Judy’s Beat Lounge is the fourth different venue where I’ve seen storytelling. The emcee proclaimed how wonderful it was to see such a good crowd at their inaugural storytelling event (promoted to occur on a Monday once a month), as I looked around and saw about 35 people, including presenters, in a half empty room. There’s a place for her estimating crowd size in Washington DC.

A local comedian, Chris Trani, led off with a few short jokes about himself before launching into a story that left me wondering how good it might have been had he taken the time to work it out. I found an online video of him doing a standup routine that showed more promise.

Then a former professor opened by saying that she forgot to tell the emcee that all her stories are tragic. She must not have taught Shakespeare. Although her story was serious, no one died (which can nevertheless be funny, as exemplified by Chuckles Bites the Dust).

A self-proclaimed comedienne followed by playing two original musical compositions, one on guitar and one on keyboard, about a failed relationship she had. Her lament may or may not have been interesting, as she had a soft voice that made it hard to hear anything she was singing over the music.

The best story of the night wasn’t really a story, as a woman (whom the emcee described as her second mother) read a long list of one liners, musing about her hair, her aging neck, her therapist and her lust for Woody Allen. I think she would be a hit at Louder Than a Mom.

The last storyteller reflected on what he did and didn’t experience in1963, including mentioning that he didn’t see Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswald in living color. Well, neither did anyone else. The broadcast was in black and white.