Take Two Storytelling

Kevin Allison is a legend! He is the curator and host of RISK! and member The State.

Sopan Deb is a culture writer for The New York Times as well as a stand up comedian, writing about the intersection of politics and culture.

Cecilia Gentili currently serves as the Director of Policy at GMHC, the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy. Originally from Argentina, Cecilia found her passion for advocacy and community service when she started working as an intern at the LGBT Community Center in New York City several years ago. Cecilia is also a contributor to Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, and is a board member for Transcend Legal and Translatina Network. For fun, she loves performing at storytelling and stand-up comedy events where she talks about her life experiences. Cecilia is very passionate about advocating for her community, especially Latina transgender women who may have a history of sex work, drug use and incarceration.

Sandi Marx, a multiple Moth Slam champ has been busy telling stories all over the country. She’s been featured at the Boston Comedy Festival and most recently appeared on a new TV series for PBS called “Stories From The Stage” She can also be heard on a multitude of podcasts such as Risk, Yums The Word, HotMic with Dan Savage and many more. Last year she debuted her first solo show “ You’ll Be Sorry” with the Tank theater.

Susan Kent is a Deep South refugee who lives, writes, and performs in NYC. She's been featured on Snap Judgment, RISK!, The Moth Radio Hour, and tons of other podcasts and live shows. Tweet her @TheSusanKent.

Richard Cardillo is a 25 year resident of the Lower East Side and has been an educator for over three decades on two continents and in three languages. He's instructed on all levels from preschool to graduate programs, considering himself still more of a learner than a teacher....but always a storyteller! Rich is a five-time Moth StorySLAM winner. He’s performed at Surprise! Stories Storytelling Game Show, Friday Night Stories, (mostly) True Things, Take Two Storytelling, Pros(e) Of Pie, Story Collider, Taboo Tales, RISK!, and Big Irv’s Brand New Storytelling Show. He was recently featured on The Best of RISK! # 12 podcast. Rich is a passionate bread baker and, yes, has gone to that quirky (scary?) place of naming his 16-year-old sourdough starter. He tries to bake up a new story with every loaf that emerges from his tiny apartment oven.

Dawn J. Fraser is a storyteller, educator and and nationally acclaimed speaker based out of New York City. She is the Host of the live show and podcast ‘Barbershop Stories’, which features storytellers performing true tales in barbershops and salons. Dawn has created programs for college students, educators and entrepreneurs to develop leadership potential through storytelling, and is a Lead Instructor with The Moth. She was featured amongst some of the nation’s top innovators and change makers as a speaker at TED@NYC and has performed in shows including The Moth Mainstage, Story Collider, RISK and The Unchained Tour. She loves being a twin, a Trinidadian, and tweetable @dawnjfraser.

For Mark Lamb, storytelling came as natural to him as country ham on a biscuit. Hailing originally from Sturgis, Kentucky, Mark comes from a long line of storytellers. He now resides in NYC where his work as a choreographer and performer has been recognized by the New York Times as "quietly celebratory", "gently charming", and "expression of communal joy". Mark is a 7 time storytelling slam competition winner with The Moth, and the 2016 Grand Slam champion for the state of Kentucky. He recently performed a one man show inspired by Take Two at The Tank, and has a story featured on PBS World Channel's new storytelling series "Stories from the Stage."For more info about Mark, go to: www.marklambdance.org or www.magnoliamouth.com 

Our first episode features NYC comedian Gastor Almonte. Gastor Almonte is an award-winning storyteller, standup comedian, show producer and host. He’s an active member of the New York City comedy scene, and can been seen nightly at various clubs on the east coast. He’s appeared on Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening, the New York Time’s featured The Liar Show, and The Story Collider. He's a 2017 Cinderblock Festival invitee. As the host Stoops2Stages, a weekly interview series, Gastor interviews various HipHop artist and comedians. Find him on all social media @ Gastor Almonte