Drama and Comedy Stories

**✅ Bachata Mondays with Todd Smith!** **👉 Beginner Bachata Class** **$15 In Advance / $20 At the Door** 7:00 pm – 7:15 pm … Registration 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm … Beginner Class **👉 Intermediate Bachata Class** **= $15 In Advance / $20 At the Door** 8:15 pm – 8:30 pm Registration 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm Intermediate Class **👉 If You Take Both Bachata Classes** **= $25 In Advance / $35 At the Door** **👉 Buy Advance Tickets Now at:** https://columbussalsadancing.com/bachata-mondays-dance-class-tickets/

Start your week the right way with Manic Mondays. Giving you an enjoyable Bachata lesson with a push of cool moves. The second hour has Beginner/Intermediate Salsa on 1. You must understand basic Salsa skills to participate. 730pm-830pm Bachata Cool Moves 830pm-930pm Salsa On 1 (Beginner/Intermediate) $15 for One Class $20 for Both Free Parking & Plenty of Dance Space.

Get ready for our meaningful discussions over drinks where you can connect authentically with others in your area. Expect a laid-back vibe with plenty of room to be yourself. Catering provided. Think good music, good food, and even better company. Come solo or bring a friend, either way you'll leave with new ones.

**✅ Bachata Mondays with Todd Smith!** **👉 Beginner Bachata Class** **$15 In Advance / $20 At the Door** . 7:00 pm – 7:15 pm … Registration 7:15 pm – 8:15 pm … Beginner Class . **👉 Intermediate Bachata Class** **= $15 In Advance / $20 At the Door** . 8:15 pm – 8:30 pm Registration 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm Intermediate Class . **👉 If You Take Both Bachata Classes** **= $25 In Advance / $35 At the Door** . **👉 Buy Advance Tickets Now at:** . https://columbussalsadancing.com/bachata-mondays-dance-class-tickets/

This is an in-person meeting. Would you like to know the Real You, not just a shadow of yourself? Does your life energy feel somehow trapped within? Does your self-confidence get easily shaken? Do you get in the way of your own goals? We will discuss the real source of all this, what holds you back in life, and how to handle it so you can achieve more successful and happier living. Perhaps you get weighed down with negative emotions you can't seem to shrug off. Or find yourself doing strange and irrational things - not really being yourself. We will cover why that is and tools that work to help you unearth your self, your self-confidence and motivation. This meeting will help you learn about how to effectively overcome: -Out-of-control unwanted emotions -Low self-esteem -Anxiety -Negativity -Stress -Irrational fears -Traumatic or painfully emotional incidents -Breakups -Betrayals -Feeling like you're not really yourself -Self-doubt... We will discuss how to unleash the inner you and tap into your true potential. So come to this online meetup! This meeting is sponsored by the Hubbard Dianetics Foundation of Central Ohio

**A Transformative Half-Day Event** Welcome to Confidence Lab, the ultimate experience designed to help you step into your most confident self. This half-day event is packed with actionable strategies, inspiring sessions, and opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals who are ready to invest in their personal and professional growth. Whether you’re looking to advance in your career, deepen your self-belief, or simply embrace new challenges, Confidence Lab is your starting point. **What You’ll Experience** **Your Confidence Lab ticket includes:** * **Engaging Speaker Sessions**: Learn from experts about harnessing confidence in your career, relationships, and everyday life. * **Interactive Experiences:** Participate in dynamic activities designed to help you step into your most confident self. * **In-Depth Audience Q&A:** Get direct insights from speakers as they answer your most pressing questions about building confidence and stepping into leadership. * **Networking Opportunities**: Connect with a supportive community of professionals and confidence enthusiasts. **2026 Speaker Sessions:** * **Seeing Clearly** Understand how you show up - and what’s been getting in the way. * **Confidence in Relationship** Communicate, navigate conflict, and build trust more effectively. * **Sustainable Agency** Learn how to lead without burning out. Your energy is part of the strategy. * **Confidence in Service** Align how you show up with the impact you actually want to have. **This Is For You If…** * You’re ready to take up more space in your work or life * You want to communicate with clarity and confidence * You’re stepping into (or preparing for) leadership * You’re done second-guessing yourself **Our Speakers** **Lachandra Baker** Founder of LBB Edutainment and the kind of person who makes you realize you’ve been confusing confidence with performance your whole life. Lachandra blends psychology, research, and radical humanity to help individuals and teams stop code-switching their way through the day and start showing up as someone they actually recognize. Expect to be challenged, affirmed, and genuinely seen - sometimes all in the same breath. **Annette Santiago Reyes** Annette has a rare talent: she makes the way you communicate feel like a discovery, not a critique. A connection catalyst and culture strategist, she helps people understand why they show up the way they do, and how to bridge the gap between intention and impact. Whether you're navigating change, life’s challenges, or simply trying to better understand yourself and others. Annette gives you the language and the lens to get there. **Elizabeth Wangugi** Creator of The Nap Concert and the RESTOR™ framework, Elizabeth is here to tell you that rest is not a reward - it’s a strategy. Rooted in neuroscience and restorative practice, her work helps high-achievers stop running on fumes and start leading from a place of actual capacity. If your calendar is full and your tank is empty, Elizabeth might be the most important person you hear from at Confidence Lab. **Stephanie Andrews** Founder of Social Black Butterfly Training & Consulting, Stephanie knows what it takes to lead through complexity because she’s done it across social services, healthcare, and operations. She specializes in succession strategy and leadership development, equipping leaders to build trust, navigate the hard moments, and leave something worth inheriting. Stephanie doesn’t just develop leaders. She develops the kind of leaders people actually want to follow. **Lillian Morales-Laster** SVP Human Resources Director at United Midwest Savings Bank and Executive Director of the Empowering Latinas Leadership Academy (ELLA). Lillian has spent her career combining her passion for equity and inclusion with her experience in human resources to lead teams and organizations in the development of supportive work environments. She leads with a vision of ensuring Latinas' voices are included in crucial decision-making processes, because for Lillian, ELLA is more than just a program. It's a vibrant community of hermanas supporting and uplifting each other as they navigate their paths to leadership. A Columbus Business First Community Champion and Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan, her commitment to empowering others shows up everywhere she goes. **Rachyl Kershaw** Founder of Greater Columbus Consulting and the architect behind the Confidence Lab Annual Summit, Rachyl has a gift for cutting through the noise, helping high-achievers stop performing success and start living it. She asks the questions most people are afraid to, creates space for honest reckoning, and somehow makes the hard work feel energizing. If you’ve ever wondered why doing everything right still feels like something’s missing, you’re in exactly the right room. **Why Confidence Lab?** Confidence is the foundation for success in every area of life. Whether you’re navigating a career change, launching a business, or striving for personal growth, building your confidence is the key to unlocking your higher purpose. This is your chance to invest in yourself and start living boldly. **Join Us on May 4** Confidence Lab is more than just an event - it’s a movement. Step into your power, embrace your potential, and make this the year you thrive. Secure your spot today and take the first step toward a more confident YOU. Cost should never be a barrier to growth. If you'd like to request a complimentary community ticket, reach out to us at [hello@confidencelab.org](hello@confidencelab.org), no explanation needed. Read more and see additional ticketing options at [https://confidencelab.org/](https://confidencelab.org/)

Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you knew Del Close on a personal level, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup** for some fun and games! The idea behind improv is to create entire scenes from scratch based on a suggestion from the audience. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway*, *ComedySportz*, or *Wild 'n Out*; it could also be done to tell stories, like *Middleditch and Schwartz*. Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and free!) weekly comedy event, brings the games (and occasionally different forms) for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and make friendships that'll last a lifetime! Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "Yes, And" that you'll have fun!

We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator. Join us on Saturday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking! • What we'll do Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 10AM on Saturday mornings. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 10:00 - SESSION 1: quick intros. 10:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour. 11:10 - chat / take off / keep writing. OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 11A-11:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. (I’ll be the person with the Shut Up & Write! sign.) If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! • What to bring Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible. See you at The Café on Saturday!

**Optional movie afterwards**

Tickets are now on sale!🥳We also will have lunch before. At the Rusty Bucket in Easton which is posted separately. 😊 Park in the East Garage.The restaurant is across the street then we can walk back together to the movie! 🥳

When judging morality, should we prioritize **intentions/duty** or **outcomes/results**? It introduces two influential philosophers as representatives of these approaches. * **Immanuel Kant (deontology):** An action is moral when it is done from **duty** and follows rational, universal principles (the **categorical imperative**). Certain acts—like lying—are wrong regardless of the consequences; you can’t do a wrong thing for a right reason. * **John Stuart Mill (utilitarian consequentialism):** The morality of an action is determined by its **effects**, specifically how much **happiness/well-being** it produces. Mill argues that some pleasures are “higher” than others, and that good intentions don’t redeem harmful outcomes. ## Discussion Questions 1. **The lying dilemma:** A murderer comes to your door and asks if your friend is hiding inside. Kant would say you must not lie. 2. **Can good intentions rescue a bad outcome?** 3. **The organ harvest problem:** A surgeon has five patients dying of organ failure and one healthy patient in for a checkup. Killing the one to harvest organs would save five lives, and the math works out for the utilitarian. Why does this feel so deeply wrong? Is that feeling a point in Kant's favor, or just a bias we should overcome? 4. **Do rules need exceptions?** Kant insists moral rules must be universal, with no exceptions. But most of us can imagine extreme scenarios where any rule seems like it should bend. Does the need for exceptions fatally undermine deontology, or is the strength of the system precisely that it refuses to bend? 5. **Who gets to calculate the consequences?** Utilitarianism asks us to maximize good outcomes, but we're notoriously bad at predicting consequences. If we can't reliably know the results of our actions, is it practical to base our entire moral system on outcomes? Does this uncertainty push us back toward rules and principles? 6. **Everyday morality:** Think about a real moral decision you've made recently, even a small one. Did you reason more like a Kantian (what's the right thing to do in principle?) or more like a utilitarian (what will produce the best result?)? Do most people naturally lean one way? 7. **Justice vs. the greater good:** A town can prevent a deadly plague by sacrificing one innocent person. The greater good is clearly served. But is it just? Can an action be morally right and deeply unjust at the same time? 8. **The big synthesis question:** Are these two systems actually opposed, or do they often arrive at the same answers by different paths? Is it possible that we need both: rules to guide us in the moment and consequences to evaluate systems and policies over time?

The topic for May is "Ink" Speak Easy: true stories, told live. The idea is simple: an audience, an open microphone, and great stories. Hilarious, gripping, poignant- it's up to you. Audiences are invited to come to listen or come to tell as folks from all corners of Columbus offer their stories live on stage! Held at Wild Goose Creative's warm, intimate space, this night of tales occurs on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Doors open at 6:30 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm. Please arrive early if you want to tell, as we generally only have room for a limited number of tellers, and the sign-up sheet has a tendency to fill up fast. Formed around the idea that people need stories--they're what hold and draw us together--SpeakEasy celebrates the strangeness and commonness of being human. And in a world of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, and more . . . it gives people a real, breathing, in-person way to connect. The night is geared for true stories of all kinds, taking the best tales told around kitchen tables, in darkened pubs, on the street corner, and at late-night parties and giving them an audience. Speak Easy is also a great outlet for performers, writers, and artists looking to share their favorite stories and perfect their skills. We strongly encourage tellers to please tell the story rather than read it so we keep within the spirit of good storytelling and stay engaged with the audience. All are welcome. Hang around after the show for a drink and build community!

Whether you've never done improv before, or you've done it for so long you knew Del Close on a personal level, or anywhere in between, come join us! Swing by *Gresso's* for the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup** for some fun and games! The idea behind improv is to create entire scenes from scratch based on a suggestion from the audience. This can be done in game form, like *Whose Line Is It Anyway*, *ComedySportz*, or *Wild 'n Out*; it could also be done to tell stories, like *Middleditch and Schwartz*. Our meetup, which is central Ohio's longest running (and free!) weekly comedy event, brings the games (and occasionally different forms) for you to play in a safe, supportive, and compassionate environment. Not only is it a lot of fun, but you get to work on thinking faster on your feet, plus it's an excellent way to meet new people and make friendships that'll last a lifetime! **AND TODAY IS OUR THIRTEENTH ANNIVERSARY!!!** So be ready for a celebration of everything that's made Improv Meetup wonderful: you, the amazing performers! Ask yourself if you want to join the **Columbus Improv Comedy Meetup**, and say "Yes, And" that you'll have fun!

Join us as we get together to see your choice of two VERY different movies – one sweet and wholesome – the other a terrifying folklore horror! Option 1 is the fun whodunnit-action-comedy-mystery led by Hugh Jackman, THE SHEEP DETECTIVES! Option 2 is the top-reviewed supernatural-horror-thriller starring Adam Scott, HOKUM! Here’s a description, trailer and plan for this event: THE SHEEP DETECTIVES: Every night a shepherd reads aloud a murder mystery, pretending his sheep can understand. When he is found dead, the sheep realize at once that it was a murder and think they know everything about how to go about solving it. The film is directed by Kyle Balda and take a look at this ensemble cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicholas Braun, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau and Emma Thompson and the voices of Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, Brett Goldstein and Rhys Darby. TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyZI5oM6hWk HOKUM: In this film, a horror writer visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents' ashes, unaware the property is said to be haunted by a witch. It is written/directed by Damian McCarthy stars Adam Scott, Peter Coonan, David Wilmot, Florence Ordesh and Austin Amelio. Hokum premiered to rave reviews at this year’s SXSW Festival and is being release by Neon. It is earning a stellar 97% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which calls it, “A classic haunted house story enriched with atmospheric folklore and perfectly-timed shocks!” TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVCIK_MPyhc PLAN: We’ll plan for a 7pm-ish showing of both films and will meet inside the theater lobby about 20 minutes before showtime. If the showtimes work out, we’ll try to get both groups together for a bite before the shows! Complete details and showtime will be confirmed/announced as the date gets closer. Look forward to seeing you there, Dan

IMPORTANT!!! THE DATE OF THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO SUNDAY MAY 17, 2026!!! A very unusual choice for his group... Unknown Number: High School Catfish is an American [true crime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_crime "True crime") documentary film directed by [Skye Borgman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skye_Borgman "Skye Borgman") and released to [streaming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming_media "Streaming media") on [Netflix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netflix "Netflix") on August 29, 2025. The documentary explores the events and investigation into an unknown person [cyberbully](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberbullying "Cyberbullying") and [harassing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harassment "Harassment") teenagers in [Beal City, Michigan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beal_City,_Michigan "Beal City, Michigan") using an unknown number via insults and sexual claims. It also explores the increasingly great impact of the harassment on the community, the eventual reveal of the culprit, and the trial that followed. IMPORTANT INFO: I strongly suggest not reading anything about it online before seeing it. It's best viewed with no previous knowledge. This documentary contains crude terminology and deals with cyberbullying, which may be a trigger for some folks. Please be ready to discuss the movie by 7PM. Thanks. Unfortunately, it is only available on Netflix. If you would like to attend but do not have Netflix, say so and maybe we can figure something out.

Who’s up for a fun night out? Get your boots on, grab your cowboy hat, and let’s have some fun! Thinking about checking out PBR Cowboy Bar & Smokehouse for a lively evening to unwind, connect, and enjoy the night together. • Lively atmosphere with country vibes • Delicious food + drinks • Music, dancing, and lots of laughs • Great conversation and new connections

Join us as we get together to get together to help those in need at this CMG Gives Back event! We have a great little community of Movie Group friends so rather than see a movie this time, we’ll help “create a better world” by helping serve those in need. Here are complete details and our plan for this event: FAITH MISSION – GRANT KITCHEN: The Faith Mission kitchen and dining room serves residents 3 meals a day, every day of the year. For this event, our group will help prepare food, serve meals, assist residents in the dining room, wash dishes, and clean surfaces. PLAN: We will be preparing / serving / cleaning for BRUNCH from 10:30am to 12:30pm and have space for a total of 7 volunteers. Please arrive at 10:20am and wear closed-toe shoes and long pants. LOCATION: Faith Mission – Grant Kitchen is located at 245 N. Grant Ave. Enter the kitchen at Dock 1 (in the back of the building), indicated in the attached map. On-site parking in the adjacent lot and street parking is available in the surrounding area. Below are some links / attachments with additional info/details: IMPORTANT REMINDER: Our group will be providing all of the volunteers on this day so a firm RSVP count is essential. Please only sign up if you are certain you’ll be able to attend. If something unavoidable comes up, please try to update your RSVP no later than one week prior to the event. With few exceptions, no shows or cancelations within 1 week of the event will not be eligible for future CMG Gives Back events. I appreciate your understanding as we try to ensure the agencies have the volunteers needed to provide the essential services they provide to the vulnerable population they serve. Our Partner Agency for this event is Lutheran Social Services! A huge THANK YOU to all of YOU for volunteering at this (and any of our previous) CMG Gives Back events! Should be another good/fun/meaningful time together, Dan