James Braly

James Braly is an award-winning comedic storyteller, author, and visiting professor at Fordham University. He is the writer and performer of the critically-acclaimed, hit one-man show Life in a Marital Institution (performed over 250 times), a darkly humorous and poignant autobiographical tale of lust, love, betrayal, and redemption OR the tragicomedy of married life. It premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, sold-out 59E59 Theatres in New York City, transferred Off Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse, and toured the country, presented by Meredith Vieira Productions. He is also the author of Life in a Marital Institution: 20 Years of Monogamy in One Terrifying Memoir (St. Martin’s Press), as well as the writer developing the television pilot based on the show for Meredith Vieira Productions. His stories have been broadcast nationally on This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour, NPR, and Marketplace.

Life in a Marital Institution was Braly’s first theatrical effort after a successful 20-year career writing motivational speeches for Fortune 500 companies. Since the success of his show, he has become a sought-after speaker about relationships, parenting, and most importantly, harnessing the power of storytelling in both the corporate arena and our personal lives. He has told stories and taught storytelling at corporations such as The Sundance Channel, People magazine, Liz Claiborne, Estee Lauder, National Speaker’s Association, Heineken USA, as well as at private events. He has taught autobiographical storytelling at theaters around the country in conjunction with the national tour of his show, as well as at Fordham University, where he continues to teach.

Braly has performed in theatres, festivals, and art venues around the world, including The Whitney Museum, Long Wharf Theatre, Symphony Space, and The Moth, where he won the Moth GrandSlam Storytelling Competition (the first person to win it twice). His full-length monologue, The Monthly Nut (How Much Misery Does it Take to be Happy?), directed by Seth Barrish (Sleepwalk with Me), is in development at The Barrow Group Theatre. And his full-length monologue, Asylum, commissioned by New York City’s Dixon Place, is in development as a television series with Meredith Vieira Productions. Braly’s essays appear in the anthologies, Afterbirth and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, as well as in national publications such as Redbook and the New York Times.