Story Collider Returns to L.A. August 22nd for Science and Storytelling Fun

The Story Collider has a new show at their Los Angeles home stage on Thursday, August 22nd. The show, which was named in L.A. Magazine as one of the ‘4 Best Live Podcast Tapings in Los Angeles‘, brings true, personal stories about science to life. The idea is that everyone’s life is touched by science in some way and that we all have a story about its singular effect. The Story Collider showcases storytellers of all backgrounds – researchers, doctors, and engineers of course, but also folks who are not from the science community. Some of the stories are heartbreaking, others are hilarious. They’re all true, all personal and all entertaining.

The upcoming L.A. show is at 7:30pm, August 22nd at The Lyric Hyperion, 2106 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90027. Tickets are $12 and you can get them here. The theme of the evening is ‘Breaking the Code’ and the line up is, as always, spectacular and boasts storytellers from the worlds of science and entertainment.

This Story Collider show features Geek Girl Authority co-founder Claudia Dolph (C&C Variety Hour, Soldadera), Samy Kamkar, creator of the fastest spreading virus of all time, the MySpace worm, Samy. Television writer Sierra Ornelas (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore), Teacher and writer Megan Whyte Soule, and Moth StorySLAM winner Derek Traub, author of Past/Forward: The LA Phil at 100. The show is hosted by Audrey Kearns and Joseph Scrimshaw.

If you’re not from Los Angeles, don’t fret! The Story Collider has shows across the United States and in Canada, New Zealand and the UK. Find out more, here.

See below for the storytellers’ bios and more information about the The Story Collider’s Los Angeles show!

Claudia Dolph is a writer, actor, producer, and director. She is one of the co-host/founders of C & C Variety Hour, one of the co-founders of Geek Girl Authority. She is currently a writer for Super Dork House, and has contributed to various websites including Legion of Leia, Heroic Girls & Project C. She co-hosted the podcasts Poll Cats and Booze & Phasers. Claudia is currently developing a LatinX Superhero narrative podcast series for the Future X Network, along with her partner Crissy Guerrero. A former dancer turned all of the threats (a girls gotta work), she has performed in all of the musicals, written a lot of jokes, talked to a lot of people, done some TV, indie films, finally met Danny Trejo and that’s all that matters. https://www.futurex.fm/soldadera

Samy Kamkar is an independent security researcher and huge nerd. His open source hardware and software highlight the insecurities in everyday technologies, such as weaponizing a children’s toy to unlock cars, designing clandestine wireless keyboard sniffers hidden into mobile phone chargers, and building drones that wirelessly hijack and control swarms of other drones. His work has been cited by the NSA, triggered hearings on Capitol Hill, and has been the basis for security advancements across vehicles, smartphones, and other technologies.

Sierra Teller Ornelas has previously staffed on many awesome TV shows: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, Happy Endings, and Selfie. She most recently wrote and worked as co-EP on ABC’s “Splitting Up Together”. Sierra’s work has been featured on This American Life, the New York Times Opinion Section and the Hollywood Reporter’s Guest Column. A graduate of the University of Arizona, she previously worked as a film programmer for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, helping to create ridiculously entertaining programs about Native film and media. Raised in Tucson, AZ, she is also an award winning sixth generation Navajo tapestry weaver and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

Megan Soule is best summed up as “jack of all trades, master of [TBD].” She began in theater, studied Shakespeare in association with the RSC, and played her favorite role, a dog, in the title role of Sylvia. On screen work includes Cold Case, and Home Matters, as well as voiceover work. Juggling (don’t judge) led her to stand-up, and then her true love, improvisation, everywhere — SAK, Disney Cruise Line, IO, Brave New Workshop, Chicago Improv Festival, etc. Megan wrote/directed corporate shows using her talent for ambiguous buzzword-ing. Fortune 500 companies likely sing her praises or actively block out their memory of her.

For the award-winning “Bedhead” tour with Foote, Cone, Belding, Megan appeared on streets of major cities in her pajamas, alarming citizens. While on tour in Denver, she purchased her wedding gown at a David’s Bridal just outside her hotel. Now, after teaching K-8 at a school in an underserved L.A. community, Megan shares many stories. She will soon finish Stickman & AngerShot, a guide for kids to deal with the ego’s tricky ways. She continues with her pilots and screenplays, motivated by her concern for you — after your loss of that whole Game of Thrones thing.

Derek Traub is a writer and storyteller living in downtown Los Angeles. For the last eight years, he has worked for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where he recently wrote his first book, Past/Forward: The LA Phil at 100 – a story-focused exploration of the orchestra’s first century and the women and men who lived it. Prior to joining the LA Phil, Derek was a senior associate with the United Nations Foundation in Washington, DC. He holds degrees in English, Ancient Greek, and Latin Literatures from UCLA and a postbaccalaureate certificate in the Classics from Columbia University. Derek is a magician member of the Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle); studied narrative and genre-based improv at Impro Theatre in Los Feliz; and recently won a Moth StorySLAM competition.