Revenge of the Storytellers

CSP Adult Storytime with Emmy, Obie and Moth Grand Slam winners including
Moran Cerf, Brian Finklestein, Annie Korzen, Carlos Kotkin, Monica Piper & Carol Schlanger

Join award-winning storytellers at Chemer’s Gallery in Tustin for an incredible evening of storytelling and anecdotes. Amazing reconteurs Moran Cerf, Brian Finklestein, Annie Korzen, Carlos Kotkin, Monica Piper and Carol Schlanger share their stories with skill and wit.

MORAN CERF
Besides being a Moth GrandSLAM champion, Moran Cerf is a neuroscientist at Caltech and the UCLA and NYU departments of neurosurgery. In his research, Dr. Cerf studies how consciousness works in our brain, and how high-level emotions are regulated using direct recording from single neurons in the brains of patients undergoing brain-surgery. Moran received an M.A. in Philosophy of Science and a B.Sc. in Physics. Prior to his studies, Moran worked for several years in the Israeli high-tech industry as a hacker, a pilot and an inventor.

BRIAN FINKLESTEIN
Brian Finkelstein (twitter.com/@bsfinkelstein) is a regular performer at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, host of the LA Moth, and tours the country as a storyteller with The Moth. Because he is uber-self indulgent, he has performed way too many solo shows in a variety of venues, from the HBO/US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, to the 2012 Summer Nights Festival
in Perth, Australia. His solo show, First Day Off In Long Time (about working at a suicide hot line), was developed into a pilot script for Fox called Blue. Later he wrote for the Ellen DeGeneres Show (the daytime talk show). While at Ellen, Brian was nominated for two Emmys. Daytime Emmys…. But still. Most recently, he has optioned (and re-optioned) his feature Good Grief with 72 Productions,
and has been working on his latest solo show. Other than that, he watches a lot of TV and eats a lot of chocolate-mint-chip ice cream…

ANNIE KORZEN
Moth Mainstage storyteller Annie was the recurring Doris Klompus on Seinfeld and played John Turturro’s mother inTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Jason
Alexander’s sister in Neil Simon’s Prisoner of 2nd Avenue and has performed her solo shows Yenta Unplugged and The Yenta Cometh on three continents.
Her new show is an evening of stories called Tales from the Mouth: Failures, Fiascos, and Other Triumphs. Annie is the author of Bargain Junkie: Living the Good Life on the Cheap and has also written humorous essays for NPR’s Morning Edition, The NY Times, LA Times and many more. She has a humor column in The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles. www.anniekorzen.com

CARLOS KOTKIN
Carlos Kotkin is a 10-time Moth story SLAM winner who has been regularly featured on KCRW’s UnFictional, the popular storytelling podcast Risk! and NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour. His comic memoir of romantic misadventures, Please God Let It Be Herpes: A Heartfelt Quest for Love and Companionship, was recently published by Penguin books. www.carloskotkin.com

MONICA PIPER
Monica Piper was a Campfire Girl… in the Bronx. “You sense your life isn’t normal when you’re sitting on the D train with a bag of marshmallows and a twig.” Monica began her career as a high school English teacher. While finding it rewarding, she had to move on. “I couldn’t handle the money and prestige.” Always able to FIND the FUNNY, she was driven to make people laugh. She became a stand-up comic and soon landed her own Ace award-winning Showtime Special, “No, Monica, Just You.” The American Comedy Awards deemed her one of the top five female comics in America. She has opened
for Jerry Seinfeld, Gloria Estefan, Neil Sedaka, and The Smothers Brothers. Monica was recruited by Ms. Barr herself to write on Roseanne the number #1 show in the country. Thus began her career as a sit-com writer. She went on to
write for Mad About You and Veronica’s Closet. Monica became a mother and knew that sit-com hours and parenthood didn’t mesh. She turned to animation and eventually became the head writer of Rugrats, for which she won an Emmy in 2003 and an Emmy nomination in 2004.

CAROL SCHLANGER
Carol Schlanger is a working comic actress and can be seen this Tuesday July 30th as Mrs. Rosenstein on Rizzoli and Isles. She tells her stories in venue’s all over L.A and excited that her memoir FAR OUT (love and life on a wilderness commune) is soon to be published. She is a former sit-com writer, and Humanitas nominee. A published playwright, her works have had highly
successful concert readings and productions in L.A. and NYC (Baba Yaga, Will You Still Feed Me, Last Dance, Valley of the Shadow) She is an obie nominee for her portrayal of The American Housewife at The Joseph Papp Theatre, has appeared in both film and television, and her one woman play Mouth to Mouth, received 3 L.A. drama critics awards.

CHEMERS GALLERY
Thank you to our wonderful host – Karen Raab, owner of Chemers Gallery!
Since 1978 Chemers Gallery has enjoyed bringing art to adults and children, alike. Always striving for the unique and unusual, Chemers Gallery specializes in fine &
decorative art, original children’s book illustrations, jewelry, contemporary crafts and the most diverse framing in Orange County. Their special events and charity functions set them apart from other galleries. Check out their blog www.chemersgallery.blogspot. com and facebook page to learn more!