Jasmine Nothing's Two Cents
An interview with Jasmine Nothing
We like the sound of our own keystrokes as much as anyone, but sometimes, one just wants to hear from other people.
What happens when one needs community and feels powerless? Well, if you’re Jasmine Nothing, you create Telltale, a storytelling event and perform your own stories live every month to an audience. It’s aspirational, really.
Today, she shares about getting vulnerable, poses the questions that come up when your work is mainly ephemeral, and talks about the importance of voice.
What do you write?
I host a monthly curated storytelling show for people that like to get vulnerable and take no shit—and what I write are mostly stories for that. They tend to be some strange mix of flawed, joyful, earnest, and sad. Which is basically also who I am, I guess. I started out writing things that were much sadder, but when performing them on a stage to a room full of people, it honestly just felt like too much of a bummer, so I’ve spent the last 7 seasons of running the show gradually practicing how to be lighter, sillier. I always think that I’m going to perhaps figure out how to write something that isn’t just for the show, but then…. i…. don’t do that? I really work far better under pressure—deadlines are embarrassingly motivating.
Telltale has been going strong since 2016. Have you gotten the community you wanted? Curbed the sense of powerlessness? And what's it been like building something so massive from scratch?
dang. Yes and no? I’ve for sure gotten a lot of community connection and a sense of being part of something from it. But honestly, it’s been challenging to rebuild around covid stuff. I think things have changed, people leave the house for different reasons, that sort of thing. I love the fact that I’ve seen hundreds of people come through and get vulnerable and take no shit with us at this point! What a wild thing to be responsible for creating! But candidly, it’s a ton of work and when the audience is tiny, it sometimes makes me feel heavy with the “but what’s the point?!” sort of feelings. We’re planning some big announcements and changes in the coming months, changing things up a bit, to hopefully make it a little easier for folks to make it out, so we will see!
How do you share your work?
Honestly, I read it at my show, and then… that’s it. There’s nothing else yet. I’m really hoping to get my shit together and create another way for people to access stuff that I’ve written—podcast? Zine? Self-publishing? Professional publishing? Yelling from rooftops and out windows? It’s hard to know where to go next. (also, I work full time. How do people have the energy for all these things? All I want to do is nap, but I apparently have to work too? Disappointing.)
What is your favorite piece of writing advice?
This won’t apply to everybody—but honestly, I do my best writing after two shots of tequila sitting on the kitchen floor. Not a desk, not a coffee shop. On the floor. The tequila makes all the mean voices shut up, and the floor let’s me stretch out like a weirdo. That’s the perfect recipe. People should figure out what their perfect recipe is.
And your least favorite?
I once went and tried out for a storytelling show. You had to sort of audition in their living room. They gave me so much feedback about the piece, and how it was too specific, and that I was “telling people how to feel.” And they asked me to change the ending so that it would be more of a perfect/tidy ending… and honestly, I said okay, I’ll make all those changes… in the moment… but then I walked out and never followed up with them, because they wanted me to remove all the things that kind of made it MINE/my style. It’s funny—even though I welcome feedback in most areas of my life, I very rarely let anyone see any of my writing when it’s still in process, because I don’t like it when people poke holes in it or try to make it more palatable or something…. I write sort of weird, and I want it to stay kind of weird? (also, their storytelling show is now dead, and mine is going strong, so whatever, I won.)
What’s something about your journey that you’ve struggled with? What has felt shockingly easy?
I think the thing that’s been hardest is sort of like…this sounds dumb but…. Breaking into the “scene”? I’m not a comedian so I can’t do open mics. I have to read off of my papers (vs memorize it) so I can’t do a lot of the legit storytelling shows around town. I don’t have a book to promote, so I’m not part of the literary events, really. Figuring out what my place is … that’s tough. I perform on my show, and every once in a while I get invited to do other shows, but it’s pretty rare. And at this point, all the things I write are sort of MEANT to be performed, not just read. It’s tough to figure out exactly where I belong.
As a person with social anxiety, that does not like public speaking, that would prefer not to be perceived most of the time…. What am I even doing deciding to do something that is so very public all the time!? It’s baffling to me. Still. After 7 years.
Tell us anything you want!
Recommendations:
Hell and High Water cocktail from Holy Ghost bar. It has toasted nori in it, which is wild, and I was exclaiming about it all the way home.
Anything written by Zach Vandezande is perfect. And Joey Comeau.
Carry Narcan and be kind to the folks in our community that use drugs.
Eat as many carbs as you want. You’re going to die later on, and on your deathbed, eating the mashed potatoes will be so worth it.
Download the Merlin App. It can tell you what birds are nearby, either by picture, sound, or description.
Telltale is going to be doing some more wild things this year—stay tuned for announcements about spreading the show out to multiple venues across town, incorporating a dinner portion, a dog-themed-show this summer, and the 3rd annual Ghost Show. Nobody is turned away because they can’t afford it. (damn the man, down with capitalism, art is forever.) We want you involved, so hit us up. Everything is better with you there, pal.
About Jasmine
jasmine nothing is the founder and curator of Telltale, a monthly storytelling show for people that like to get vulnerable and take no shit, now in it’s 7th season. She is focused on staying soft in a world that tries real hard to break your heart, thinks you should drink more water, and that there isn’t really a good excuse to not make pie crust by hand. She hopes to one day have a book for you to buy or something, but in the meantime, please come to a show and say nice things to her.
I'm with Valerie on the bird app! I've become mildly (okay, very) obsessed with watching the birds in my backyard. How have I missed that we have so many kinds? My lack of slow, I guess.
And I can't WAIT to see what Telltale does next with events! <3
Hell yes to a new birding app! New writers to check out, new bars to try, new storytelling events to get excited about-- bring on the mashed potatoes! Thank you for sharing with us today Jasmine!