It’s not unusual for friends with compatible skills to go into business together. But unlike most entrepreneurs selling products to eager consumers, Rebecca Beegle and Annie La Ganga, proprietors of The Grown Up Lady Story Company, are selling a universal human pastime: Storytelling.
So what do these friends talk about? Everything seems to be fair game. Stories of legal troubles, sexual escapades, mental breakdowns, crazy exes, family drama, terrible jobs, and personal embarrassments are par for the course. Each story is delivered with honesty and humor. The impromptu banter between stories is often equally revealing and hilarious.
Private conversations are generally not for public consumption. Yet Beegle and La Ganga have turned those confidential confessions into a fine art, offering up the most intimate details of their lives and friendship to enthusiastic audiences. Both craftswomen have been telling stories and teaching workshops as the Grown Up Ladies since 2013, and are proud to boast that they “have been writing and storytelling for a combined 75 years.”
“It was totally Annie’s idea,” Beegle told me as La Ganga exclaimed how the show was such a great way to “engage” their friendship. Their rapport is exceptionally witty and charming. They claim to never run out of interesting things to say to each other and they agree that they wouldn’t do the shows if they weren’t fun. “We’re not looking for our big break,” La Ganga admitted. “We just love making the work.”
Audiences love listening to them just as much as they love talking. Their house concerts (with the tongue-in-cheek moniker “Beegle & La Ganga on Broadmoor”) always sell out, and their workshops and speaking engagements are also very popular. Working on a small scale not only keeps overhead costs in check, it allows them to make the intimacy of their shows a major selling point.
Take a look at a promo for their show:
Reflecting on the success of their house concerts, La Ganga mused: “I think audiences get entertainment, certainly, but also but also a feeling of being a part of something; of being included.” Beegle notes, “They are included in our intimate, funny, and sometimes volatile friendship. We are having a friendship, actively, in each show.”
Beegle and La Ganga are eager to expand their storytelling business with more workshops, tours, and a podcast, in addition to their monthly house concerts. As to whether or not storytelling will become the next big thing in Austin, they admit they have no idea.
“Storytelling is one of the world’s oldest professions — I mean, arts — and it is something everybody everywhere does all the time,” La Ganga quipped. Beegle cheekily added: “I don’t think storytelling will become the next big thing. It’s the oldest old thing.”
Catch The Grown Up Lady Story Company in action April 11 at their next house concert. For details and ticket information, visit their website.
