Why NOT talking to 140 strangers was one of the most tense nights of my life

Speaking to a room full of strangers is scary.

I've been interested in stories my whole life from sitting in the living room of our house as a kid listening to my parents and their friends talking about old times to spending hours on YouTube watching Ted Talks. The Moth is something I stumbled upon one day as I entered hour three of a Ted binge and it quickly became my go-to on YouTube every time I had a spare few minutes. This is the first Moth video I watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJrD-Oazgw Adam Wade's story is magnificent and I thought it the idea behind The Moth was to be funny, I was wrong. The stories told on The Moth cover every range of emotion and my early days watching it was like a rollercoaster... there were ups and downs in my emotions. *Insert distressed emoji face* The videos produced laughs out loud, lumps in my throat, disbelief in some cases, but most of all there was always a connection. The stories are relatable. A few months after my obsession subsided a little, I was walking past The Sugar Club near Stephen's Green and spotted a poster outside the venue that grabbed my attention - "THE MOTH STORYSLAM, MONDAY, MAY 18". A quick Google revealed that The Moth StorySlam had been running at The Sugar Club since late 2014 and I didn't have a clue. What a waste. I made up my mind that I was going to the next one to see what the craic was, how it worked, what sort of stories Irish people tell, how awkward is was and mostly to people-watch. I told my editor in JOE, Paddy, that I was planning on going because I wanted watch all these Irish people telling stories to a bunch of strangers, gas, and then he challenged me to tell a story on the night. I laughed first, he did too, but then said, "I'm serious, you should tell a story, it'll be a great experience and it'll make a great piece." I said I'd think about it. A few days later, after watching numerous "Public speaking fails" online, I still hadn't made up my mind so I told myself that I'd decide on the night. What I did know was the theme for the night - everyone's story had to be about "Adventure". So, 8pm on May 18 arrived and I was running late, as usual, I reached the venue expecting to see 40 people max. I don't know why I thought it would be so small, but the crowd was actually more like 140. Oh shit. I was hoping to slip into the background but the only free seat was the one right in front of the stage so I had to take that and then the moment of truth - would I sign up to tell my story? I've just watched Pixar's Inside Out so I'm picturing my 'Brave' feeling and my 'Fear' feeling having a full-on MMA scrap to see what would prevail. I was brave, I put my name in the hat. The way it works after that is the MC Colm O'Regan talks at the start to warm the crowd up, the guy is hilarious and is a perfect fit for that kind of night. Colm then picks a name out of the hat and that person has to get up and tell their story in eight minutes, their stories are then judged by three panels and the winner is the one with the most points. OK, here goes. My heart was pounding with the fear... First name out... A blonde woman named Carmel (not me thank God) who told a story about her brother who died after getting hit by lightning. A sad story beautifully told and the support for her from the crowd was fantastic. Second name out... A short-haired brunette lady named Catherine (not me thank God) who told an incredible story about getting involved a smuggling operation in Mexico. Surreal. Third name out... A middle-aged man named Mark (not me thank God) whose story was personal as he revealed his relationship had broken up. I think he just wanted to tell someone, anyone. It was a bit sad, but very brave. Fourth name out... A blonde American girl (not me thank God) who spoke about dropping out of college because it wasn't for her. Her story resonated with the crowd. *INTERVAL* I could breathe again, for a few minutes anyway. The tension in my body was painful, my stomach was turning, my palms were sweaty, the waiting was almost too much. I realise that sounds like a line from 50 Shades, but it's hard to describe how tense I was feeling. Colm restarted the second half with a few spiels and he had everyone in stitches. He turned to his trusty hat... Fifth name out... A young guy with a northern accent (not me thank God) told one of the funniest stories I've ever heard about a protest, getting lost and a smug old lady. The guy was like a seasoned stand-up. Impossible to follow. Sixth name out... A tall, thin man in his forties (not me thank God) told a story about a strange encounter with an old lady in Harold's Cross. It was quirky but entertaining. Seventh name out... A young Irish girl named Niamh (not me thank God) who told a story about her brother and the Monaco Grand Prix. It was a mix of humour and raw emotion. Eight name out... A blonde girl name Eimear (not me thank God) told a story about her first trip abroad with school in Denmark. It was self-deprecating and sweet. Very Irish. Ninth name out... A middle-aged lady named Orla (not me thank God) who told a story about being an Au Pair in a mansion in France. There's a book in the story, it was incredible. Tenth and LAST name out... A girl named Fionnuala (not me thank God!) whose simple story about filling her car up with petrol in America was my favourite story of the night. She was nervous, honest, funny and endearing. Yeah, so I didn't to tell my story... Hold on, it didn't end there. The three people who put their names in the hat but didn't speak had to go up a give a teaser for their story. Me included. It was weird and uncomfortable standing on a hot stage with a spotlight in your face as 140 people listened to a teaser for your story about "Adventure," but I did it because I had to and it was actually fine, I liked it. My story was about getting robbed of everything I has with me when I saw travelling around after the Tour de France one summer, in case you're wondering. Myself and the two other people said our teasers into the microphone and stepped back off stage.  Colm announced the winner - it was Orla and her Au Pair story and that was it. The Moth StorySlam was over. I went up and spoke to Colm and the organiser Julien after to get an interview for this piece, I recorded it on my iPhone which I lost shortly after, and the guys invited me across the road to Hartigan's for a pint. It was a school night, but I'm MAD so I said yes. The three of us sat just inside the door of Hartigan's and I noticed a few people from the event coming in shortly after us. We chatted away for a while and then the lads asked me to tell my story. I told it, pretty shoddily I might add, but Colm and Julien seemed to enjoy it so we drank on for another bit. Colm left after a few so myself and Julien joined the 10/12 people from the gig who were at the other side of the bar. We sat down and he knew some of them pretty well, they were all very friendly, and then they asked me to tell them my story. It felt like a setup for a second, I looked at Julien, he shook his head and smiled, and they encouraged me so I went through it again. I rambled for much longer than with Colm and Julien, but the people were so encouraging and conscious of my obvious nerves that they helped me along by laughing and nodding to show interest. Nice people. The night went on and more stories were told, all of them better than mine, but listening to these people tell their own yarns turned into one of the best nights I've had this year. Irish people are born storytellers and we're nosy people too so we love hear other people tell theirs. The Moth StorySlam is on Monday (September 14) so if you like telling and/or listening to stories, head along to The Sugar Club. You won't regret it. All of the details for the show are here.