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The Moth

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

The Moth is a live storytelling show that gave Lindy West a performance role in Seattle after she found that stand-up itself was not for her. Hosting its local outpost let her perform through extended crowd work rather than repeatedly deliver the same jokes.

Seattle Outpost

West began doing stand-up occasionally at Hari Kondabolu’s urging, but she disliked both repeating the same jokes and the grind of trying to improve at it. She liked performing, however, and eventually became the host of The Moth’s Seattle outpost. The contrast was practical: stand-up’s repetition put her off, while hosting a live storytelling show allowed her to work with the audience.

Format and West’s Role

The Seattle show involved three hours of crowd work and took place twice a month. West said she was good at hosting it, marking The Moth as a setting where her performance skills found a form that suited her better than stand-up. The account identifies her as the outpost’s host and describes the show’s format; it does not provide further detail about The Moth’s wider organization or operations.

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