My Name Is Cool ― Stories from a Cuban-Irish-American Storyteller

“In 1960 my father got into a rowboat from Havana, Cuba and rowed 90 miles to the United States to start his new life. By the time I got into seventh grade, I was telling my friends that my father saved all of his family, all of his friends, piled everyone into that boat and rowed everybody over to America. By the time I got into high school, I was telling my friends that my father stole five boats from Castro’s navy, saved all of his friends, all of his family, all of his first, second, third, fourth, and fifth cousins, everyone on his block, all of the pets, and everybody on his baseball team. He piled them into the boat. There was no room for him in the boat, so he tied those boats together with a big rope, put that rope around his shoulders and he swam everybody over to the United States. . .”

Born in Boston to a Cuban father and an Irish-American mother, Antonio Sacre is one of the few leprecanos on the national speaking circuit. Using his own personal history and telling the stories that audiences across the nation have found so captivating and wonderful, this award-winning storyteller and author weaves the Spanish language, Cuban and Mexican customs, and Irish humor into an unforgettable book of humor, inspiration, tradition, and family.

My Name is Cool is a classic story sure to transcend, like the author himself, cultures and boundaries.

Antonio Sacre, born in Boston to a Cuban father and Irish American mother, is an internationally touring storyteller, author, and solo performance artist based in Los Angeles. He earned a BA in English from Boston College and an MA in Theater Arts from Northwestern University. He has been a featured storyteller at the Kennedy Center, the National Storytelling Festival, the National Book Festival at the Library of Congress, and museums, schools, libraries, and festivals worldwide. His books and recordings have won numerous national awards, and he is the author- and storyteller-in-residence at the prestigious UCLA Lab School.

The Village Voice calls Sacre “Remarkable . . . a serious artist” and Backstage says Sacre is “powerful, hilariously honest . . . the man is an out and out genius.” His shows have garnered numerous Critics’ Choices in San Francisco, LA, New York, and Chicago.

The “most produced playwright in Fringe history” (Time Out New York), Sacre’s 2002 New York Fringe offering was called by Backstage “exquisite…one of the most skillful and satisfying performances of the year.”

“He is not a character actor nor a comedian but someone with a perpetual story and an extraordinary talent for engaging an audience. Therefore, he is frankly funny, uncompromisingly believable, and above all – kind.” (Backstage)

“Where ever Sacre goes, he leaves storytellers behind.” Chicago Tribune.