Sharing the shame: Mortified Open Mic invites cringeworthy storytelling
September 26, 2019
Everyone has a story that makes their nose crinkle and head shake with embarrassment. It’s a memory buried beneath years of shame and humiliation, hoping to never be uncovered.
Students revealed those hidden stories Sept. 20 at The Peel’s Mortified Open Mic night at 3rd Place. The Peel Literature and Arts Review started bringing cringe-willing people together three years ago, after Elena Sanchez, senior art and visual culture major, got the inspiration from an online series called “Mortified.”
“Mortified” is a podcast and YouTube series in which people tell their most embarrassing stories to strangers online. Sanchez said people come with their rendition of what “mortified” means to them.
“I like the creativity that can go along with even a structured event and event that is national because each (story) is different,” Sanchez said.
One by one, people slowly volunteered to tell their bathroom horror stories while traveling to foreign countries, failed middle school love confessions and date disasters. The audience laughed and winced together as people told each story.
I think it’s liberating for the person speaking, but also just hilarious,” said Ella Crookshanks, senior English major and host of the open mic.
Crookshanks said it’s fun to watch the audience’s reactions because they range from laughing to cringing.
