True Story Slam gives Tulsans with stories a stage

“The internet has allowed me to judge you, your kids and all your friends.” For four and a half years, Ok, So has been putting on the True Story Slam.
Ok, So is a local organization headed by two women who share a love for storytelling. Branda Jean Piersall and Michelle Bias found a third cohort, Ryan Howell, during the operation of Ok, So Story Slams in 2015. He has continued to help ever since. The trio has worked diligently to create this event and keep locals attending. The event is held once a month in the IDL Ballroom on a Thursday night. At the beginning of the night, Storytellers toss their name in a hat and wait to be selected. At the end of the night, the winner walks home with an extra $50 in their pocket. September’s True Story Slam topic was “my digital life.”
Walking into the IDL Ballroom, there were small tables set up covered in black tablecloths. An open bar is located on the far side of the room. The lighting was dim but illuminated with colorful christmas lights and small lanterns. The room was full of adults, chatting about their fruity drink or past story slams.
Co-hosts Michelle and Branda walked up to the stage to introduce the theme and the first storyteller. The night began.
Taylor Tope, a young woman exclaimed “I am the Queen of untagging myself on Facebook.” She quickly digresses to how she hates taking and seeing photos of herself. Recalling times where photographs were important, she knew it was time for change. She became vegan and stuck to a gym routine.
“I’ve lost forty-five pounds this year,” the audience applauded her progress. She was flattered and proud of her change. “If you really want to see my transition into accepting my body, just follow me on Instagram.”
The next act was Daniel Hensman, an older man.
“Typing is a huge part of the current digital world, so here is my story…,” he began, recalling his senior year in high school in 1975. He was in one of the very first computer classes in the state.
He filled in information on a punch card, the TA would punch it according to the information and you were graded on the computer’s response to the punch card. There was no personal input beside the punch card. He really enjoyed that class so he wanted to participate in a typing class.
He attended Mrs. Blue Hair’s Secretary School where he learned to type. He was the only male student. He had to learn in a separate room because he was “too distracting.” On his third week, he was biking to class and hit a curb that sent him sailing off his bike. Hitting the ground, he snapped his arm into an “L” shape. After recovery, he never finished typing school. “And that is why I’m worried about my digital life.”
The following act was man by the name of TJ Clark.
Clark sought long distance relationships on the internet.
“The fatter I got, the farther I wanted the relationship to be,” he said.
He finally met a girl in Germany. They hit it off and she asked for a dick pic. He denied, claiming “I’m a man, not a teenage boy.” She politely understood and asked for a voice recording of his next jerk off.
“Don’t listen to that shit. It will change you.,” he continued after recalling the embarrassing details of his recording. Her next request was for him to send her sex toys and she would send back videos of her using them.
“That’s better than dinner and a movie any day!” he gushed. He went on German Amazon because you can’t ship internationally from the American Amazon. Completing his order, he was proud he learned that “dildo” is in fact is a universal term.
Minutes after his purchase, his bank calls. “Sir there has been an international purchase on your account.”
“Ah, yes. I was sending a few gifts to a friend in Germany.”
“Okay, sir, can you verify your purchase?”
Completely mortified, he prepares for humiliation. “Uhm… ma’am, it is a glass dildo… and nipple clamps… and a paddle…” The longer he recited his shopping cart, the worse he felt. He couldn’t believe this was happening. He finally finished his shameful shopping cart deliverance and sighed.
The bank teller sheepishly mumbled: “I’m sorry, sir, I just needed to know the amount of the purchase.”
Garland McWaters spoke about his family and the digital world. “My life predates digital, I’m like PD (Pre-Digital).” First off, he found his current wife on Match.com. He received Facetime calls from his 3-year-old granddaughter at 11:30 p.m. He played Mario Kart with his grandson and he was impressed by the attention capacity and agility the game demanded. He personally enjoys phone games which were introduced to him by his grandchildren.
“You know you are addicted to digital when it is four in the morning and you’re playing Candy Crush on the toilet. You’re on level 98 and you aren’t getting up till you finish that level,” he concluded.
Angela Evans, a young woman took the stage. “I’m the zoo lady.” she declared. She begins her story about Amali, the giraffe with the crooked neck. The internet blew up the incident, making the zoo feel ashamed even though they weren’t responsible. Amali was injured in transit to the zoo and died a few weeks after arriving. National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and several big time newspapers contacted the zoo about the giraffe. The zoo was grieving for Amali and was constantly being attacked online. It felt endless. The giraffe’s name means “hope” in Swahili and they found hope within that crushing time.
After a brief intermission, the first act was Toni Hart, a lady in a plaid shirt and jeans. She’s a teacher and a baby boomer.
“My generation painted pictures on cave walls and we talked to each other!”
She loves how internet has allowed her to stalk people without them ever knowing. She loves Facebook and scrolling through her feed with people’s personal lives hung out for everyone to see. She fears the day someone catches her in the act. “I like the stalking, I kinda think that might be the way to go… It’s kinda kinky.”
The next act, Andy Cagle, had a miscommunication on Craigslist.
“I thought it was innocent then I realized I hired a midget stripper… I mean in polite terms, a little person lady of the night,” Cagle said.
Cagle put up an ad on Craigslist for little people to dress like elves for a Christmas themed pub crawl he was hosting. He received several responses and was thrilled. But one in particular wasn’t quite what he was looking for.
“Will this be filmed and shown online?”
“She thought it was a gang bang!” He quickly told her he wasn’t looking for that line of work and shut off all modes of communication.
Lorel George a lady came to the stage. “My digital life showed me how much of an asshole I really am,” George said. George’s co-worker, Susan, was injured at work and was diagnosed with a minor concussion.
While Susan was recovering George did Susan’s job. “Let me tell you, I loved her job!” One evening, George received a call from HR asking when Susan will return. Georgehad no idea. Weeks passed and HR continues to call and ask. Out of irritation, George emailed Jessica, a lady in another department about how much HR is calling and she thought Susan wass taking her sweet time recovering or possibly faking it. Calls keep coming and she kept sending emails. Susan returned for her job and called George, angry. She realized she had been emailing Jessica on Susan’s computer and didn’t delete any of the messages.
“The digital world showed me that I am a huge asshole,” George concluded.
The final storyteller, Steven S., came to the stage and began his story. He recalls trying Tinder out for the first time. He saw a blonde “beautiful like a barbie doll” and began messaging her. They hit it off and planned to meet up. He took screenshots of her photos and sent them to his brother in law to show him. His brother in law told him to bring her to their next tailgate party. Asking her to join, she quickly agreed.
He planned to pick her up from her home in Jenks and go to the tailgating party at the OU vs. Ohio State football game in Norman. He arrived at her door, she opened the door and she looked nothing like her photos. “She was about seventy pounds heavier than I thought” and he was shocked. He said he felt lied to and misled. Although the initial meet was surprising, they still continued their plans.
His brother in law was quick to notice: “Looks a little different from the pictures huh?” Steven said he was being a nice guy by taking her out still and snuggling up with her. This wass where the night got interesting.
A women in the crowd of the IDL ballroom rose and began yelling at the stage, declaring he was wrong for judging her for her weight. The crowd began to chant “Bring her up! Bring her up!” and she walked onto the stage. She jabbed her finger in his face, screaming, “Oh you’re such a nice guy! How dare you!” and he screamed back “Something happened to you didn’t it?”
She continued to tear at his ego and the crowd booed her off stage. Personally, I agree with that girl. She was absolutely right. Someone shouldn’t be defined by their weight. But also, he has every right to be upset because he’d never seen a single full body picture of her, so it is deceiving. That was an exciting end to the Slam. Branda resumed the stage and declared TJ Clark as the winner of tonight’s Story Slam.
The Ok, So True Story Slam is the perfect late night event for a Thursday evening. I enjoyed my experience and it was most definitely worth the $5. By far, I enjoyed the winner, TJ Clark’s story the most. He had me ugly laughing and holding my tummy after. If you love a good story, this is the event for you. The next slam is on Thursday October 12th. The theme is “Nemesis.” Relax, sip a boujee drink if you’re of age and enjoy the variety of horrendous, funny and inspiring stories.