Travis Abels Turns His Basement Into The Tiniest Party

“More than telling a story, being in a room full of people sharing their hearts feels really magic, like the invisible strands connecting us all are drawn in a little closer,” says Travis Abels, creator of The Tiniest Party (instagram.com/tiniestparty). The monthly storytelling event welcomes performers and audiences into the basement of Abels’ North Portland home to participate in what is essentially an exclusive highbrow performance space masquerading as a lowbrow house party.

“The original intention was to create an intimate, supportive, accessible space where storytellers and audiences could be encouraged to let go, and to invite more spontaneity and magic into the room,” explains Abels, whose inspiration to create the event stemmed from his commitment to Portland’s storytelling scene.

During The Tiniest Party, performers first share a polished piece. Then after a tiny intermission, a musical guest resets the energy and the performers return to either navigate new material, improvise on-the-spot stories or, most often, invite the audience to participate in the storytelling process, volleying prompts around like a beach ball at a stadium concert. And because of the intimate vibe the whole arrangement creates, the audience exists in a deliciously vague position. From moment to moment, the crowd bounces from singularly focused to fully immersed participants, depending on the performer.

“A core element of The Tiniest Party is in the second half, when performers bring something that’s not fully formed,” Abels says. “They kind of discover it with the audience.”

Now in its 10th month, there is a palpable magic to Abels’ Tiniest Parties. Whether gathered in his cozy finished basement (where a haphazardly hung but expertly lit red velvet curtain acts as stage backdrop) or lounging on the lawn of his verdant backyard, there is an unmatched intimacy to Abels’ productions, primarily because of how he juggles his hosting duties. He runs the show not just as a skilled storyteller but as a buddy who’s so freaking eager to welcome you to his home.

“I got into storytelling a few years ago,” Abels says. “I was reeling from a bit of a dark night of the soul and trying to kind of reconnect with the community around me. I was going to every storytelling show I could, and I got really hungry for a space that’s intimate, where we could let go of the competition elements.”

Abels decided the intimate no-holds-barred space he was longing for was actually in his own home—specifically, where he did his laundry.

“I was walking in my basement doing laundry and thought, oh no, is this one of those Field of Dreams moments?” Abels says with a laugh. “And that’s kind of how it started—just seeing if I could actually convince someone to tell a story in my basement. And people came.”

“I just started sobbing, dude,” he says. “I was just sitting there in the back, just watching people like, oh my gosh, it’s happening. And it’s like, I still don’t really know what it wants to be, but I do know it’s more yours than it’s mine, and that’s part of the fun of it.”

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