Storytelling review: Ira Glass @ Merriam Theater

The creator and host of the famed NPR radio program This American Life brought his show “Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glass” to a nearly full Merriam Theater on Nov. 16.

The show began in complete darkness. Glass walked out on stage, his glowing tablet the only source of light in the entire theater. He began to speak, his familiar voice telling the story of a former guest, Amy, who survived a tornado after it physically lifted her house into the air. He then touched his tablet to play a clip from that episode, Amy’s words filling the room.

After the story’s end, Glass asked for the house lights to be turned back on. Looking out into the applauding crowd, he smiled and said, “Hi, I’m Ira Glass, and I’ll be your waiter this evening.”

Armed only with the tablet, a water bottle on top of a stool and his notes on a music stand, Glass set out to show the importance of radio in an increasingly digital world. Through audio from other previous show guests, the room was transported to New Zealand, a town besieged by ISIS and an aircraft carrier months after 9/11.

The nearly two-hour talk demonstrated that Glass is as varied as the people he features on This American Life. One minute he spoke eloquently on the intimacy of radio making stories relatable, only to later muse upon how many times someone could use the word “dick” on air without getting in trouble. (The answer: once, with the rest being bleeped out by censors.)

The night came to a close after a brief Q&A, where eager audience members asked about everything from the future of radio to what books Glass is currently reading. Though he had trouble answering the former, the crowd’s standing ovation seemed to suggest that radio and Glass are doing just fine.