The Moth - 25 Years of Stories: All About Perspective

Episode Date: February 18, 2022

This week, we’re going to keep pretty quiet about the theme. This episode is hosted by Phyllis Bowdwin. Host: Phyllis Bowdwin Storytellers: Cathy Gasiorowicz, Janet Clarke:

Attention Houston! You have listened to our podcast and our radio hour, but did you know the Moth has live storytelling events at Wearhouse Live? The Moth has opened Mike's storytelling competitions called Story Slams that are open to anyone with a five-minute story to share on the night's theme. Upcoming themes include love hurts, stakes, clean, and pride. GoodLamoth.org forward slashordSlashHuston to experience a live show near you. That's theMoth.org-FordSlashHuston. Welcome to the mock podcast. I'm Phyllis Bodewin, a storyteller and your host for this week. You may have heard my story, quiet fire. Sometimes, the story is all about perspective. Two people can look at the same thing and have wildly different takeaways.

That's one of the special things about storytelling, getting to see something in a whole new light. This week, we've got two stories about the exact same event, and we'll be doing something a little different this episode. We'll be starting with one storyteller, Cathy Gazioro-Witz, who'll pause in the middle to share another story from Janet Clark, that might just shed new light on what happened. Then we'll finish up with Cathy's story. We hope you enjoy this shift in perspective. We're using 2022 to take a look back at each of the first 25 years of the month.

So both of these stories are from 2021. First up is Kathy Gasey Horowitz. She told this story in the Twin Cities. The theme of the night was celebration. Here's Kathy, live at the mouth. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. This was a spring of 1993. I got a call one day from a gentleman who identified himself as the marketing director

for the St. Paul Saints, minor league baseball team. I heard a bit about them. I'm not, I don't come from a sports family, but I knew that that was like the one with the bat and the small ball and the guys with the mitts. I don't have any brothers. I know that sounds so like sexist, but honestly my, my dad was not a good like sports role model. So anyway, but I knew a little bit about them and he said, so you're gonna get a call from a guy named Mike Vack He's he and Bill Murray our part owners of the co-owners of the St. Paul Saints and just want to make sure you're a mime, right? And I said that that's right and it didn't sound like an accusation, but I'm always a little bit

sensitive to that Anyway shortly after that I got a call from a guy named Mike Beck, and he said, hey, can I call you Gaz? And I said, absolutely. He said, so I got this idea. Okay, so our motto is, fun is good. Whatever happens at the Saints game, it's supposed to happen. What's happening on the field? That's great, but what happens in the stands?

That's what we care about. So, for example, he told me about, they have this none wandering round in the stands. That's what we care about. So for example, he told me about they have this nun wandering around in the stands who gives haircuts. And then between innings, they have a mascot, Apollo the pig, and they have pig races. They have people in giant inflatable fat suits, and they do wrestling. They did like a 60 minute play where they do 60 second scenes

between innings, all sorts of stuff. So he said, I really don't care if more than one person sees you, but what I want is for all the home games, it's like 40 home games, I want you to do mine in the stands. Got it? So I said, okay. And what would the pay for that be? Well, I'm thinking 50 bucks a game.

So now, I have to give you some perspective. As a mime, you know, it's not my, would not be my hourly fee, but at the time, 1993, the only thing beneath me was not getting paid. And this would have been like, by the end of the summer, like, to grant, which is like bank if you're a mime. So, I said, yeah, I mean, that sounds really fun.

But then he said, that I got a second proposal for you. In addition to that, here's what I wanted to go on, I want to kick the whole thing off, the whole summer of mime off, with you and a bunch of your mind friends. Inertaining during this game, so he said, but wait, here's what I'm thinking, is that we don't have a giant screen at the same game, right? So the mimes are gonna do slow motion in screenplay.

Got it? Every time there's a play, and I said, yeah, he said, I think it's a good idea. And I said, sure. I said, the only problem is that I'm doing a musical up in Northam and Minnesota, a little summer stock theater, so I'm going to miss that night, but I'll be back in time for all the home games, the other home games. And he said, all right, just take care of it. Now, before hearing the rest of Kathy's story, let's hear how that day actually went down.

Janet Clark told this story in the Twin Cities 2, but the theme of that night was adventure. Here's Janet, live at the mall. Hi, I'm Janet. And if you look at me, you can see that I have dark hair, slim build, expressive facial features, and let's face it, big hands. I was destined to be a mime. The year is 1993, and I'm wearing a striped shirt and white-faced mind makeup. I'm standing in the infield of the St. Paul St.

baseball team at Midway Stadium. A famous producer has hired six of us mimes to do what he calls silent night. His idea is that we're supposed to do Mime O Vision, which is instant replays of plays. Or instant, yes, he's in replays. Because they don't have a video screen. Me, I am totally out of my element. There are 5,000 rowdy fans here. Me? I'm my my my church.

But our group has decided that we, even if my vision isn't the most entertaining, we are going to give our best shot. We are going to entertain these folks and win over their hearts with our artistry. So, we've put together this little sketch. It's a servant improv on a baseball game and we're doing it in the infield to warm up the crowd.

And it's got all the best mind bits in it. It's got walking against the wind and the moonwalk. We are rocking it and we start to hear the crowd chant from behind home plate. They're chanting, kill the mimes, kill the mimes, kill the mimes. So we finish our sketch and then it gets worse. Instead of going into the crowd in pairs so we can do mymovision together, they say, no, we're gonna send you each into a section. You get to improv with strangers alone.

This is not my skill set. So I go over there and I just resolve, you know what? I'm just gonna keep a low profile, avoid the drunks, and just avoid more humiliation. So I sit and watch the game. And I feel guilty. So I get up and I brush off the seat next to me and offer to somebody and I get a smile.

I'm like, okay, maybe I can do some of this. So I move through the audience, I sit there, I watch, and then I interact with people, and I start getting smiles, and I'm like, okay, keep a low profile, avoid the drunks, and don't get humiliated. And it's all going pretty good until the end of the game. It's the last inning, and bang, a thigh ball comes arcing over to our section, and this little kid about 8 or 9 puts out his glove to catch it. And just as he's about to get the ball, whoosh!

This big golead has run down the aisle and snags it out right from in front of him. The crowd is incensed. I hear people muttering at jerk. Kid should have had the ball, and he walks back up the aisle and sits down with the ball. And nobody is doing anything. And something deep down inside of me, well, is up. This is a job from Mime. So the next thing I know, I'm running down the stairs, I'm kneeling in front of the kid. His chin's quivering. I commiserate.

And then I re-enact what just happened. It's the only time Mimeo vision made any sense. So I end with a gesture, wait here. I walk up the steps to where the big guy is sitting with the ball, and he's gloating with his friend, and at his feet are a bunch of empty beer cups. Regardless, I get his attention. I review what replayages, what just happened, and I end with, and the child was sad, and I put out my hand for the ball. And he goes, pfft, turns away.

And I wait. And the crowd starts to chant. Only this time they're not chanting, kill the mind. This time they're chanting, give the mind the ball. Give the mind the mind. This time they're Channing, give the mind the ball. Give the mind the ball. Give the mind the ball. And boom, he gives it to me, and I run down the aisle, and I give it to the kid.

He's all smiles. The crowd around him starts to clap. I take a little bow. I go back to my seat, and I'm going, what just happened? I go back to my seat and I'm going, what just happened? And all I can think is in that moment, artistry overcame humiliation. And I didn't get killed. That was Janet Clark. We'll tell you more about Janet in a bit. But first, let's hear the rest of Kathy Cassie Horowitz's story.

Remember, she just left the city to do summer stock and didn't know how the Mimeo Vision night would actually go. Here's Kathy. My roommate's boyfriend and a couple of his friends came up to see the show and after the performance they were sitting around and said, oh my god, you have no idea. Two nights ago we were at the Saints game and we were like, all these mimes, just like all the mimes in the stand and be like, by the third inning people were like throwing their hot dogs at them. And then, wait, and then by the fourth inning,

they said to send the security detail in to pull them out because the whole crowd was chanting, kill the minds, kill the minds, kill them. Like, so we were all kind of laughing and thinking, oh, shit. Shit. Totally dodged a bullet on the one hand. On the other hand, I'm thinking that probably

is gonna just kill my summer of bank. I mean, there's no way Beck is gonna bring me in. So anyway, got back to Minneapolis and I started calling my vet. Just wanna make sure that, you know, the mind gig was still on and was not returning my calls. And I kept calling and I thought, this is so rude. And finally, he called me back and he said,

gas, you steered me wrong. He told me this would be a great idea. And I said, Mike, I just agreed with you. I wanted the money. And he said, anyway, so yeah, the gig is off. Which was disappointing, but sort of understandable. And then a while later, I think it was maybe a couple of years later, I read in the paper that was sort of an article

about all the cool things that the saints do. With the exception of, if there is a bad idea that's tossed around kind of in the promo room, anybody has the right to invoke the mime clause, which is an indication of a really bad idea. A few years later, like long after I had given away my braze and my clown white and most of my striped shoes, shorts, I mean, shirts, I got a call from the marketing director

at the Saints and he said, you still doing mine? And I said, under he said, you still doing mine? And I said, under duress, but sure. And he said, all right, I got a gig for you. A couple of weeks later, in my outfit, I pulled up to a house, hid behind a tree. And then when a giant limo pulled up with Mike Vec and his new bride celebrating their wedding, I jumped out from behind the tree and started

doing the mine the whole thing and it was delightfully give me a huge hug and always forgiven thank you. always forgiven. Thank you. That was Kathy Gassi Horowitz. Kathy is a Minneapolis-based marketing writer, recovering Mime and storyteller who's performed at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, the Moth, Patrick's Cabaret, Tedx and Story Club.

She first went public with her mime misadventures in confessions of a mime, the yo-play years. And Janet Clark, who you heard just before Kathy, is a creative communicator who discovered her voice through mime. She currently coordinates customized community education classes in the Minneapolis suburbs and aspires to make space for people to be inspired. To see photos of Janet and Kathy and their mom get up, head to the moth.org slash extras. And surprisingly, these are the only stories from the moth that involve the phrase, kill the mime. I told the story a while back about a mime that actually deserved all the hate.

But when he got two feet away, I lifted my can of pepper spray and I sprayed him in his face. To hear the rest of that story, we'll have a link in this episode's extras. Just go to themoth.org slash extras. That's all for this episode. We hope you'll come with us as we continue to take a look back at some of our favorite stories from the Moths 25-year history. From all of us here at the mod, have a story where they weak.

Sorry I tried to mime the credits but that doesn't really work in audio. Phyllis Mary Bowdwin, a Bronx-born artist, jewelry designer and Grille, captures her people's stories through her writing and her art. She was a teacher trainer for the New York City Department of Education, Crisis Intervention Counselor for the Marble Collegiate Church, and coordinator of daytime casting at ABC. Phyllis told her mind story all around the country. This episode of the Month Podcast was produced by Sarah Austin-Jones, Sarah Jane Johnson, Davey Sumner, and me, Mark Solinger. The rest of the Moss leadership team includes Catherine Burns, Sarah Haberman, Jennifer Hickson, Megabones, Kate Tellers, Jennifer Birmingham, Marina Kluke, Inga Gladowski, and Aldi

Kaza. All Moss stories are true, as remembered and affirmed by their storytellers. For more about our podcast, information on pitching your own story and everything else good or website themove.org. The Mouth podcast is presented by PIRX, the public radio exchange, helping make public radio more public at pirex.org. Thank you.