Lawrence C. Connolly

Tag: spoken word

  • The Stars Came Out @ Riley’s:
    Starry Nights, Cosmic Conversations

    Welcome back! This is the second in a series of blogs and podcasts centering on June’s Storytelling Night at Riley’s. If you missed the first round, you can check it out here. Our theme for the event was “Starry Nights, Cosmic Conversations,” and as our story events often do, this one started off with music by Reni…

  • Storytelling Night at Riley’s:
    Starry Nights, Cosmic Conversations

    It was SRO when co-host Diane Turnshek and I presented “Starry Nights and Cosmic Conversations” at Riley’s Pour House last Tuesday. The event featured an impressive roster of storytellers performing a stellar mix of astronomy-related stories. Starting today, I’d like to share some audio highlights from that evening, starting with two exciting spoken-word performers who made their Riley’s debut…

  • Springtime Stories @ Riley’s

    The Anglo-Saxon storytellers marked the ages of their characters in winters. Consider, in Beowulf the hero is said to have lived fifty winters, not fifty years.  Why? Because anyone can survive a summer, but if you live through a winter, it’s time to celebrate. And that’s exactly what our band of 21st-century scops did Tuesday, April 28, when Story…

  • What Riley’s Scops Talk About . . .
    When They Talk About Love

    The polar vortex didn’t keep story lovers from turning out at this month’s storytelling night at Riley’s Pour House. If you were there, you know firsthand how thoroughly the act of storytelling can warm a frigid night. If you didn’t attend, and you live anywhere in the Pittsburgh area, you owe it to yourself to…

  • Story Night @ Riley’s: Fear and Resolutions

    We never know where the stories are going to take us at Riley’s Pour House. This year’s first story night (January 27) featured a number of strong storytelling debuts as well as the return of one of 2014’s All Star champions. The theme was “Resolutions,” and although all of the stories addressed the topic, many also touched on the…

  • All-Star Night (Part 3):
    Richard “Shag” Shaughnessy

    craic (/kræk/ krak) — n news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. — wikipedia.org Of all the 21st-century scops who frequent the storytelling nights at Riley’s Pour House, perhaps the the greatest practitioner of craic is Richard “Shag” Shaughnessy. Delivered in a folksy, conversational style, Shag’s stories brim with local flavor and history .…