A MOTHER OF A SHOW!
In honor of Mother’s Day, we bring you laugh-out-loud mothers (and daughters). 

Fugitive Comedy hosts some of the best and brightest comics working in the Boston area and nationally.The comedians who have joined us have appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Conan, David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Last Comic Standing, America’s Got Talent, Comedy Central, NPR’s Commonwealth Journal, Lifetime’s Girls Night Out — and have opened for countless well-known comedians in clubs around the nation.

Kathe Farris (Headliner)
Kathe is a Boston-based stay-at-home mom, stand-up comedian, and snack cake enthusiast. She hit the comedy scene a little late in life with a different point of view and killer material. After becoming a Comic-in-Residence at The Comedy Studio and a finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival, she recently released her national debut with a Dry Bar Comedy Special as well as her album, “Have You Seen This Woman?” available anywhere you get your music, comedy and podcasts. (And, Jesse’s mom.)

Jesse Farris
Shut-in by day, lukewarm comedian by night, Jesse Farris has been performing stand-up comedy around Boston since the age of 17. Her sharp, “off-kilter” wit has been known to delight audiences and concern doctors everywhere. (She never quite healed from that second concussion.) She was a semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival and can be seen on stages such as The Off Cabot, The Rex Theatre, and Don’t Tell. (And, Kathe’s daughter.)

Kristy Kielbasinski
Kristy is a Boston-based stand-up comedian who delivers dark, twisted humor with a unique perspective on motherhood and marriage. Performing in her stilettos at clubs, bars, and basements across New England, Kristy has made a name for herself as a semi-finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival, Mohegan Sun’s Last Comix Standing, and the Funniest Person in Massachusetts competition. She’s also been featured on WCVB’s Chronicle and opened for comedy icons Matt Rife, Bobcat Goldthwait, Kumail Nanjiani, Natasha Leggero, and Michael Kosta.

Erin Feeley
Erin is a mom of two and has been performing stand-up for 10 years, including at Laugh Boston, ImprovBoston, Comix @ Mohegan Sun, and the Portland Maine Comedy Festival. She studied satire writing with Second City and sketch/screenwriting with Kim “Howard” Johnson of Monty Python fame. In 2023 she started the Seacoast Comedy Festival, and she was a 2024 finalist in New England’s Funniest Comedian competition. At eight,  she wrote her first movie which (thankfully) never came to fruition — but she did design a pretty sweet VHS jacket for it in MS Paint ‘98. 

Doors: 7pm • Performance: 8pm • Full bar • Tickets

Fugitive Stories and Old Frog Pond Farm in Harvard are partnering again for four afternoons on the farm. May’s theme is “Wonder.”

Hearing a true story in a live performance is fun, moving, and transformative. Every event brings surprises. As always, Fugitive’s featured tellers include Moth and Massmouth Story Slam Winners and Champions, theater professionals, comedians, authors, podcast producers, teachers, and university professors. Several folks from the local community will also be telling their tales, some for the first time.

• $15/online • $20/door • Purchase tickets here

• Online sales end at noon on the event date. Plenty of tickets at the door.

• Seating starts at 2:30pm. Storytelling starts at 3pm. We recommend purchasing tickets in advance. This is an outdoor event (weather permitting).

If the weather is extreme, we will be presenting at Five Sparks in Harvard. If light rain is forecast, we’ll all stay nice and dry under a number of canopies. Please visit this calendar listing by noon on the day of the show for updates.

Please put Old Frog Pond Farm, Harvard, in your GPS. (The street address sometimes take you to the other side of the woods.)

ABOUT OUR CO-HOST, OLD FROG POND FARM
Old Frog Pond Farm is a 25-acre farm in Harvard and one of the few Certified Organic Orchards in Massachusetts. In the fall they open for pick your own apples and raspberries. Every year, the farm hosts an Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit and gathers for Plein Air Poetry.

Visitors to the farm can purchase a ticket to take a self-guided tour around the pond and through the woods discovering the sculpture, native plants, and abundant wildlife that’s makes their home here. The self-serve farm stand is filled with fresh certified organic produce. fruit@oldfrogpondfarm.com

FEATURED FUGITIVE TELLERS
In addition to several local, hand-picked tellers, Fugitive brings four regional, award-winning storytellers.

Kurt Mullen
Kurt is an award-winning storyteller, writer, teacher, editor, and producer. He has told stories (twice) on GBH’s, “Stories from the Stage.” And in his work for the Stellar Story Company, he coaches and helps cast the show. As a performer, he’s told stories on “The Volume Knob” podcast in Montreal, the “GRIT: True Stories” podcast in North Carolina, and on the “RISK!” true stories podcast in Brooklyn. In magazines, literary journals, and anthologies, Kurt has written about soldiers coming home from war, about his own personal loss and grief and, generally, about the quirky folks who like to go it alone in this world. To learn more about Kurt’s storytelling, writing, and teaching, please visit him at www.kurtmullen.com.

Don Picard
Don is a Moth storyteller who shares his own moving life moments with humor and humility. He has worked in software development for more than 30 years and is currently employed at Cogito Corporation, which can “augment your workforce with our AI coaching system.” Don was a double major in Theatre Arts and Computer Science at Cornell, and chose to work as an engineer in order to be able to live in Cambridge and feed his family. Don enjoys telling live stories about his kids, husband, and extended family as it is fun, therapeutic, and allows him to exercise the other half of his college degree so he doesn’t become bitter.

Brendyn Schneider
Brendyn has been a professional storyspinner for 17 years. He has performed at fine venues such as the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Club Passim, WBUR CitySpace Boston, and Old Frog Pond with action-packed organizations like The Moth, Fugitive Productions, Emerson College, and the ’GBH TV Show, “Stories from the Stage.” By day, he’s a job search instructor/career advisor, helping folks find their professional match. He frequently uses the principles of storytelling while advising job seekers. For more, venture to brendyn.schneider@gmail.com

Sara Sweet Rabidoux-Kelsey
Sara is a writer and storyteller from Boston. She is a Moth MainStage performer and has been a featured teller with Fugitive Stories, Now Hear This, and Listen Up Storytelling. Currently working on her first book, Sara is the Property Research Manager for The Trustees of Reservations. 

Theresa Wiggins
Theresa enjoys telling a story that has lived inside of her, to uncover a nugget or life lesson she may not have previously recognized.  She loves the sense of shared humanity she gets from a night of telling and listening to stories.  A moth story slam winner, Theresa is also co-founder of Redwood Speaking, which offers public speaking coaching, women’s public speaking circles, and trainings for businesses and community organizations.  The guiding belief of Redwood Speaking is that public speaking is not a one-size-fits-all type of endeavor.  Rather, each person is guided towards finding and using their own unique voice in their own unique style.

Fugitive Stories and Farrington Nature Linc in Lincoln are partnering again for an evening of stories on the farm by a campfire. Our theme is “Nature Links.”

Hearing a true story in a live performance is fun, moving, and transformative. Every event brings surprises. As always, Fugitive’s featured tellers include Moth and Massmouth Story Slam Winners, GBH’s “Stories from the Stage” contributors, theater professionals, comedians, authors, podcast producers, teachers, and university professors. Several folks from the local community will also be telling their tales, some for the first time.

• Tickets

• Please plan to arrive by 7pm to park and find a seat. Storytelling starts at 7:30pm. This is an outdoor event (weather permitting). We’ll move indoors, if necessary.

In addition to hosting several storytellers from the Farrington community, Fugitive will be bringing a number of award-winning tellers, including:

Ari Daniel
Ari is an independent science reporter who contributes regularly to National Public Radio among other outlets. His radio pieces have aired on NPR, The World, Radiolab, Here & Now, and Living on Earth. Ari worked at NPR's science desk and was the Senior Digital Producer at NOVA. He is a co-recipient of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Gold Award for his radio stories on glaciers and climate change in Greenland and Iceland. In the fifth grade, Ari won the “Most Contagious Smile” award.

Rachel Gans-Boriskin
Rachel is a partner at NOVL, a strategic management consulting firm specializing in workforce development. A former Communications Professor, she has performed at many storytelling venues in the Boston area including GBH’s “Stories from the Stage.” She lives in Central Mass with her husband, two children, seven chickens, two cats, and two neurotic Pomeranians. 

Mark Modrall
Mark is a computer programmer from Littleton. He started telling stories in public in 2012 when he ran out of relatives who hadn’t heard that one before. Hopefully he’s gotten better at it since then. He’s won several story slams at the Moth, Massmouth, and a few other places. He’s been a featured speaker twice at WGBH’s “Stories From the Stage” and counts himself blessed that he’s occasionally invited to speak with other much better tellers at great venues like Fugitive Productions.

Susanne Schmidt
Susanne is a comedic storyteller and a producer for The Moth. Her work has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, National Public Radio and HBO’s Inspiration Room.

Swing dance is alive and well at Sanctuary in Maynard. This one is for both experienced dancers and swing dance wannabes. Sanctuary, a recently converted church, features a full stage, an enormous dance floor, and one of the best bars west of Boston.

From 6–7pm, we feature instruction with some of the best instructors in the area. Instruction will be led by Sergiy Georgiyev, the founder and director of Magenta Dance Place in Acton. who has taught ballroom across Europe and the US. Sergiy’s emphasis on maximizing confidence and minimizing stress has helped students achieve extraordinary success. He is a professor at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and collaborates with the MIT Ballroom Club and Harvard Dance Sports team. At Magenta Dance Place, Sergiy and his staff believe in the transformative power of dance and strive to create a vibrant community where everyone can express themselves through movement.

From 7–9pm, Eddie Scheer’s Swinging All Stars take to the stage. Chameleon Eddie Scheer is a Sanctuary favorite, gracing us with his vocal and drumming talents with a variety of groups and styles. He has been a fixture on the New England swing scene for more than 25 years. Whether with his jump blues band The Love Dogs, the 20-piece Compaq Big Band, or various smaller ensembles, his big voice and solid drumming have kept hearts beating and feet moving wherever he plays. The Swinging All Stars is a new unit featuring some of the best musicians in Boston — leaning toward the lighter, jazzy side of swing, but still with a deep connection to and reverence for the blues. 

Doors: 5:30pm • Instruction: 6–7pm • Dancing: 7-9pm • Tickets