Story Pirates let children tell celebrities what to do during live LA improv show

Kids don’t generally get to tell the grown-ups what to do, but with Story Pirates, it’s not only encouraged – it’s absolutely imperative.

The bi-coastal multi-media company Story Pirates has produced a children’s podcast, TV show, several children’s books, music albums and a live tour that has at times featured big-name actors, comedians, writers and television personalities like Jon Stewart, Rachel Bloom, Conan O’Brien and Kristen Schaal.

All of this content comes directly from story submissions from elementary school-aged children, and the live performances include suggestions from kids in the audience.

After two years and several postponements due to COVID-19, Story Pirates & Friends is back to doing in-person events and will come to The Wiltern in Los Angeles on March 13 with its family-friendly Cats Sit on You Tour, which features actors Bobby Moynihan, Paul Scheer, Christina Anthony, Lauren Ash, Vella Lovell and Mike Cabellon as well as the Story Pirates’ podcast hosts Lee Overtree and Peter McNerney.

“The amazing part about these shows is watching [the celebrity guests] have to do what the kids tell them to do,” Story Pirates co-founder and Los Angles native Benjamin Salka said during a recent phone interview. “We put the kids up on a pedestal and what they have to say is the most important thing to us. So to watch kids forcing celebrities to bring their ideas to life … yeah, that’s the fun of it.”

Since its inception in 2004, Story Pirates has received well over 200,000 story submissions from children through its official website, Salka said. And it’s not a popularity contest, all of the stories – long and short – get read and each child receives positive direct feedback from various members of the company whether or not their stories go on to be featured on the podcast, in books, albums or during events.

The title of the current live show, “Cats Sit On You,” stems from a story submitted by Alex, a student at Wesley School in North Hollywood who wrote her story at the age of six. Her story read: “Cats sit on you. And sometimes they take over the school.”

It was short but sweet and it had a big impact on the Story Pirates. So much so that it was not only featured on the podcast as a song, but it eventually landed as the title track for the Story Pirates’ 2020 album. Alex’s mom, Kathleen Lawton-Trask, said Alex writes stories, graphic novels and even screenplays.

“Everyone in the family loves stories and writing and books,” she said in an email. “She also still very much loves cats. She has two at home. Our cat Sandy is especially patient at being carried all over the place by her. We’re so grateful to Story Pirates.”

Though she was supposed to get the recognition at the live show back in early 2020, Alex, who is now nine years old, will be given the rock star treatment at the rescheduled date at The Wiltern.

“We will be treating her as we’d treat any celebrity on a red carpet at the Oscars,” Salka said. “She’ll be in the audience, surrounded by hundreds of people watching her story brought to life.”

The mission of Story Pirates, Salka said, is to celebrate the words and ideas that come from the children.

“We’re looking to raise the status of kids’ voices in our culture,” he explained. “We’re looking to listen to kids in a deeper way. I sort of secretly think that the kids are better writers than adults. They’re so genuine, funny and unfiltered in the way they see the world. I think the amount of creativity these kids have, they’re creative geniuses really and you see it every time you read something they wrote.”

Proceeds from the live tour will benefit the non-profit Story Pirates Changemakers, which brings arts and literary programs to low-income schools and communities. It affords children the opportunity to openly express their creativity and ideas and to watch them be translated into various forms of media.

“The programs are transformative,” said Salka, who shared his own story about an elementary school teacher that gave him the chance to write a school play after the untimely death of Salka’s father.