Talent? Questionable. Night? Unforgettable.

What happens when you put a kazoo, a 127-WPM typist, and a room full of hyper-supportive people in the same room? Answer: The first-ever 826Day Not, Not a Talent Show.

Imagine a room full of people wildly cheering for skills nobody asked for, but everyone suddenly needed. That was the spirit of this year’s 826Day, our celebration of 826LA’s founding and an evening dedicated to the weird, unexpected, and wonderfully unnecessary. 

We invited our community into our newly renovated Mar Vista Writing Lab to show off the talents (useful or otherwise) that make them uniquely themselves. And wow, did they deliver! 

The main event - an amazing lineup of students, volunteers, and interns! 

Superstar volunteer Ned Albright singing “I’m an Alligator, not a Crocodile.”

First up: Catalina, our volunteer and unofficial headliner, wowed the crowd with original songs and a Fleetwood Mac cover of “Dreams.” Then came Zuriana, our intern, who took on “Bohemian Rhapsody” with nothing but a karaoke track and a newly acquired kazoo. And Ned, one of our beloved volunteers, picked up a guitar for the first time in years and had the whole room clapping along to his original song, “I’m an Alligator, not a Crocodile.” 

Then, the emotional plot twist hit

Of course, no 826LA event would be complete without some storytelling. Poems, jokes, and stories made their way to the mic alongside some decidedly less traditional talents: making origami cranes on the fly, doing Batman impressions, typing 127 words per minute, and sharing no-bake recipes that somehow became a crowd favorite. 826LA student Willow delivered a raw, funny monologue about the absolute nightmare of falling in love for the first time. By the end, more than a few audience members were trying to discreetly hold back tears. 

Were all these talents useful? Questionable. Were they impressive? Absolutely. But more than anything, the night was a reminder of how much fun it is to give people a space to be silly, surprising, and fully themselves. At 826LA, we spend a lot of time encouraging young people to explore their voices and imaginations. On 826Day, we got to see that same spirit take over the whole room from every reach of our community—volunteer, staff member, or intern alike! 

Thank you to everyone who took the stage, cheered from the audience, and helped make our first 826Day celebration such a delight. We’re already looking forward to whatever strange and wonderful talents next year has in store.