them long after the story is over. hopesilver.com

Eddie Jen, Top GRRL (excerpt)
As America becomes ever more preoccupied with oppressing the “T” (Trans) in LGBT, San Francisco crossdressing comedy storyteller C.C. asks, “How come no one is talking about the straight men who pursue us carnally? What’s their story?”

Kimberlii Joy, Re-Membering Joy (excerpt)
“Re-membering joy” (with the hyphen) is more than remembering a joyful time in my life. It’s re-membering—putting broken pieces back together, bringing the forgotten pieces forward, and discovering the qualities that serve as the glue. It’s gathering the scattered parts of my journey and finding the cement I need to rebuild a home where I can embody joy again.

Anna Mistele, It’s Three O’Clock In the Morning and My Mom Is Trying to Kill Me
A story about love and also about running for my life.  

Kenji Costantini has appeared on stages all over the Bay Area. Most recently as Josh in Nine To Five at Clayton Theater Company and as Mendel in Fiddler On The Roof at Contra Costa Civic Theater. Kenji has also performed in operas. He played Pooh-Bah in The Mikado at SF State and holds a BA in Theater from Saint Mary’s College.

Eddie Jen is a gender bending writer and performer living in San Francisco. His/her voice is best described as David Sedaris meets Carrie Bradshaw, with a dash of RuPaul’s Drag Race. A storyteller who utilizes the performance of gender to enhance the visual storytelling experience, Eddie first started dressing up as a girl when he was sixteen, but has remained a terrible lip-syncher.

Kimberlli Joy has been weaving truth and humor into stories for as long as she can talk, but didn’t hit the stage until 2022. Now she is a regular on Bay Areas stages like Redwood Nights, Pretty Good Stories, About Last Night, Queen Stories, and Monday Night Marsh. Kimberlli Joy is currently working on her solo show, Re-Membering Joy.

Anna Mistele is a performer, writer, and producer based in San Francisco. These days, you’ll mostly find her doing improv: she teaches a free weekly drop-in improv class for all levels (let her know if you’re interested!) and is a founding member of longform narrative group Improv On Demand, whose formats range from Improvised Shakespeare to Improvised Grand Theft Auto. annamist.com

Irma Herrera, The ICEmen Cometh (excerpt)
The ICEmen Cometh critiques the Trump Regime’s full-frontal attack on immigrants, and how the brutality and cruelty of ICE agents as they catch, detain, disappear, and deport people is eroding the civil rights of everyone in the United States. 

Thomas Paul Wynn, Being Revived
After 39 years of incarceration, Thomas Wynn experiences the world through the five senses in his first 72 hours of freedom. 

Katie Macks, A New Kind of Evangelism
We’re taking a ride from the confines of the patriarchal world culture to the freedom that ensues when one does their own work to get unshackled and then liberated in the most unexpected places.

Jill Rogers is an artist, photographer, educator, songwriter, and musician. She is half of the experimental post-rock duo Ex-Juncos.

Irma Herrera was a civil rights lawyer and journalist for three-plus decades. Her performance pieces challenge the enduring power of xenophobia, racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice. Her first solo show Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? is a personal narrative that explores othering and belonging and who is valued in this country. The play has been performed at theaters, colleges, and universities around the country.

Thomas Wynn was raised in New Jersey. After coming to California, he experienced mental illness at 21 and 22 and he went to prison for 39 years. Today he’s driven towards developing a community investment program that integrates intergenerational youth diversion with elderly returning citizens.

Katie Macks is an activist, life coach and storyteller devoted to justice. She has been working throughout her life to dismantle oppressive systems that marginalize and divide. Through coaching, she brings justice home into the relationship we have with ourselves. Through storytelling, she practices activism as medicine, using narrative to restore connection and collective healing.

Julie Feinstein, Dating Expert
What happens when a dating coach finds herself back in the game? A speed dating match leads to drinks and dinner and….  Come along as our heroine reveals her inner thoughts to his outer ones. How much can knowing what to advise others to do in similar situations help her in her own moments of doubt?

Bill Zarchy, A Chance Encounter
It’s not always obvious when it happens, but sometimes being in the right place at the right time can have life-changing consequences.

Barbara Brady, My Dead Uncle’s Porn Collection (excerpt)
Barbara has to clean out her “funny uncle’s” house. It’s a house full of secrets, and his porn isn’t the strangest one she finds.

A native Parisian, Odile Lavault has been performing accordion music in Europe and The Bay Area for over 40 years. She is co-founder of the legendary Parisian café music combo, Baguette Quartette. She has been featured in many theater and dance projects and has recorded ten albums. 

Julie Feinstein loves to tell true stories, from the stage, and on the page (real or digital). Her love of personal narrative is threaded through all of her work, from journalism to marketing consulting, to dating coaching, and portrait photography. She has an M.A. in Performance Art from San Francisco State University and she has engaged with many forms of improv, puppetry, and storytelling. Motherhood and other adventures took her away from the stage for a long time, and so she is excited to be back at The Marsh—the last time she debuted a solo piece at a Monday Night Marsh in San Francisco was in the ’90s!

Bill Zarchy is a writer, photographer, storyteller, and retired director of photography. His debut novel, Finding George Washington: A Time Travel Tale, has sold over 3000 copies. His memoir, Showdown at Shinagawa: Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil, chronicles his film work on six continents. He taught Advanced Cinematography and Lighting at San Francisco State for twelve years, and he is a graduate of the EPIC storytelling program at Stagebridge in Oakland. billzarchy.com

Following a long career in business communication, Barbara Brady discovered solo performance (like so many others) in David Ford’s class at The Marsh. What started as an attempt to blow off steam turned into two solo shows. She is a frequent performer at The Marsh and other Bay Area solo performance venues. She has also performed to laudatory reviews at Orlando International Theater Festival, Cincinnati Fringe, The Rogue Festival, Soaring Solos Stars Series and elsewhere. barbarabrady.com

Catherine Debon is a writer, performer and director who has been involved with the performance art scene since she immigrated from France in the mid 80’s. Originally a dancer, she weaves movement, narrative, and musicality when creating solos from personal stories.

After a long career as a registered nurse, Alma DeLeon has turned her focus to the arts as a poet, writer, comedian, performer, photographer, actor, and impressionist.

Harriett Jernigan is a 6-time winner of The Moth StorySLAM and has been featured on the Moth Radio Hour. She’s told stories at Radium Runway, Bawdy Storytelling, and Simply Said. She’s also the founder of First Person Story, a live storytelling show in Berkeley.

Natacha Ruck is endlessly curious about the world and what nurtures and motivates us. She is a producer at Tell It on Tuesday, has two hour-long shows that explore how family and work shape us. She loves chocolate and a well-told story.

Joshua Raoul Brody has been a regular at all The Marsh venues over its 30+ year history, collaborating with Merle Kessler, The Residents, A Karen Carpenter Xmas, Marga Gomez, Josh Kornbluth, Pulp Playhouse, and countless others, as well as doing his own work. He’s also done a bunch of other stuff. Drop him a line at mail@jraoul.org to be put on his mailing list, or just to say hi.

Jeremy Greco, Rebel Without a Clue (excerpt)
Inspired by James Dean and fueled by his grandmother Mamoo’s belief that he is Dean reborn, Jeremy’s story begins in the quirky coastal town where he forms a friendship with childhood friend Adam Scott. Together, they chase their dreams at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, encountering the highs and lows of ambition, friendship, eccentric mentors, and Hollywood’s challenges.

Claire Hawkins, The Best Years of Your Life…so far
A story about reckless youth. Reckless, yet naive.

Rob Marks, How to find your voice
Can wonder and horror travel together? Hook a ride on BART from Powell Street to 24th Street, from a singing class to a revelation, with stops along the way at adult assault, childhood trauma, family history, embodiment, and the wonder of survival. Warning: contains singing, dancing, tumbling, and jest.

Jeremy Julian Greco has written the solo shows, With Held, Keeping Up With the Jorgensons, and The Big Snap, all directed by Mark Kenward. Jeremy’s solo shows have played at various venues and festivals throughout the Bay Area and the United States, Jeremy also produces the monthly solo performance salon, Sunset Solos, at Sea Level Gallery located in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco.

Claire Hawkins lives in San Francisco with too many elderly dogs. She is currently compiling a book of illustrations that depicts the uncomfortable side of the human psyche.

Rob Marks is a writer, who for many years wrote about HIV- and LGBTQ-related mental health, and more recently, about art, aesthetic philosophy, and culture. After a series of personal crises and revelations, his writing shifted, and he is completing a memoir/narrative adventure whose working title is Survival Skills: The Autobiography of !. He has adapted Survival Skills chapters as published essays—one of which was a finalist for the 2025 Michael Steinberg Memorial Essay Prize—and now, with How to find your voice, as a performance script.

StormMiguel Florez is a proud trans, disabled Xicane songwriter and filmmaker in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. His Southwest desert roots are deep and a muse for his songs about family, death, love, and your basic scorpionic woes.

Camille Miller, Inside Out
Where do you go when the bully is the head of the class?  Perhaps it’s the hard times in life that teach the most valuable lessons.

Youseef Elias, Biya  
It’s the summer of 1999, and time for a game of pickup softball in the Berkeley Hills.  An 80-year-old man, in leather-soled shoes, black dress socks, and plaid shorts, “runs” toward first base.  His son, Youseef, reflects on that moment and others in the life of his dad. 

Pharaoh Brooks, The Grand Rehabilitation (Excerpt)
This is the rehab portion of my rehabilitation story.

Camille Miller grew up in redneck California, where she used poetry to process her feelings.  Discovered storytelling a few years ago and fell in love.  “I’m always on the hunt for the next great story.”

Youseef Elias is a career public defender, recently retired after three decades.  He developed Biya in Charlie Varon’s storytelling class.  Youseef is also a veteran of David Ford’s classes, and has performed at Solo Sundays in SF.

Recently released from prison on November 13, 2023, Pharaoh Brooks has performed in several plays.  He has a history with Marin Shakespeare going back to 2014.  Pharaoh thoroughly enjoys writing and performing poetry and music, and hopes to do more solo performances regularly.  For the last year, Pharaoh has been a member of the Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performance Project (FIPPP.org).

The Parkers are a local trio with a classic Americana feel, weaving together well-loved covers and soon-to-be-loved originals. The band features Mia Feldbaum and Till Houtermans on guitar and lead vocals, alongside Keith Morris on percussion and vocals.  What began as a weekly park hang under the trees has grown into something worth pulling up a chair for.