Organizers
Hello. We are the people that deliver the delicious doses of shame to your door every other month.
Ariel, Producer of Shame
Ariel Meadow Stallings started keeping a diary in 1987, when she decided that someday someone might want to open an Ariel Museum. No one ever did. To compensate, Ariel started blogging in 2000, founded the Salon in 2005, and wrote a book in 2007. None of it really helps and she still cries herself to sleep at night listening to Enya tapes and wishing she was Blossom.
Ben, Henchman of Shame
Ben Haley is a photographer, a vegan, and a lover. He can often be found working the door at the Salon, praising unicorns and talking up the ladies. Ben likes unicorns a whole lot and is not nearly as ashamed of his poetry as one might expect.
Jeannie, MC of Shame
Jeannie Yandel works in radio and runs local DIY storytelling org A Guide To Visitors. About ten years after this picture was taken, Jeannie burned all of her diaries during a drunken “rebirth ritual.” The only thing left from that night is a barely legible note promising a new and better life that somehow involved pottery.
Phyllis, Doorkeeper of Shame
Phyllis Fletcher is a reporter. She works the door at the Salon. In the late ’80s she filled three 3-ring binders with a page for each day.
The History of the Salon of Shame
The Salon was founded in 2005 by Seattle writer Ariel Meadow Stallings. Ariel had been inspired by her friend Sarah Brown’s Cringe event in Brooklyn, and decided that Seattle needed something similar.
A mutual friend got her in touch with Jeannie and Phyllis, two of the women behind A Guide To Visitors, Seattle’s longstanding storytelling series. We decided it was a good idea to team up and make the Salon of Shame a reality.
In August of 2005, the proto Salon was held in Ariel’s basement. Ten of us gathered to read diaries to each other and see just how awful it was … and instead of being awful, it was hilarious and so the Salon of Shame was officially booked at Belltown’s Jewelbox Theater.
The first show in November 2005 was a raging success! The second show in January 2006 was even better! Unfortunately, things went downhill from there, with the March 2006 show bringing in exactly 8 audience members and only two readers.
Admission was sheepishly returned, tears were shed into pillows, and we went back to the drawing board. It was right around this time that the official Henchman of Shame, Ben Haley joined us and started making things run a bit more smoothly behind the scenes and at the door.
Evidently, we’re still overcompensating for that 8 person show, because every Salon of Shame since has sold out. Things got so crazy in late 2006 that we started doing pre-sale tickets sold online — which would sell out in 2 hours. It was very exciting, but we started getting a reputation as an elite event that was impossible to get into. Which is lame. LAME! Shame wants to be shared!
We added ALS interpretation for select shows, which turned out to be a huge hit with both deaf AND hearing audiences. You really haven’t lived until you’ve seen adolescent blow job tips translated into sign language.
In mid-2007 we finally had to say farewell to our beloved Jewelbox (and their delicious yam fries) and move the show to the Capitol Hill Arts Center’s Lower Level theater, doubling our capacity from 60 to 120. This still wasn’t good enough for some people, with one local journalist petitioning us to move into an even larger space.
They finally got their wish in January 2008 when CHAC double booked the Lower Level theater, and pushed us into the 200-person upstairs space. Which we somehow managed to sell out. Who knew there was such a thirst for shame?
In July of 2008, we made the decision to move yet again, this time to the International District to shack up at Theatre Off Jackson.
Over the years, our roster of amazing readers have included local favorites like Stranger writer Cienna Madrid, comedian Nancy Guppy, Swivel editor Brangien Davis, at least a half dozen local authors, and tons of people who’s names you might not recognize but who’s adolescent words will be burned into your mind forever.
What’s next for the Salon? Several Salon of Shame readers have writings in Sarah Brown’s forthcoming Cringe anthology. We keep talking about adding an audio/visual component to the show, but haven’t made it happen yet. We do know this much: we’ll like to meet you behind the bleachers and share embarrassing secrets. See you there.
Salon of Shame circa 2005:
Salon of Shame circa 2008 (WHOA!):
