Lie your ass off at WINCE: Liar Liar, Saturday October 3, 2009

Photo of WINCE provided by Abby Ohlheiser; image of attendees silhouetted to protect the liars...

Friends of the blog, Abby Ohlheiser and Meghan Dahn are at it again, encouraging attendees to their open-mic event to share stories and relics of embarrassment and humiliation. In April for their premiere event, participants shared stories of "Adolescence" (oy, that must have been rough). This time around, the theme is 'Lies' and the consequence of lies. People are encouraged to step up for 5 minutes and tell their true stories; or, in the spirit of the evening, make something up! Let's face it, we've all told a lie or two or countless; sometimes, they are harmless and nothing happens. But, eventually, one lie gets out of control, gets a life of its own and ends up having some sort of consequence. ("Hiking the Appalachian Trail," anyone?)

The humiliating confessions begin at 8pm, Saturday October 3, at Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street, Hartford.

More about WINCE after the jump. Cost is $5 for non-members, free for RAW members.

There's something about the title that says it all: WINCE. Think of that first time you saw a truly good horror movie, like The Exorcist, or any David Cronenberg movie (Videodrome and Dead Ringers come to mind). Sometimes it's out of horror, but humiliation of others also brings out that wincing reaction: to shut our eyes and avert our heads, but yet, leave our eyes open just enough to see what happens.

It's with that in mind that Ms. Ohlheiser and Ms. Dahn began this 'experiment in collective humiliation' last April. Dahn and Ohlheiser MC the event and lead the way to embarrassment and humiliation by being the first two to share in the storytelling experience. The evening then unfolds as each reader gets a 5-minute spot to share their story as they want to. "Some play songs, some share diary entries, or photographs, or just stand up and tell a story," Ms. Ohlheiser explained in an email.

What WINCE does, really, is access those moments and stories that stick with you, the ones you’ve told 100 times, or, if you’ve never shared them before, the story that, once you start talking, you know exactly how to tell That’s what makes the event stick together. The theme is just a “nudge” to get your mental gears turning. You get all sorts of people together in one room, telling stories (or just listening, which is also just fine), and laughing with (and at) themselves and each other. It brings people together, and it’s really an amazing experience.
-Abby Ohlheiser

The most important aspect of WINCE is to encourage everyone's penchant for storytelling and then sharing it with the community. A theme is provided in order to help generate ideas around universal topics. Ms. Ohlheiser says, "We want people to see “Liar Liar,” and think, “Ooh! I’ve got a good one for that!”

Of course, she could have just made that all up just to have a laugh at all of our embarrassing stories. The next WINCE event will be Saturday December 5th at Real Art Ways and the topic will be "Everything's Relative", just in time for the holidays!