The Brick Presents
Campfire Storytelling: Craft and Performance of Nostalgia Tales
with Nadia Pinder
July 9 and 10, 12-3pm in-person at Brick Aux, 628 Metropolitan Ave
A campfire is not the place for awkward small talk, my friend. It’s the place for toasted marshmallows, a pile of logs and sticks, and good “stick in your head forever” stories.
Do you love a good story? Have you always wanted to experience the glory of wowing a group around a fire? Then let’s sift through some memories and develop a story together fit for the ultimate storytelling setting: around a fire. *no actual fire in class, just intimate pyro vibes*
Learn to regale your pals with something magical.
A memory that has gotten more whimsical over the years.
A tale of family legend to carry on and spruce up.
Something crazy that’s happened in the pandemic
(but told in a way that doesn’t ruin the vibe of the hang).
Anything you desire!!
Let’s work on it together. The best stories are made and edited with in person feedback which you’ll get from your instructor. The purpose of this class is to come up with a “party trick” like story -approximately 3-5 mins in length – for you to tout at all your summer gatherings. The subject matter can be spooky, comedic, upbeat, dramatic, historical or even a little sad. As long as you feel comfortable sharing it with a group, we will find the best way to do it and keep your listeners engaged.
The class will be structured to work for folks with a story/memory in mind or folks looking to discover their focus in the group. We will work through speaking prompts, storytelling warm ups, and quick writing exercises before crafting and performing our stories with the support of fellow class participants. We will go over storytelling structure and each student will leave with an audio recording and feedback on their story from the session.
Nadia Pinder is a Brooklyn Based performance artist with a background in storytelling, comedy, theater, music, dance and film. Her creative works have been featured in Time Out NY, The New York Times, Vulture, PureWow, Refinery29 and even on JetBlue inflight televisions. She performs regularly around the city at venues like Caveat, Asylum, Union Hall, The Bell House and in the great outdoors for her seasonal picnic show, Comedians In A Blanket in Prospect Park (which for the record, she began doing in 2016).
She has been teaching storytelling and comedy for several years and she has a full online storytelling course (with gorgeous video lessons and one-on-one feedback) on Channel Zeitgeist.
Nadia believes that storytelling is one of the most important interdisciplinary skill sets anyone can possess. Wherever there are conversations to be had or ideas to be shared, a good storyteller can make them even better.
She also has a tie dye business called StuyDYED. Nadia loves all things nostalgic: campfires, tie dye and overalls.