Presented by Vijai Nathan

Location:  Adirondack North (Theatre)

Comedian and Storyteller Vijai Nathan exposes all the taboos of an Indian American family. From trying to fit in at her white elementary school to falling in love as a young adult, she takes you on a journey to discover what being an American means.

Vijai Nathan is a comedian & storyteller who has performed across America, and was featured at festivals in Montreal, Singapore, South Africa, & the UK. She's a contributing writer for The Washington Post Magazine. Her storytelling credits include the Women’s Storytelling Festival and the Connecticut Storytelling Center.

Vijai is one of the leading Indian American female comedians making people laugh across America and internationally too. International comedy phenomenon Russell Peters calls her “One of the top two South Asian comics in the world to watch!” She has performed in South Africa, England and Canada, and was featured at the Montreal International Comedy Festival (Just for Laughs) and the Smirnoff International Comedy Festival. Washington DC loves her too - she’s performed at the Smithsonian Museum, Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall, Library of Congress and won the award for Artistic Excellence from SpeakeasyDC.

For Tammy Hall, stories hold ancient and proverbial wisdom, that stories travel far, even from generation to generation. A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, Tammy has called Brooklyn home for many years. She has performed venues in the Greater New York area including The Military Academy at West Point, The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, The Brooklyn of Academy of Music, Macy’s, Rockefeller Plaza. She tells stories in libraries, schools, museums, cultural festivals and block parties, too!

The mission of Children at the Well is to increase capacity for intercultural understanding, build diverse community connections and grow compassionate leaders through the art of storytelling. In the Children at the Well program, young people from many different traditions learn the art of storytelling together. They explore the riches of their heritage and share them with each other. They choose or create stories to tell that they feel a deep connection to. As they become proficient storytellers, they’re given opportunities to present to audiences of all sizes.

"Stand-Up Chameleon" Jackson Gillman magically transforms himself into a wide array of eccentric characters through his many talents as mime, actor, songsmith and storyteller. As adept with children as he is with adults, his interactive performances are seasoned with skillful dialect, song, dance, mime and sign language. Shining through Jackson's wit and extraordinary versatility is his bemused, warm-hearted honesty. Jackson's humor evolves from finding that which is funny in human beings trying to be human and often tripping over their own being in the attempt.

Sarah Brady is a storyteller, teaching artist, and writer whose backgrounds in theatre and education influence her storytelling. She’s told stories in the US and UK, where she lived for three years. She tells historical, traditional, literary, and personal tales and was a New Voice Featured Teller at the 50th Annual National Storytelling Festival in 2022 and a Teller in Residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2024. Passionate about stories that help us see each other and the world around us, she specializes in finding the heart of each story she tells.

Simon Brooks, an award-winning British storyteller, has been entrancing audiences for 20 years. His tales, both live (in-person or virtual) and his award-winning recordings, contain everything from humour to pathos, all with a wink and smile. He invites all to investigate & to become fascinated with Story as he drops you into tales so vividly you would think you were somewhere else. Simon has performed at hundreds of schools, colleges, libraries, and festivals including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, Teller in Residence at the ISC, and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Utah, amongst others. Find him at SimonBrooksStoryteller.com (Diamondscree.com).

Sara deBeer In the summer of 1978, after having taken courses in folklore during her freshman and sophomore years at Yale University, Sara worked for a library outreach program in Albany, NY, telling stories to kids in city parks and housing projects. Under the sponsorship of the Bates Fellowship, a Yale summer grant, Sara deBeer spent the summer of 1980 studying storytelling traditions in Ireland. After returning home, she began working as a storyteller and hasn't stopped since! In addition to schools, Sara performs for audiences in senior centers, service clubs, churches and temples, libraries, retirement communities, local theaters and home concerts.

Bruce Marcus is a storyteller from Malden, MA who likes to watch his bird feeders almost as much as does his cat.

Jennifer Munro is the Recipient of the National Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence Award. She tells original stories about rogues and heroes that resonate with the frailty and courage of the human condition. Jennifer has performed at the National Festival and the Timpanogos Festival. Her most recent project, a tour-de force performance of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, has been hailed by critics as “dazzling and spellbinding”.

Lani Peterson is a parent, psychologist, coach, and storyteller that has searched for ways to support the development of values, insight, and understanding of both herself and others. Lani believes that as we understand our own stories and bear witness to the stories told by others, we can transform our limitations through insight and acceptance, encourage integrity, and motivate inspired action and interaction. From CEO’s to scientists, doctors, mental health providers, ministers, the incarcerated and the homeless, she has worked to help people find and share the stories that will open doors within and between storytellers and listeners alike.

Jo Radner has been studying, teaching, telling, and collecting stories most of her life. After retiring from American University as professor emerita, she returned to Maine as a freelance storyteller and oral historian. She is past president of the American Folklore Society and the National Storytelling Network.

Valerie Tutson has been telling stories in schools, churches, libraries, festivals and conferences since 1991. She draws her stories from around the world with an emphasis on African traditions. Her repertoire includes stories and songs she learned in her travels to South Africa, her experiences in West Africa, stories from African American history. In addition, she is gaining quite a reputation for her exciting retelling of age-old Bible stories.

From the Hans Christian Andersen Statue in New York’s Central Park to the Glistening Waters Festival in New Zealand, Elizabeth has captivated listeners everywhere she goes. She has taken storytelling to a variety of unexpected places, such as the amputee ward at Walter Reed Medical Center and into the work of Public Defenders and the United Way. She is a repeat favorite at the National Storytelling Festival and has been a Storyteller-in-Residence at the International Storytelling Center.

In 2013 the National Storytelling Network honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. This is “presented to individuals in the storytelling community who have demonstrated meritorious service to the National Storytelling Network and to the storytelling community at large. The individuals who are awarded are those who have expanded public awareness of the art of storytelling by the virtue of their preservation of traditional art forms or the significant originality of their body of work.”

Michele Carlo is a writer, storyteller (and sometime actor) who has told stories across the U.S., including the Clearwater Arts & Music Festival, the Hans Christian Andersen series in Central Park and the MOTH Mainstage in New York; the STF and NSN story conferences; the RISK! and Story Collider live shows and podcasts; on NPR (WNYC radio and NPR); and the WGBH-PBS series “Stories from the Stage.” Michele is also the author of the NYC-set memoir “Fish Out of Agua” and has contributed to several literary anthologies. Follow her on Instagram: @michele_asshell, and for bookings and more info: www.michelecarlo.com

The mission of Children at the Well is to increase capacity for intercultural understanding, build diverse community connections and grow compassionate leaders through the art of storytelling. In the Children at the Well program, young people from many different traditions learn the art of storytelling together. They explore the riches of their heritage and share them with each other. They choose or create stories to tell that they feel a deep connection to. As they become proficient storytellers, they’re given opportunities to present to audiences of all sizes.

Lee-Ellen Marvin has explored storytelling as a performer, audio producer, educator, folklorist, and community advocate since 1977. She has told and taught storytelling to thousands in schools, colleges, and community centers with stories based on contemporary events, personal experience, literature, history, and traditional folklore. Her newest project for children is “Stories of a Dog Named Bear” available on BandCamp.com, and her original, non-competitive game, Story Shifters, is available at TheGameCrafter.com. Lee-Ellen lives in EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York. Learn more at www.storytellerleeellen.com.

Mike Perry emcees, teaches and tells mostly original tales throughout Western Pennsylvania including numerous appearances at Tellabrations, The Ellwood City Storytelling Festival, Beaver Tales Storytelling Festival, and performing his one man show: 'Saving Face: Memoir of a Circus Clown” at The New Hazlett Theater. His stories and style draw from a unique and varied resume that has taken him from teaching elementary school to educational entertainment, from the Census Bureau to circus clown, and from maintenance man to major motion pictures. Mike is fond of saying, “When life is a circus, why run away to the real world?”