Shows & Events

Bil Lepp is an award-winning storyteller, author, and recording artist. He’s the host of the History Channel’s Man Vs History series, the occasional host of NPR’s internationally syndicated Mountain Stage, and a contributing columnist to the West Virginia Gazette-Mail. Bil’s humorous, family friendly tall-tales and stories have earned the appreciation of listeners of all ages and from all walks of life.

Liars have been around since the snake first hit it off with Eve. By some accounts, contests celebrating liars have been around since the 15th century, but these accounts may be apocryphal. Today, liars contests are held in countries all around the globe. The Second Annual Liar’s Contest at The Ark includes six first-class liars and six celebrity judges. The chaos wrangler and MC will once again be the amazing Amir Baghdadchi, keeping things lively and fun. The judges for the event each have a professional relationship to liars. Karl Fink is a retired District and Circuit court judge, and so has been around liars all his life, and that doesn’t just include the lawyers. Paul Strickland is a national storyteller who fibs for a living. Jennifer Conlin is Michigan State Representative for House District 48. So she’s a politician (mic drop).

This event offers a mix of spoken word artists that are locally-based, and nationally-known. MC Steve Daut will kick off the evening with a story, with Lyn Ford to follow in the first act. After a short break, LaRon Williams and Paul Strickland will complete the evening. This event offers a range of storytelling styles, with tall tales, original stories, American folklore, and a twisted fairy tale. All in all, this is a night that has something for everyone.

Internationally recognized author and spoken word artist Shane Koyczan has emerged as a creator of poetry that dares to belong to the people and speak directly to them in their own voice. In 2013, he collaborated with animators to make the anti-bullying viral video “To This Day” which has had over 13 million views, and he performed a customized version “For the Bullied and the Beautiful” to acclaim at the 2013 International TED Conference in Long Beach, California. Shane shapes his words and delivers in multi mediums from authored, video, spoken word, operatic, and musically performed.

The elevator at The Ark is out of service while technicians make repairs. Attendees for this show will need to be able to walk up and down the stairs to the second floor of The Ark where the show takes place. Liars have been around since the snake first hit it off with Eve. By some accounts, contests celebrating liars have been around since the 15th century, but these accounts may be apocryphal. Today, liars contests are held in countries all around the globe. The Third Annual Liar’s Contest at The Ark includes six first-class liars and three judges. This year’s liars are Jennifer Otto, Rich Swanson, Lou Ann Holman, Darryl Mickins, and Mike Cox. The chaos wrangler and MC will once again be the amazing Amir Baghdadchi.

The elevator at The Ark is out of service while technicians make repairs. Attendees for this show will need to be able to walk up and down the stairs to the second floor of The Ark where the show takes place. This annual event brings both locally based and nationally known story tellers to The Ark stage. This year’s story tellers are Elizabeth Ellis, Mary Hamilton, Jane Fink, and Steve Daut.