Status updates on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook offer us mini-glimpses into the lives of our friends and followees. As technology increases, and updating becomes more portable, we are inundated with every fleeting thought before they have a chance to be filtered. So much over-communication may dilute what actually might be important to us, but every once in awhile a seemingly trivial update will seep into our psyche and connect us to the person who wrote it. And we like this. An update might catch our attention, make us laugh, pique our curiosity and make us ask, “What’s the story with that?” Enter The Status Show, a weekly live storytelling show presented by Abby Russell and Maria Shehata, where artists, comedians, and actors take the stage to give us exactly that, the stories behind our statuses. The Status Show has taken the age-old past time of storytelling and mixed it with modern day social networking to bring us a unique live show that joins the hands of communication past and present.
After only five shows, the buzz is building… not just from actors and comedians, but from everyday folks who have stories to share. Russell and Shehata encourage the community feel of the show by literally inviting the audience on stage, to be a part of the line up, as well.
“We want our audience to come and share their updates. We want this to be a show for everyone, not just the performers. Sometimes you hear a story and it reminds you of a story and you want to tell it. The Status Show is the outlet to do that,” said Shehata.
Shehata and Russell are hard at work running their weekly show at the Hyperion Tavern in Silverlake. Not just show producers, the two run the bar, and get on stage as well.
“We do it all. We sell beers and we tell stories,” said Shehata. “And after, people stay for karaoke. We make a night of it,” adds Russell.
When asked what was next for The Status Show, the two emphatically said ‘more great storytelling!’
“There’s already interest in a book and a TV show,” said Russell. “We’ll see. Right now, we’re focused on our regular Sunday show and Special Edition show next week! One step at a time.”
“So we’ve had 5 shows now and they have been amazing, I mean really, you should have been there because I forgot to blog about them,” Shehata apologizes. “But we have video! And pictures!”
Which she promises post as soon as she figures out how. “At first glance WordPress feels like stepping into a cockpit. So many buttons…no idea what to do. But like status updates and social networking, it soon becomes second nature and you can’t live without it,” said Shehata.
Russell and Shehata present their Special Edition Status Show at M Bar on Tuesday July 21st at 8pm. The show, hosted by Eddie Pepitone, features comedians from Comedy Central, HBO, and The Tonight Show with Conan O’ Brien.
