BALTIMORE STORY FEST 2025

Produced by Phill Branch

May 1 – 4

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 four shows and immerse yourself in the art of storytelling!

Thursday, May 1st

STORY COLLIDER

STORIES ABOUT SCIENCE

The STORY COLLIDER is a live storytelling event featuring stories from people of all walks of life about how science has affected their lives. We believe that everyone’s life is connected to science in some way, and that we all have a story to tell about how science has affected our lives, regardless of our background, race, gender, sexuality, or education.

Friday, May 2nd

HEADLINER ANITA WADE

Featuring Stories by Nick Baskerville and Phill Branch

Anita Wade – comedian, vocalist, actor, and educator reppin’ Baltimore with style and soul! From hosting the hit comedy showcase *Ms. Savage’s Class* to bringing laughs + vocals at *Cackle’n & Croon’n*, she’s been blessing stages across the DMV and beyond. Catch her at the mic, on the stage, or in the classroom — Anita Wade stays booked, blessed, and boldly Baltimore.

Nick Baskerville – Being a husband, a dad, a military veteran, and a firefighter gives Nick plenty to talk about. Most of what he talks about is rich with experience. By experience, he means making a mistake and trying to fix it before too many people notice. His life lends itself to telling personal narrative stories and doing stand-up comedy.

Phill Branch, the curator of Baltimore Story fest is an award-winning storyteller who has told stories around the world for platforms such as The Moth, Story District and Story Collider.

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 That Bring Us Joy

Curated and Hosted by Telling Stories/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 the founder of Telling Stories, a Black storytelling troupe based in Washington D.C. Diana is a gifted storyteller who brings truth, wit and insight to the stage. 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. Since then she has told stories with Story District, Grassroots Comedy DC, Better Said Than Done, Porchfest DC and more. Her one woman show, I’m Just Doing My Job, premiered in 2022 at the Capital Fringe Festival.

Stories by:

JR Denson

Carol Moore

Antwan Perry

Jenn Kamara

Darryl Smith

Antoine Garrett

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 1 @ 7pm – STORY COLLIDER
May 2 @ 8pm – HEADLINER ANITA WADE
May 3 @ 8pm – GOING SOLO
May 4 @ 4pm – HAPPY FEELIN’S

Tickets:
STORY COLLIDER: $25
HEADLINER ANITA WADE: $15
GOING SOLO: $25
HAPPY FEELIN’S: $25