Confabulation

Stories: quick as we can tell them!  More! Our annual Shortest Story extravaganza took place at the Centaur Theatre on January 13, 2023 The storytellers in Part 2 are: Mike Pellegrin Michele Luchs  Julia Haney  Ariel Shirker  Yigal Judah  Nisha Coleman  Francesca Esguerra  Myriam Ennajimi  Sherwin Tija  Jimmy Chow Amanda Perry  If you want to watch the show, you can do that right here And while yo...

Stories: quick as we can tell them! Our annual Shortest Story extravaganza took place at the Centaur Theatre on January 13, 2023 Follow along, guess the storyteller! Here's the show order for part 1:  Matt Goldberg  Claire Sherwood  Zahraa Chorghay  Vadim Gran Erica Schmidt Deb VanSlet  Alexia Cote  Myke Wilder  Johanne Cadorette  Lukas Rowland Johanne Pelletier  Naika Joseph Emma Lanza   If...

This episode features a story by Lea Beddia from our Good Date/Bad Date show in March 2022 at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal. Stay tuned after the story for an interview with Lea about, among other things, the intersection of her writing life and her storytelling life. Lea is a high school teacher and the author of two young adult novels. She is a compulsive reader and coffee drinker, and loves s...

This episode  features Juliana Léveillé-Trudel, host and producer of Enfabulation, a French-language storytelling show in Montreal. Juliana also produces the Enfabulation podcast. Her featured story was told live on the Mainline Theatre stage in 2017. From June 22, 2023 to February 16, 2024, six Enfabulation shows will be part of the CAM on Tour program, a program that has been spreading the arts...

This episode features a story by, and an interview with, Keith Serry. The story is from our Summer Love event — and Keith uses this theme to reflect not on romantic love, but that temporary, fleeting feeling of a youthful moment. Keith Serry is a father, husband, performer, teacher, producer, host, journalist, and, when called upon, lawyer based in Montreal. Since 2020, Keith has produced and host...

This episode features a story by, and an interview with, Gracia Dyer Jalea about channelling the stories of our ancestors.  Gracia is an award-winning change leader, founder, and mother of twins. Her work as an artist and researcher focuses on transnational learning and storytelling as a means for community building, connection, and personal and social transformation. Gracia has a podcast called M...

It's all in how you look at it, where you're standing, or just who you are. In this episode, we'll hear a story by Michele Luchs, and then talk to her about perspective and what it means to get at a truth -- not the whole truth, just one of so many. Michele Luchs is a storyteller, media-literacy specialist, teacher trainer and curriculum writer. She is a producer at Confabulation, w...

This episode, Déjà Vu, explores just how personal that feeling of familiarity really is through two stories from our live show. These two fantastic storytellers, Taylor Tower and Nathan Elliott, graced the Confabulation stage at the Mainline Theatre in April 2022. Taylor Tower is  a storyteller and communications professional based in Montreal. Her work has appeared on Public Radio Remix and CBC&a...

Season 4, Episode 2 features Maryam Ganni telling a story at the Centaur Theatre in Montreal,  in March 2022. It was our first live show in two years, and what a thrill it was to be back in front of a live audience. Maryam's story is a study in courage, humility and humour. Stay tuned for the conversation afterwards between Maryam and Deb about what it means to be a storyteller. Maryam Ganni...

Season 4 of the Confabulation podcast is back with a fresh batch of stories, interviews with storytellers, and just enough chatter to keep it all rolling. The first episode features two storytellers from our Signs and Symbols show at the Centaur Theatre, Montreal in May 2022. Julia Haney  is an artist, designer and movement enthusiast currently based in Montreal. She tries to see the humour in lif...

It's almost September, and la rentrée this year is a complicated one. We're all adapting, or trying to. In this episode, Elizabeth Varvaro shares a story about responding and adapting to a super complex situation. It's from our October 2018 show recorded at the Phi Centre. Elizabeth Varvaro is a writer, tarot reader, and perpetual grouch. Her first ever collection of short horror st...

Confabulation Montreal and Victoria are reunited (and it feels so good). This week's podcast is co-hosted by Matt and Cassandra Tognari, a producer and storyteller from Confabulation Victoria. This episode features Cassandra's story about the timeline of a friendship, and was told in February 2020, in Victoria, B.C. Cassandra is the co-producer, co-host, and story coach for Victoria BC&a...

This week Confabulation podcast producer and Technical Director Stephen Trepanier co-hosts the show with Deb, AND tells a story- from way back in January 2013, when he was still a kid, jumping out of runaway shopping carts! Stephen Trepanier is an audio engineer, podcaster, comedian, visual effects editor, and electroacoustic music composer from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and has lived in Montreal,...

In the wake of crisis, chaos and care, pandemic and protest: who are we ? This week's podcast features Sara Meleika telling a story about one of the turning points in her life. This story was recorded April 2019 at the Mainline Theatre in Montreal. *Note: Sara mentions a Charlene Nelson at McGill University, her name is actually Charmaine Nelson. Sara Meleika is an Egyptian improviser, storyt...

This week's podcast features a story by Kadi Diop on making a connection by disconnecting. Her story was recorded February 2020 at the Phi Centre as part of Black History Month. Kadi Diop is the francophone education director of Montreal Improv and an improviser, community organizer, storyteller, sexology student and devoted auntie. She loves sharing her many opinions with a flair of intersec...

Brief language advisory -- this week's story contains a couple of words that may not be appropriate for all audience. They're well-earned words, but still present. This week's podcast features a story by Leigh Kinch-Pedrosa on the complexity of making medical decisions. The story was recorded November 2019 at the Phi Centre. The evening of storytelling was a collaboration with Broad...

This week's podcast features a story by Smriti Bansal, recorded at our season opening show in September 2019 at the Centaur theatre. Bonus track: Matt checks in by phone with Smriti, who talks, among other things, about the silver lining of dating in the time of Covid. Smriti Bansal is a full time communications maven, and a part time Confabulation producer. She spends her days (and some nigh...

This week's podcast features a beautiful story by Emira Tufo about loss, escape and rebirth. The story was told before a live audience at our Families show in December 2017. Plus a bonus track! We catch up with Emira at home (where else) and talk about pandemical thinking and being--what to wear to the hardware store and recommended reading for these strange days. Emira Tufo is a Bosnian Cana...

This week we're doing something a little different with our podcast. We've paired a live event recording with a tale from our Stories in Isolation series. This episode on Loss features Mike Pellegrin x 2:  an epic story recorded live at the Phi Centre in December 2019, and another story, recorded in isolation, at home in front of his computer. Mike Pellegrin is a Montreal storyteller, te...

We are very happy to launch another podcast! This week's episode features two very different kinds of stories about Bodies. Born and raised in Nairobi, Sehar Manji is a Montreal-based actor, writer, improvisor and instructor at Montreal Improv. Her hairy story is from our live show (remember those) in October 2019 at the PHI centre. Gina Granter is a comedian, storyteller and English teacher...

This week's story is about Belonging -- which is a feeling a few of us might need right about now. Featuring a story by Emma Lanza from our October 2017 live show. Emma Lanza is a born and bred Montrealer with a background in theatre performance and arts management. She has her Master’s degree in Library Science and currently works in the Psychology Department at Concordia University. She has...

This week's episode features two storytellers from our May 2018 collaboration with Broad Science: Maya Hey and Alex Allard. Broad Science is an initiative dedicated to making science inclusive , engaging , and intersectional, through podcasting  — check out their work at www.broadscience.org. Maya Hey is a Vanier scholar and doctoral candidate at Concordia University. She uses feminist theori...

We are gearing up for our Shortest Story X on February 29th, so to get you in the mood, here are twelve 2-minute stories from the Shortest Story 9 -- recorded at Mainline Theatre in March 2019. Featuring stories from: Smriti Bansal Josh Budman Zahraa Chorghay Nisha Coleman Audrey Charneaux Johanne Pelletier Vadim Gran Michele Luchs Mike Pellegrin Eleanor Denis Eli Varvaro and Ariel Shirker Thanks...

Confabulation co-producer Francesca Esguerra joins us for this episode, where we don't exactly explore the theme of Frantic.... we just are. Featuring stories by Francesca Esguerra and Paul Van Dyck. Paul Van Dyck is a graduate of Queen’s University’s Specialized Studies in Stage and Screen Program, he is a writer, director, performer, producer, and sound designer based in Montreal, Toronto,...

This week, Confabulation podcast explores the theme of Trust, featuring two stories from the archives, going way back to June 2017 and April 2018, with Jeff Gandell and Jane O'Faherty. Jane O'Faherty is an Irish-born, Montreal-based twentysomething writer. By day, she works as a communications officer at a non-profit; by night, she reads, writes and cooks voraciously. Jane's story w...