Watertown Man Uses His 'Big Mouth' to Reach Finals of Storytelling Competition

Scott Schultz only started telling stories in public a year and a half ago, but the Watertown resident has a talent for it and will be part of the finals of Big Mouth Off on April 17.

For the second year, Schultz will perform live at the Coolidge Theater in Brookline in the competition sponsored by massmouth Inc., a non-profit that promotes the art of storytelling.

Schultz works as a writer and is in sales, and he first got started participation "story slam" for an unusual reason.

“I went to a story slam to avoid seeing my landlord,” Schultz told organizers of the Big Mouth Off.

Stories told at the competitions are often funny, but they run the gamut, said co-founder and Executive Director of massmouth Norah Dooley, 

“Many of the stories people bring to the slams prove the algorithm, 'Time plus tragedy equals comedy,'" Dooley said. “The stories are dramatic, hilarious, serious, and even cathartic but unlike their ‘cousins’ - stand-up comedy - or a poetry slam, a story slam is a competition to see who can bring the best story related to the published theme.” 

Schultz got to the finals after entering one of the more than 30 story slams at bars, pubs and other locales in Somerville, Cambridge, Brookline, Jamaica Plain, Worcester and Boston. 

The finals, or “Big Mouth Off are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., on Wednesday, April 17 at Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Tickets cost $20 at massmouth.eventbrite.com and $25 at the door.