Moses Storm
Highly visual standup that turns extreme childhood poverty into frantic theater.
1 special · 2022
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Moses Storm treats standup as a visual medium. He does not plant himself at the mic stand. He throws his entire body into physical reenactments of his own memories, mapping the panic of a trapped child onto his adult frame. He builds custom sets, most notably performing on a stage constructed entirely out of trash painted stark white, and uses audio cues to orchestrate the room. He will drop to the floor to demonstrate exactly how a twelve-year-old hides from a security guard.
Specials
On stage
He occupies a specific space in the alternative comedy landscape, championed by Conan O’Brien and operating in the gap between performance art and pure joke writing. He actively fights the earnest silence of the modern storytelling special. While his material covers intense ground, he uses rapid misdirection and absurdism to prevent the room from settling into a sympathetic hum. If the crowd tries to feel sorry for him, he spikes the tension with a sudden, loud punchline.
His bits often revolve around family grifts, like his mother’s relentless attempts to stage accidents to win money on video clip shows. He uses his own face as a misdirection tool, pointing out that he looks like an entitled rich kid from a prep school before dropping a detail about stealing groceries.
Storm was raised in a converted Greyhound bus in extreme poverty, part of an itinerant religious sect. He spent his childhood dumpster diving for food and sneaking into country club pools, and he reconstructs the exact mechanics of those grifts on stage.
Turning points
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The Modern Millennial Immersive Performance Art
Storm funded an immersive Los Angeles theater piece on Kickstarter where audiences observed his daily life inside a loft space alongside his personal art exhibits.
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Release of HBO Max Special Trash White
Storm debuted his hourlong special Trash White on HBO Max, executive produced by Conan O'Brien and Team Coco, which he co-directed and designed the visual set for.
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Upbringing in Greyhound Bus Doomsday Cult
Raised alongside four siblings in a converted Greyhound bus, Storm grew up traveling across the country preaching as part of 'The Way,' a religious sect led by his uncle Michael Woroniecki.
At a glance
- Born
- , Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Style
- observational, satire, storytelling
- Breakout
- Trash White
- Topics
- Elsewhere
- Website, Wikipedia
Also on screen
- Unfriended
- The 4 to 9ers: The Day Crew
- Arrested Development
- This Is Us
- Father of the Year
A clip to start with
Moses Storm On Growing Up Poor | CONAN on TBS