Midd Moth spins first tales of year

Most of us have seen Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We’ve enjoyed our jaunt through Harry’s magical world of wizarding delight. We’ve gasped at the Quidditch scenes (maybe even played some Quidditch) and we’ve cringed at the werewolf, a massive figure on the big screen. Most of us haven’t roomed with the werewolf.

Not so for Brad Becker-Parton ‘11. He shared his story at the first Middlebury Moth of the year, Sept. 17 in the Gamut Room. It is a curious tale of a summer spent in England working on the set of a relatively obscure movie — Wolf Man — and sharing a room with the wolf man, a colossal body double well known for his hulking werewolf potential.

The Middlebury Moth, started last year by Will Bellaimey ’10 and Bianca Giaever ’12, features storytelling by townspeople, students and faculty. Participants volunteer to prepare stories centered on a broad theme — previous Moths have used escape, family and road trips as jumping off points.

There are only two rules: participants may not use notes, and the stories must be true.

This most recent Moth featured stories of summer and coupled the fantastic — cue Parton’s werewolf extravaganza — with the hilarious and unbelievable. Max Kanter ‘11 started the night with a trip to Los Angeles, where he spent the past summer living in a somewhat shady neighborhood with several fellow theatre students. The discovery of $1,000 in their backyard, followed by an attempted break-in at their house and a trip to the local police precinct for advice ended with the discovery that their melon-scented next-door neighbor (your average cat woman type) had dropped 10 $100 bills the previous day. Coincidentally, she had also discovered that George Lucas, her house’s previous owner, had left a handwritten Star Wars manuscript in the attic, and was wondering whether the find might possibly be worth anything.

Kanter was followed up by stories from Assistant Professor of Political Science Quinn Mecham (he was caught by Turkish guards at the Lebanese border with a bag full of Hezbollah propaganda, intended for classroom purposes only), Sam Dawson ’11, Sean Maye ’11, Ken Grinde ’11, Director of Education Studies Gregg Humphrey and Michaela Lieberman ’11.

Bellaimey and Giaever were inspired by the Moth, Greg Dawes Green’s New York City storytelling sensation, which attempts to recreate evenings spent swapping stories with friends in larger venues. The nonprofit has gained national attention, spawning several other Moths in cities, as well as smaller Moths like the one at the College.

According to Giaever, the organization got its name from Green’s memories of sitting on his front porch exchanging stories until it got so dark moths began appearing.

“I think people respond to how genuine the stories are,” she said. “I love those times after a Moth when I sit with friends, and people start saying one story reminded them of this crazy thing happening to them, and we start sharing more stories.”

It is clear that here at least the Moth model fits. The Gamut Room was standing room only through to the last story. “You looked into the crowd and everyone had their mouths open, they were totally engaged,” Giaever said. The same can be expected of upcoming events. The next, Oct. 7, will feature stories about school.