BALTIMORE STORY FEST 2025
Produced by Phill Branch
A mic, spotlight and a good story is all you need to take a room full of people on a journey. Baltimore Story Fest highlights the best and brightest storytellers in the region. Storytellers create a tapestry with their words that bring audiences into their worlds.
EACH DAY OF THE FEST IS ALL NEW!
Curated by different storytelling producers, every show will be unique. See all three shows and immerse yourself in the art of storytelling!
Friday, May 2nd
Mabley Comedy Club
Mabley Comedy Club at Baltimore Story Fest Hosted by Jess Solomon
Join Mabley Comedy Club for a night of wit, truth-telling, and laughter. Inspired by the legendary Jackie “Moms” Mabley—trailblazing comedian and cultural disruptor—MCC is a workshop where Black, feminist, queer, neurodivergent storytellers are refining our craft through feedback, play, and experimentation.
For Baltimore Story Fest, we bring you an evening of Humor as Resistance & Liberation—personal, subversive, and tender performances that don’t just entertain but build community, spark joy, and create space for laughter as both protest and refuge.
Saturday, May 3rd
GOING SOLO: A Solo Show Doubleheader!
Storytelling superstars Ansa Edim and Ronald Young Jr. will grace the stage with two shows making their Baltimore debuts!
Is this Normal?
Get ready for a night of laughter, eye-covering, cringing and poignant storytelling at Is This Normal?, the debut one-woman show from award-winning storyteller Ansa Edim. Often the “only one” – the only Black person, the only fat person, the only fat Black person – Ansa navigates the dating space with humor and resilience. Determined to represent women like her as more than just the fat, funny friend (though she is that too), Ansa’s unique voice and relatable tales make this show a must-see for anyone questioning what ‘normal’ is for them.
Ansa Edim is an award-winning storyteller in Washington, D.C. She has performed her dating stories on stage in DC’s own Story District and Smut Slam competitions, with her most popular story “The Condom Story” winning the grand prize at her first event at Smut Slam. She is also a 2022 MothSLAM Champion Storyteller.
Ronald Young Jr.: Live in Baltimore
Ronald Young Jr. is the Host of Weight For It a 3X Podcast Academy Award winner and Vulture Magazine podcaster to watch 2023. The acclaimed show tells the vulnerable stories of folks who think about their weight constantly in a fatphobic world. He is an avid pop-culture enthusiast and the host of the television and film review podcast Leaving the Theater. He is a regular contributor to NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour as a guest panelist. He has hosted shows such as Pushkin’s Solvable and HBO Docs Club, from Pineapple Street Studios. Ronald has also graced stages all over the DMV as a storyteller.
Sunday, May 4th
Happy Feelin’s: Stories about Joy, Good Vibes and Energy!
Curated and Hosted by Diana Veiga
Join us for an afternoon of tales about joy, in all of its forms, in the face of whatever life throws our way. Curator and host, Diana Veiga, is a gifted storyteller who brings truth, wit and insight to the page and on the stage. She loves to observe the lives of ordinary people and their everyday experiences and uses them to create stories that exhibit humor and beauty in the seemingly mundane. A true Leo, Diana has always loved the limelight, but she officially began her storytelling journey in the summer of 2018 after performing in Story District’s ‘Up Sh*t Creek’ show. She was then selected for their Top Shelf show which features the best stories of the previous year and performed at the Lincoln Theatre in January 2019. Since then she has told stories with Story District, Grassroots Comedy DC, Better Said Than Done, Porchfest DC and more.
Stories by:
About the Founder/Creative Director:
Creator and Producer Phill Branch is an Emmy® Award winning producer, a writer and director. Branch’s documentary Hampton University: One of the Wonders of the World (Maryland Public Television/PBS) won the Emmy for Outstanding Education/Schools Long Form Content (Capital Emmys/2024). His film, Searching for Shaniqua (Maryland Public Television/PBS), a documentary about the impact names have on our lives, won the HBO Best Documentary award at Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival. His upcoming memoir tentatively titled “The Double Dutch Fuss” will be released by HarperCollins/Amistad in 2026. He is a 2025 recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Creativity Grant and a 2019 Rubys Artist Award grantee for storytelling and performance. He was the 2018 GrandSLAM Champion of The Moth in DC. He was also a 2014 Lambda Literary Nonfiction Emerging Voices Fellow.
Currently, Branch is a Resident Artist at the Howard County Center for the Arts.
Showtimes:
May 2 @ 8pm – Mabley Comedy Club
May 3 @ 8pm – GOING SOLO
May 4 @ 4pm – Happy Feelin’s
Tickets:
General Admission: $25
Please click below to purchase tickets.
**Parking Alert**
The parking garage across the street from Theatre Project has been closed. If street parking is not available, we recommend the Fitzgerald Parking Garage, at the corner of Mt. Royal and Oliver Streets. It is about two blocks from the theatre and is adjacent to the Lyric. Click here for map & directions.
Other available garages within a two block walk are the Maryland Avenue garage, located at 1120 Maryland Ave, and the Symphony Center garage, located at 1030 Park Ave.
If using Google Maps to locate the theatre, please type in the address, 45 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD for accurate directions.