The Monkey Story

I was kidnaped by a chimp one time. It happened a little more than ten years ago and the story has as you can well imagine coalesced into something of a dinner party standard. In its natural environment it meanders a good bit and profits mightily from interruption and digression, especially from others. When at a recent book club meeting a friend noted that a footnote in the book we read described chimpanzees smoking cigarettes and asked whether anybody had ever heard of such a thing, I made the obvious response. The host of that month's book club mentioned the story to Jeff Polish, organizer of "The Monti," a live storytelling event in Durham, NC, and Jeff invited me in. The rules of The Monti require a story to be 12 minutes long, so what you hear in this podcast is sort of the express version. You can hear the local if you buy me a beer, but you will be expected to contribute. Whatever you do, you should keep checking in to The Monti (www.themonti.org) for more great storytelling from the Triangle in North Carolina.