About Mortified
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:
What is Mortified?
A: See out About page for
full details.
Q:
When's the next show?
A: Visit our events calendar
page. Or better, join our mailing
list
and stay plugged in. In some cities, we're monthly... in other cities, we're
seasonal.
Q:
Where are you guys located?
A: While we are based in LA, we operate chapters in
several cities. Our larger flagship production remains in LA (the official
town of public humiliation) and features additions that include multimedia
presentations and live music from The Mortified After School Orchestra.
Q:
Does Mortified tour to other cities?
A: Depends. We're itching to take a field trip. Just looking for the right
partner.
Q:
Does Mortified license itself to start "satellite shows" in other
cities?
A: Yes, but as we are very tiny organization with even tinier resources,
we're very careful not to overextend ourselves. Especially since we're fueled
almost entirely by word of mouth. That's why we launched our web video series,
The Mortified Shoebox Show
as a way to reach audiences everywhere.
Q:
How can I participate in your stage shows?
A: Read our Casting FAQ for
more about this.
Q:
Why
do people want to share their childhood writings and art with total strangers?
A: It’s a healthy cocktail of curiosity, catharsis, deprecation, narcissism,
masochism, cajones and a desire to make strangers smile. The trick for us
is to keep that drink balanced. Or hope people are too drunk to notice.
Q:
How do you label the format of your live show? Stand up? Lit salon? Theater?
Performance art?
A: We actually view Mortified as a storytelling format-- albeit
one that uses a very unusual set of tools (ex: Hello Kitty journals, beat
up notebooks, etc.) to convey its tales. The difference between our project
and say, a traditional "lit salon", is that we're using source
material that has no awareness of its entertainment value and was not initially
created for our profect. Think
of it as accidental art. We believe that there are truly amazing tales --
hilarious, heroic and harrowing -- buried in the pages of ordinary people's
lives. We simply help them bring those narratives out, presenting material
as something we call "Diagraphies" (part diary, part biography)
where actual childhood notebooks and art serve as the storytelling medium.
That
said, the most important thing to know about Mortified is that
the material is always 100% real. No language is ever added,
invented or rewritten within the original source material. That's the fun.
In some ways, we look at it as "urban archeology", digging up
relics to create portraits of peoples' pasts. Or, as one admiring
blogger once described what we do, "This is beautiful... in a dead
bird kind of way." Still curious? Read our Casting
FAQ.
Q:
How can I participate?
A: There are LOTS of great ways for people to join the fun! Mortified is
a totally grassroots project and is fueled by the amazing word-of-mouth
of people like you.
- We are always casting for new faces and new material to be in our live shows our books.
- Invite friends to visit our website.
- Join our mailing list.
- Submit pics and poems to our Woe & Tell section. It's anonymous and open 24/7.
- Buy fun stuff from our store. Give the gift of angst.
- Buy fun stuff from our book.
- Tell your friends in the press to cover us. From magazines to TV to blogs!
- Encourage friends at various companies to sponsor us. We've got lots of cool projects in the works.
Q:
Why don't you post more full-length clips on the site?
A: When we post material online, it often means we have to retire it for
a while from the stage or else people get can sick of it. And obviously,
we want to encourage people to come see it live without it feeling stale.
In the meantime, we've posted highlight reels
to give you a teaser sampling. And more clips are in the works. Enjoy.
Q:
Are you guys aware of the sudden emergence of other journal-themed stage
projects?
A: As Mortified has grown over the years, yes, we've started to
noticed a few like-minded concepts sprout up across the country in recent
years. We think that's great that other people have discovered the same
source of fun as we've enjoyed it for a long time. That said, while we're
hardly the first to mine "some" form of entertainment regarding
old journals or art over the decades, we are proud of our specific approach.
We truly love what we do and hope to be able to keep doing it.
Q:
Can I get a copy of any segments I heard on NPR's This American Life?
A: Yes. Visit thislife.org
and you can actually BUY the episode as a CD or an MP3. Mortified has been
featured on episodes titled "My Experimental Phase" and "Parental
Guidance." The former also appears on their 2006 Greatest Hits album.
Q:
What's next for Mortified?
A: A lot we hope. We have big dreams... and small means. We'd like to find
an experienced sponsor for a variety of
planned projects.
Q:
Wait. I still have more questions!
A: Great. Contact us. We're
nice. We'll do our best to respond very soon.
Q:
Do you like me? Or do you like-like me?
A: We totally like-like you. You are a mega fox to the extreme.
