Everyone has a story (or twenty) to share. VAMP (Visual/Audio Monologue Performance) is a monthly contest, held here in San Diego, where dozens of writers submit true stories that have happened in their lives, based on a theme-of-the-month. A panel of seasoned participants read all the stories, submitted anonymously, and rate them for the producing team. The top seven (or sometimes eight) are selected to be feature for a live reading at the Whistle Stop Bar in South Park, where typically 70-125 people come to hear the readings.
The seven writers get together and critique each other’s writing to help each author improve the work. THEN a writing coach meets with the author to boost it further. THEN a performance coach works with each writer to help make it sound good aloud. Finally, each writer submits a series of photos to go with the writing to enhance the visual experience of the audience. The result is monthly magic in storytelling!
Each episode become part of the “VAMP Storytelling Podcast” which I listen to every time I have to miss a live VAMP, but it’s not quite the same; missing the visuals takes away a lot and there’s the energy in the room. But at least I get to hear those stories and re-listen to great ones from the past few years.
Now that you know what VAMP (produced by SoSayWeAll) is, I’m proud to say that over the last five years, I’ve had my stories selected five times (I won’t say how many didn’t get in). Below you’ll find those four performances as filmed. Some are quite personal and even a bit graphic, so be forewarned if you don’t want to learn TOO much about me.
Oct 2017: Teeth (rated PG)
June 2017: Living in Sin (rated PG-13)
Sept 2019: Jew Orleans (rated R for seҳual references)
May 2022: My Second One-Night-Stand (rated R for seҳual references)
August 2024: An Atypical Subbing Day (rated PG-13 for violent references)
Thanks for checking out my VAMP performances.
One more fun video to share, below.
For those who don’t know, in 2000, I developed a passion for Photoshop editing. At first, I just made people look better in photos, but that grew into:
- photo restoration (stained, scraped, torn, faded…)
- photo alteration (adding or removing people, making someone smile who didn’t, changing clothes or backgrounds
- colorization (making those black-and-white shots come to life again.
Enjoy this little video below that shows what can be done to make the photos you love look the way you want.
To see more recent work or inquire about working on a photo of yours (or creating an amazing gift for someone),
visit www.FreshenYourPhoto.com.
Copyright 2024, Milo Shapiro.