On April 1, 2026 I went to the City Arts Factory, Rogers Building (39 South Magnolia Avenue, Orlando Florida) to sketch Orlando Story Club. The theme for the evening was Gotcha! Orlando Story Club is a unique gem of an event where people put their names in a hat and then the names are drawn so people can get up and tell a personal story. It is framed as a competition, but the real joy comes from so many unique, heartfelt, and honest stories. 10 names were drawn at random, and the names went up on the white board. The first story tellers for this night were Julia, JJ, Greg, Jack and Taylor. Story tellers then had 5 minutes to share their story. For the competition aspect, three random people were picked in the audience to vote between 1 and 10 for their favorite stories.
Bobby Wesley and Danielle Ziss were the hosts for the evening. They keep the evening moving with humorous takes and fast transitions between storytellers. If a storyteller ran long, Bobby politely rang a bell to remind the storyteller to wrap it up. Maybe it wasn’t a bell it might have been one of those slider whistles. Anyway, he didn’t need to use it very often.
I love these evenings. Hearing from so many different people helps me feel that I am part of a thriving community in Orlando. Another Urban Sketchers Orlando, artist, Joy Choi, or, poorly_drawn_plans, frequents the Story Club as a magnificent storyteller. She also does sketches of all the storyteller’s lined up across her sketch page. I had never considered doing that, so I admire her approach. Her story on this evening also ranked way up on the score card. Joy gives her sketches away, which is quite unique in our consumer society.
I try and get to as many Story Club evenings as I can. It is a good chance to catch up on what is being exhibited in City Arts Factory and to listen to some truly inspiring stories.