You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll become part of something bigger than yourself. Last Friday, The Sofia brought back its monthly event, “In a Nutshell” live storytelling.
The event featured storytellers JP Frary, Brian Copeland, Joe Klocek and Meghna Bhat. They delved into the theme “The People Who Made Us,” which explored parental bonds, chosen family and the people who raised them..
The storytellers interpreted the prompt in different ways to create four distinct stories on stage based on their experiences. Depending on the speaker, some stories carried themes of joy, sorrow, triumph or anger.
JP Frary, the “story pope,” is a storyteller, comedian and craftsman. He told his first story at The Moth in his mid-50s and has become a decorated storyteller, winning The Moth StorySLAM 13 times. Last weekend, Frary challenged himself and the audience with vulnerable topics in a story he’s never told before.
“The story I’m going to tell at this upcoming show is very serious, and what I am hoping is that I connect with people in the audience who have experienced something similar,” Frary said.
“By sharing it, we can find our way through.”
Frary shared a story about the people he met through a difficult and lonely period of his life. He talked about how they helped each other heal.
“Maybe invisible people can see each other,” Frary said.
Frary said he values the emotional connection that live storytelling and vulnerability bring, creating a community between himself and the audience.
“I feel like as a man to talk about emotions honestly and to put them out there – I feel a responsibility to do that,” Frary said. “To let people know you can talk about things and that doesn’t make you less.”
Brian Copeland is an actor, author, playwright, television host and comedian from San Francisco. His one-man show, “Not A Genuine Black Man,” became the longest-running show in San Francisco theater history. Copeland was an inductee for the 2025 Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame.
Copeland shared a difficult story from his past about his mother passing away when he was 15, leading to him and his siblings moving in with their grandmother.
“Suddenly, my grandma was taking on five kids, ranging in age from 1 to 15, by herself,” Copeland said. “How in the world did she pull that off?”
Copeland talked about how confusing and difficult his mother’s passing was for everyone. Once everyone left after the funeral, they didn’t know what to do.
“Now that my mother’s funeral is over and everybody’s gone, it’s just me, my four little sisters and grandma. Once they left the room, my grandma looked at me and said, ‘What are we gonna do, Brian?’ Copeland said. “The uncertainty in her voice still breaks my heart.”
Copeland’s story moved the audience by describing how he sought the support of his family while facing difficult times. He said he learned about himself and was able to understand his grandmother better. Even in heartbreak, they were not alone.
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Joe Klocek is a stand-up comic and storyteller. He has lived in San Francisco for more than 30 years, where he has run two shows and a game show called “GET IT!?” Klocek has also been featured on NPR’s “Snap Judgment,” Comedy Central’s “Live at Gotham” and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
Klocek told a story about mental health, his childhood and detailed how the event has impacted his life.
“This story is really personal to me, and if I’m also being honest, I wasn’t sure how to tell it,” Klocek said. “There was a suicide attempt, there was a mental health facility and none of that is the main focus of the story.”
Klocek explained how his story impacted his life and how uncanny the events are. “I went online, I used Google Earth and I found the window of the place I was in when I was 13,” Klocek said. “It’s weird to see that and weird to reconcile that, ‘Oh yeah, that was me.’ It feels like it happened to somebody else.”
Klocek started with stand-up before moving to storytelling. He said each has different effects on the audience.
“With stand‑up, I’m always thinking, ‘What’s funny?’ But with storytelling, the story comes first,” Klocek said. “You get to be a complete human being. Most of life isn’t funny, and that’s why the laughs you do get are richer and deeper.”
Klocek explained how he can explore different jokes, wording and adjust his performance accordingly to the audience’s expectations with storytelling.
“I’ve been a stand‑up for more than 30 years, but storytelling lets me admit things and say things I’d never say in a stand‑up show. It’s lighter, it’s more honest and people lean in because they want to know what happened,” Klocek said.
Bhat is a first-generation immigrant, storyteller and scholar with a doctorate in criminology and gender and women studies.
“I wanted to focus on the simple joys of my childhood but also the layers and nuances of what it meant to be a big sister growing up in India,” Bhat said. “I hope the audience focused on the small but mighty, simple, beautiful moments that my story carries.”
Bhat talked about her introduction to storytelling and how it impacts people’s perspectives.
“I started storytelling during an immigration work permit hiccup, and instead of spiraling, I chose something creative and fun,” Bhat said. “It became the best calling of my life.”
Bhat said storytelling doesn’t just affect the audience, it also gives storytellers the ability to find their voice on stage.
“Storytelling helped me find my voice and show up more authentically for my community. It became the creative healing path I didn’t know I needed,” Bhat said.
Bhat said hearing first-hand experiences can shed light on real moments.
“Stories play such an important role in shifting narratives; sometimes, we forget to humanize people, and that’s why storytelling matters,” Bhat said.”
Frary said he views storytelling as a mutually beneficial feat and encourages everyone to experience it.
”Everybody loves stories. It’s the oldest art form; we were in caves, and we were telling each other stories,” Frary said.
“In a Nutshell” will host their recurring monthly storytelling event from March through December.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source statehornet.com ’
