Review-Top-Notch-Story Worthy Week
13-9-14
By: Joyce Wong
Kicking off this year’s StoryWorthyWeek is Top-Notch, the live show that combines the best of storytellers from Hong Kong Stories’ monthly show, Liars’ League, SPEAK and Literary Death Match. Tonight’s gathering had eight storytellers performing once again great stories from past performances. The collection ranged from the hilarious to heartfelt, the cynical to optimistic, the embarrassing to candidly personal. Whether you’re a regular audience or a first timer to storytelling events in Hong Kong, Top-Notch is a mixed treat of the best that will get you hooked for more.
The first story of the night was Crossed Wires by Austin Tang and it was my favourite of the evening. It’s a personal anecdote about a heated encounter to renew a local gym membership after a hiatus from injury. Due to language barriers of limited Mandarin and no Cantonese on Tang’s part and poor English on the gym staff’s, the conversation comes close to physical confrontation. What made the story so engaging and funny was Tang’s ability to pick up on details and capture life in a fully animated and colloquial performance. With great reenactment of voices and action, you really felt like you saw the scene relived before you. Though for a “senior moment” Tang forgot where he was going with his story (he got interrupted by a roar of laughter to what was said earlier), he managed to spin that as a joke in his story. The casual improvisation made his story approachable and effortless, like one that your friend tells you over a coffee and makes your day.
Another highlight was Rachel Smith’s story on the theme of Revolutions from the June monthly show. The story was about her experience as a foreigner in China before and after the 1983 United States embassy bombing in Beirut, which had killed three Chinese people. The anecdote was obviously very close to heart and as Smith narrated how the people in Chengdu turned from friendly to hostile towards foreigners, you felt the confusion, frustration and fear she had experienced in a four-day house arrest after the bombing. The climax in the story of how hundreds of her students surrounded her in the schoolyard shouting words of hostility evoked especially powerful visual imagery. The story was real, moving, and thought provoking too, especially when many parts of the world are currently in unrest.
I also enjoyed Renate Leukert’s story declaring love as an evil drug that should be banned. Focusing on a spring wedding she had to coordinate for her friends Bridget and Tony, she spoke about the inconsideration of happy couples in love, the tedium of dealing with eager wedding guests, and the frustration of listening to vows as the only single guest in the room. What made the story was her wit in playing with words—the boring mono-Tony who wasn’t so fond of monogamy back when they had a fling in school. Cynically funny, Leukert’s story narrated pieces about love that everyone can relate.
The night also took in five sentence stories from audience members who had pens and paper on their chairs, so be ready to join in the fun if you attend the next Top-Notch!. There was a good anecdote about getting lost as a kid in a New York Macy’s department store.
As Tom Tiding said at the end of the show, Top-Notch’s pick of the best was chosen as a collection that captures the human experience. Living in Hong Kong can be very much an anonymous experience. (How many of us actually know our neighbours?) Storytelling has the effect of bringing people closer—you realize that the things you experience and feel are felt by others too. For a dose of good entertainment and human connection, definitely check out the next Top-Notch and the rest of StoryWorthyWeek.
Top-Notch is playing again on September 20th. For more information, click here.
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