Salon of Shame

Oh the angst, the pain, the heartbreak, the heat of shame and embarrassment. I haven’t laughed this hard at a show in a long time.
The performers were all very good and the MC and founder were excellent engaging the crowd.
I almost thought they were reading my diary on a couple instances because the awkward pain and longing were so familiar. I thank God every day I’m not 13 anymore.
The demographic seems to be mostly 30s– 40s crowd. 21+ only since it’s a bar that serves alcohol.
Loved it! Go! Get there at least 45 minutes prior to show time to get good seats.

Remember all of the angst, embarrassment, drama, passive aggression, Lisa Frank diaries, and tear-​spattered poetry of your formative years? The Salon of Shame exploits these personal traumas and parades them for the full satisfaction of catharsis, if you contribute, or your schadenfreude if you do not. Have a drink, listen to other folks trot out their hilarrible youthful writings, and try not to choke on your own guffaws. This is the best regular event in town

Freaking amazing & hilarious. That is basically all I have to say.

I almost don’t want to review the Salon of Shame, because the last thing they need is more people vying for tickets. Tickets sell out within 5 minutes of going on sale, every time. Hints for getting tickets: subscribe to their mailing list so you’ll always know when tickets are going on sale (a list which has ONLY infrequent messages; you won’t be swamped), or, sign up ahead of time on their website to read your own shame (you get comp tickets for you and a guest if you read).
The premise is simple: people read from their old diaries and journals (and sometimes high school poetry, letters to lovers or friends, or school papers). The results are hilarious, and no topic seems off limit (the agonies of teen dating, of course, are a favorite, with worries about popularity a close second). If this sounds agonizing, trust me, it is! It’s also delightful: it turns out, everyone felt like you did in high school! And laughing at our old selves, well, it actually feels good.
Everyone loves the Salon of Shame. It’s easily some of the best inexpensive entertainment in Seattle.

Good luck getting tickets-​it took me a year; but it was worth the wait. I’m admittedly the kind of person that (points and) laughs at other people’s expense (don’t worry I can take it just as well as I dish it out), so I whole heartidly appreciated the Salon of Shame. That is what it is all about. The funniest parts were the ones I could relate to. I also liked that the theater sold alcoholic beverages. A couple drinks only made the experience more funny! I wish the Salon of Shame was at a slightly larger venue and tickets were easier to get. I’m sure it would sell out to a larger crowd. If you plan on getting dinner before the performance be weary of the restaurants in the surrounding area. I spent the rest of the night after the show, being very sick :(I hope I’m lucky enough to score tickets again so this can become a bimonthly ritual.

A cathartic experience that entertains you as well as making you feel better about your own dysfunctional youth and morose attempts at adolescent poetry.

I would have to say it’s been a looooong time since I’ve been as entertained as I was last night.
Salon of Shame actually makes you want to re-​read your adolescent journals/​diaries/​writing and finally laugh at yourself.
Okay, go do that RIGHT NOW and then sign up for the next SoS.
It’ll be cathartic and you may just make some new wacky friends.

I. HEART. SALON. OF. SHAME. And not just b/​c a friend of mine founded it and I’m forced to go against my will (just kidding), but b/​c it really is one of the funniest events I attend… EVER.
If you haven’t gone to one yet, you really should, esp if you feel like laughing so hard your face hurts and you almost pee yourself.
Check it out!

Painfully, painfully, funny. You’ll never get more entertainment for your hard earned dollars, people. It’s going to be sad in 20 years when, at events like these, all there will be is a laptop on stage playing the YouTube blog entries of todays angsty teens.
Get it while the gettings good.

The MC last night described it as «exploiting our younger selves.» Damn right, and who better to than us? I give huge kudos to those brave enough to read, especially the guys, and enjoyed most the girls who could laugh at their own adolescent seriousness.
Believe me, cocktails beforehand increase the hilarity of this experience, but still riotously funny if you don’t imbibe.

Genius. I thought I was gonna die, I was laughing so much. It is cheap entertainment, and you get way more than your dollars worth.
When people were reading, it brought me back to my adolescence, and made me wish I hadn’t lost my journal! What jems I had written, but alas, it is gone. I will have to live vicariously through the readers of Salon of Shame.

«Seattle’s bimonthly reading series featuring your worst teenaged writing.»
It does not get any better than sitting in the ‘jewel box’ theatre (it has since moved to the Capitol Hill Arts Center) enjoying a drink and some dinner while listening to friends, peers, and strangers struggle through diary and journal entries that transport us back to those awkward teenage years. I hadn’t laughed this hard in years. Ponies, boys, camaros. Leif Garrett. It’s a ‘totally tubular’ time.
Usually, it lasts a good 2 hours, and at the last one, Nancy Guppy (Almost Live! local celeb) shared her journal dating back to the early ’70’s. It was brilliant.
The next is slated for May 15^th. I will post a ‘talk’ on this one b/​c I think it’d a be a great Unilocal!outing.
Two dated diaries read (out loud. on stage.)