MOTH LOVE SLAM. Ouch! "Love Hurts" is the theme of the Valentine's Night storytelling slam presented by The Moth at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.

From the promotional email (complete with typos):

Love heals all things ... but it also doles out a whole lotta whup-ass.

This Valentine's Day, as the city celebrates the many splendored thing, join us as we explore the side of love that makes you go OUCH.

Love can sting, throb, itch, pound, smart or slaughter. It can be a torment or a nuisance, a menace or a mild irritation. And that's when it's good!

Prepare a five-minute story about injuries sustained during the pursuit, capture or release of love. Stories about romantic, familial or platonic love. Think love of country, of nature, music, sports, humanity, and of course, the greatest love of all, self-love.

"I loved my job/president/donut shop/wife until...."

Stories about the things, people and places that you hold dear and how they make you ache.

Tell us about love hurting, but not just the kind where your heart gets drop-kicked and hog-tied. We also want to hear about the kind of love that hurts because you like it so much, you can't bear the idea of it ending. And the threat of being re-hog-tied and re-drop-kicked scares you so much, you won't go there.

Oh, the agony of deferred love! The misery of good love gone bad! The anguish of one-way love!

Its no accident that romantic infatuation is called a crush. Like a boulder, we say. Like a big-ass boulder.

SPECIAL TREAT:
For any and all inclined, please bring a “valentine” to be shared and given to each slam contestant. Let it contain an expression of love/affection/attraction appropriate for a stranger.

“The many dogs that want to hump your leg are on to something!”


A note from our host: "Come one come all... Happy loving couples, happy-to-be-singles, opportunistic cynics looking for a sure-fire place to score (hello? east village story slam on Valentines NIGHT? Pretty much a slam dunk for lonely single well-read hotties with a sense of daring and humor.) I figure the gig's a win-win no matter what shape somebody's love life is in -- if you're single, you'll probably be damn glad to be single after hearing a few war stories of the heart. If you're with somebody, you'll realize you're with somebody pretty damn cool who would rather be going to The MothSlam than angling for a table in a downtown restaurant packed to the gills with those 'special-ocassion' amateurs. And if you're looking to meet somebody...well like I was saying, this is the place to do that too. Woah...I gotta split. Two scary men are arguing over a pack of Newports right next to me and I'm standing here typing on my gay little email thing waiting to get my ass kicked by both of them." - Dan Kennedy

Well, I guess that about sums it up. Storyteller signup starts at 7 pm; the show kicks off 30 minutes later. It's at East 3rd Street (between Avenues B and C).

Here is The Moth's calendar of upcoming events.


Photo: David Marc Fischer