Testimonials

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My No, YOU Tell It! experience was particularly poignant because it gave me the chance to explore my family’s long history in Queens in an interesting and fun way. I decided to use my family’s baseball fandom as a window into what it means to become American — and the response to my essay that night was truly incredible. I was particularly inspired by the immediate feedback from several Asian Americans in the audience, who each noted that they connected to my essay immediately. I also throughly enjoyed the writing and editing process that brought my essay to life — it was so great to have so much support from my fellow storytellers and a story coach and working with a director to hone my performance was also a unique experience.

Since working with NYTI, I’ve used my essay to apply for writing fellowships and am continuing to explore how I can continue to tell the family histories I explored in my essay. I look forward to seeing how the series continues to grow from here!

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I experienced first-hand the value of No, YOU Tell It! as an opportunity to have someone else tell your story. Knowing that I wouldn’t be the one to read it on stage gave me the courage to talk about something that had been weighing on me for over 20 years.

Coincidentally, Kevin Allison, host of the long-running podcast RISK! (“where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share in public”), had been in the March 2023 NYTI show. If he hadn’t been part of that performance at Symphony Space, I may not have realized how perfect my story would be for RISK! All the stars aligned, and I’m performing the story I developed with NYTI on March 21, 2024, at Caveat on the Lower East Side, which will later be on the RISK! podcast. I am so grateful to have taken part in No, YOU Tell It! and everything it has already led to!

No, YOU Tell It! is a treasure of a show. You have to witness it to really get how special it is. Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons assembled a team that puts so much heart and soul into guiding storytellers of different ages, races, genders, and backgrounds to swap stories, so that the performers are in each other’s shoes, as the saying goes. The result is hilarious and heartwarming, but also, such a profound experiment in fostering empathy. Everyone in the room, storytellers, show producers, and audience members, have an unforgettably moving evening of entertainment together, and that special sort of connecting of people going on in the show really is something to be cherished.

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This is different, this is curated. You pick the people who are going to be in it, and you workshop the stories for a couple of weeks with the group. Then you read each other’s stories, which I thought was really cool.

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I was delighted to participate in No, YOU Tell It! “aMuse” for the Brooklyn Book Festival’s Bookend Event. I loved the process of NYTI: from the welcoming—and hilarious—round-table editing sessions, to rehearsing with Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, to the standing-room-only performance itself.

The NYTI team are fantastically organized and focused, and provide an encouraging and spirited space for the writer-performers to create and grow. I look forward to attending future events!

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I’ve done many storytelling shows, but I’ve never had an experience quite like this! It was so great to not only get to workshop a story, but to also have a chance to hear my story coming out of someone else’s mouth. Not to mention how great it was to tell another person’s story and feel so connected with the author. In addition, I really appreciated the directing aspects, which helped me better inhabit the story. I’d highly recommend both attending the show and participating in it!

I found it to be a powerful experience. And especially during this pandemic time, I valued the chance to both be creative and connect with other artists to create a really moving show.