The storytelling series Oral Fixation is giving North Texans a live platform for personal essays. KERA’s Lyndsay Knecht followed series founder Nicole Stewart and D magazine writer David Hopkins through the editing process before his performance in November. She found it focused much more on personal discovery than dangling participles.

Nicole Stewart has grown her evening of storytelling by local writers, Oral Fixation, into one of North Texas’ hottest tickets.

Nicole Stewart created the now-monthly show “Oral Fixation: An Obsession with True Life Tales.”

The Allure of Dallas’ Fast-Rising Storytelling Series, Oral Fixation.

When Nicole Stewart sparked up Oral Fixation earlier this year, we became instantly addicted.

“Earlier this year we attended the final performance of season one of Oral Fixation. What happened there left us longing for Brooklyn.
Now you can get in on a show that’s a little bit Dallas, a little bit NYC.”

Oral Fixation is a curated night of real-life stories, but it’s no open mic. It is raw, emotional, often funny performances of true tales.

“I also feel alone a lot of the time, and I feel misunderstood,” she says. “I think when we are bold enough to share the truth of our experiences, then we feel less alone.”

Audience members experience the story of a stranger. Their highs and lows, and ultimately come to the conclusion that we all have our unique stories to tell.

“The quality of the writing at this week’s Oral Fixation was sometimes unpolished but consistently interesting. What was most impressive, however, was the sincerity of the writers, who had the courage to put into words and read aloud to a big audience the secret parts of their lives that were funny, sad, sexual and even shocking – but needing to be shared.”

“It’s the perfect night of live theater: Nothing but a bare stage, a bar stool and regular people’s real stories — all taking up little more than an hour. (Numb Butt doesn’t even set in until the 90-minute mark!)”