Over a decade ago, Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler thought they could start a fun, little event where seven Baltimoreans told stories with a common theme. Now 13 seasons later, their Stoop Storytelling series has graced the stages of The Senator, Center Stage, and Creative Alliance and has featured the tales of myriad personalities and politicians (Hillary Clinton, in fact, made an appearance).
We profiled Stoop in a September 2015 article and wanted to bring the storytelling duo back to find out what’s happened since. The answer? A lot. The series now has its own podcast and is going into its upcoming season with shows in Baltimore and Columbia about mistakes, animals, sexual fluidity, and life on your own terms.
Plus, the Stoop founders share some of the most memorable moments, from stories that made them laugh, cry, cringe, and root for every single person on stage.
“We’re ultimately a city of underdogs and we want people the person that is telling their story to win,” Henkin says on the podcast. “This is a chance, on a very small level, for Baltimore to win each time.”
Adds Wexler: “It’s a genre about humility. Humility in the sense that we’re all in this together—Baltimore and the world.”