Story Pirates is an arts education organization based in

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and

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. Originally known as the Striking Viking Story Pirates, the group collects written works from students and youth and adapts these stories for the stage. Kid-written work is then performed by professional actors on stage, on video, in schools, and on their popular podcast.

National attention

The Story Pirates received national attention in February 2008 when "

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" host

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

called The Story Pirates "crazy entertaining" on

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles s ...

; Stewart had seen the group perform at a party he attended with his son. The group is "described as a mix between

School House Rock ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated Musical film, musical educational short films (and later, videos) that aired during the Saturday-morning cartoon, Saturday morning children's programming block on the ...

and

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

" and has received critical acclaim. The New York Times called their performances a "theatrical treasure," and many others dub it one of the best kids shows around.

Podcast

Four seasons of the Story Pirates Podcast are available from

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC is a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who serve as the company's CE ...

. The podcast has featured celebrity guests including Julie Andrews, Billy Eichner, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bowen Yang The podcast has won a Webby Award, an iHeart Radio Award and a Parents' Choice Award.

History

Originally called the Striking Viking Story Pirates, it was founded in 2003 by ten

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

graduates including actress and comedian

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...

(

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's come ...

). The concept for the Story Pirates grew out of a Northwestern University student organization called " Griffin's Tale" Since then, the organization has grown to include a cast and staff of more than 200 actors, musicians, teachers, puppeteers, songwriters, and technicians. The co-founders of Story Pirates are Lee Overtree and Benjamin Salka Story Pirates shows are made up entirely of original stories written by children, often set to music. Young authors are frequently in the audience to see their work performed. The show runs approximately one hour, contains 10–12 stories, and features outlandish costumes, puppets, and short films made by the group. The Story Pirates also perform private shows, the most popular being birthday parties. The Story Pirates have released four albums and three books. The album "Cats Sit on You" was selected by the American Library Association as a Notable Recording for Children in 2021, and "The Strawberry Band" was chosen for the list in 2022. In 2021, Story Pirates Studios produced the "Bugs and Daffy's Thanksgiving Adventure" for Warner Bros Animation. It was released in November 2021.

Discography

Children's albums *''Nothing Is Impossible'' *''Backstroke Raptor'' *''Cats Sit on You'' *''The Strawberry Band''

References

External links