Leann Johnson is an award-winning storyteller, named Best Host of the 3rd Annual NW Black Comedy Festival and the festival’s Hometown Hero in 2023 for improvisational storytelling, and co-producing and hosting The Blackonteurs showcase. She has also performed at 7 Deadly Sins, Roar, Pants on Fire, TellTale, The Invite, Front Porch, and Better Said Than Done, a national storytelling production.

Leann is a Pro Player at ComedySportz and co-wrote and co-performs a transformational, experimental stage play, called Black Woman/White Woman, most notably performed at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in Higher Education (Portland, 2022; NYC, 2025).

Leann studied at the University of Oxford, UK, in the Strategy and Innovation program. She is the owner of Innovatus, LCC—strategies for innovation, justice, and care.

Learn how to find the stories in your life and shape them into tales that pack a punch. In this 6-week class you’ll learn techniques to not only deliver stories with charisma, but also put on story glasses which transform the seemingly mundane pieces of life into adventures worth sharing.

There will be a Storytelling Showcase as part of Trial Run at Portland Comedy Theater on Sunday, May 31 at 5pm.

Intro to StoryTelling