Five storytellers sat in the front row, waiting for a chance to tell their spin on the evening’s theme of “finding beauty in life’s unexpected transitions.”

The Moth, an acclaimed storytelling non-profit, which has grown its popular Radio Hour series into a national staple, hosted the live event in celebration of its new publication: “A Point of Beauty: True Stories of Holding On and Letting Go!”

Books Are Magic, the popular, local independent bookstore, was onsite selling hardcopies of “A Point of Beauty,” which host Amber Wallin promoted to the audience throughout the event.

But in addition to the bookselling, which benefited The Moth, there was the unmistakable air of something profound about to happen, a phenomenon known by most who attend live Moth events. The familiar feeling was something between serious theater and stand-up comedy, a form of storytelling that was holy and ancient, older than the historic church itself hosting the event.

Donald Harrison, a Philadelphia-based writer and pianist, was the first to take the mic. He wove an epic tale of his humble beginnings at Tavern on Camac, the city’s oldest gay bar, where he plays piano and sings every Friday night — often in competition with the bar’s boisterous patrons.

One particularly loud man named Mike was “not just loud, but also guilty of what I like to call the ‘I-Could’ve-Danced-All-Night Power Move,’” Harrison explained when someone other than the performer comes in to decide when the last note of the song from “My Fair Lady” will be played.

Harrison filled the room with laughs, discussing the moment in the bar when Mike met his mother, comparing it to a collision of “two celestial objects.” But the collision ultimately ended in mutual respect and friendship.

Having played at Tavern on Camac for nearly 12 years, Harrison described it as “a rich and meaningful experience.” 

“When you go to a piano bar for the first time, it can look like a fun, rowdy thing, but a community really develops around the piano, and regulars become a part of your life,” Harrison told the Eagle.

After telling the same story for the eighth time now, Harrison said he looks forward to continuing his Moth journey but is also working on a new Cabaret project he hopes to perform in Philadelphia.

The next storyteller was Muneesh Jain, a Kalamazoo, Michigan native whose health journey and subsequent quest to attend a baseball game in all 30 MLB ballparks across the country ultimately helped him reconnect with his mother. 

“Performing on the Moth MainStage continues to be the most wonderful, exciting, and fulfilling experiences of my life,” Jain wrote on Instagram after the performance.

“Every storyteller on stage made me laugh, cry, or think about something in a new way,” he said of his fellow storytellers.

Mindy Raf, a Brooklyn-based comedian, actress and writer, told a hilarious yet heartfelt account of the time she came out as polyamorous to her father and introduced him to her partner after he had already met her wife.

“I have modest goals for the evening: Just be unapologetically me. Bonus goals: get love and witnessing and acceptance from my dad, the only parent I have left in the world, no pressure, the night is young,” Raf remembered thinking.

Ultimately, the meeting with her father didn’t go the way she had hoped, but helped her learn to give herself the acceptance she needed.

Becky Chan, a retired FBI agent from Hong Kong, talked about the struggle of her own immigrant family, as well as another immigrant nicknamed “Sister Ping,” whom Chan brought into custody for illegally smuggling other Asians into the U.S.

She discussed her own beginnings, how her father went ahead of her family to America and saved up enough money for them to eventually join him in Putney, Vermont.

“I was almost 15 when I moved to the United States. My repertoire of comprehensible English consisted of four words: ‘Hello, how are you?’” she recalled.

Chan, who now lives in Seattle and writes part-time for The Northwest Asian Weekly, became just the second Chinese-American female agent in FBI history and served the bureau for 22 years before retiring in 2007.

She said she had to build up the courage to start going to Moth StorySLAMs, and at first had no interest in talking about her time as an FBI agent.

The person who helped encourage Chan to talk about her years of work, she says, was Moth senior producer Jenifer Hixson, who called her up and “was very persistent.”

Hixson remembered seeing Chan when she was starting out and how she “told funny stories because she’s quite funny” but, one night, just casually dropped the fact that she had been in the FBI.

“I was like ‘WHAT?’ slow up, slow your roll there, I’ve gotta hear that one,” Hixson recalled.

She helped hone Chan’s story into a more “cinematic” piece, with movement and distinct scenes, Hixson said.

Hixson has been working with The Moth for over 20 years and helped pioneer their StorySLAMs, where people can volunteer to tell their stories in an open-mic setting.

In addition to directing Chan’s performance, Hixson also worked with Harrison and the evening’s headliner, Brian Jeansonne, a father of five who was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2020 and was given only 2 to 5 years to live.

Jeansonne, who took the stage with assistance from his wife, Kristy, gave a moving speech that was pre-recorded on a computer connected to his smart wheelchair. 

“Working with Brian was really cool because he talks with his eyes. I would ask him questions and he would quickly type up answers,” Hixson said.

Without the use of any of his limbs or voice, Jeansonne managed to give the most rousing speech of the evening. 

“I had just been handed a death sentence and felt as if my life was over,” Jeansonne remembered thinking after his diagnosis.

But he’s clearly kept his sense of humor in recent years, explaining that losing the ability to bathe himself actually excited him because it meant “more showers with my wife.”

When offered a decision to receive a tracheostomy and prolong his life, he remembered telling the doctor, “I have five kids at home, and I’m not done imparting myself to them.”

“No matter where your life takes you, remember this: Life is a beautiful clusterf—, and love is here,” Jeansonne concluded to raucous applause and a standing ovation.

For other live storytelling events, you can visit https://themoth.org/events, or listen to The Moth Podcast.