IT'S STORYTELLING TIME!

First, I’m back!  Sorry for my absence from this blog . . . . plenty has happened that I could have posted, and I’ll get to those things in the near future . . . . biking the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, driving the autobahn in Germany, visiting Auschwitz, and my first burn at Burning Man.  I’ll get to them in the coming months.

This post is about my interest in and passion for the art of storytelling, and my immersion in it at the ripe young age of 70.  

I have no idea where my interest or acumen came from.  Neither of my parents, nor my grandparents, ever showed a great interest in the subject.  I never took a course in storytelling, had private coaching, read a book, or saw a film about the subject.

My knack for it was present when I was a boy. To this day, friends of my long gone parents will remind me of the way I would entertain them with my own version of everyday events. I came up with completely fictitious (but hopefully plausible) alibis when I was caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing. And on campouts with friends, I was the one who told the ghost stories. 

 My stories are triggered by an every day event - - talking to a neighbor, getting stopped by a cop, going out to dinner, attending a meeting.  If as they say, “the Devil is in the details”, so is the gist of a good story. I have no idea how it happens . . . . in all honesty, but I almost immediately begin to think about how to relate my experience of an event to others so that the story has dramatic impact, humor, irony, poignancy, or hidden meaning.  

I’m not making it up . . . . it’s not a “story” in the literary meaning of the word.  I simply experience the drama that occurs in everyday life. “All the world’s a stage…”

In some instances, I will focus on small things and make them bigger . . . . some may say this is exaggeration, and perhaps it is, but I see it more as adding perspective so the listener better “gets” what happened.  

I’ve been a fan of “The Moth Radio Hour”  for a long time.  For those of you unaware of The Moth, it’s an NPR program with people telling 15 minute true stories of everyday life, without any visual aids or audience participation, beyond listening.

I’ve attended Moth “Story Slam” events, which are a series of roughly 10 people telling 5 minute stories and being judged by 4 preassigned judges.  My fantasy is to be on the Moth Main Stage, at a “Grand Slam” event.

But this being New York, there are plenty of storytelling opportunities besides a Moth story slam.  I recently entered the competitive storytelling world at an event called “One Up!” - - people get up to tell a story, and anyone who thinks they have a better story will “one up” them.  If the audience agrees, through audience applause and whistles, the new champion takes the winner’s seat.  The evening continues with one ups, cheering and jeering, until finally the audience names a champion.  The audience is between 75 and 100 people, and most storytellers bring a contingent of friends, family, and supporters. 

I’ve gone to two “One Up!” events in the past six weeks . . . . and I won them both!  So here they are below under the title “Raising Kids in New York City”.  There’s Part 1, the story I told about my son, Jack, at my very first competition. Part 2 is the award presentation for that story. Part 3 is from my second competition, when I told a story about my daughter Lily and includes the award presentation as well.   

Both my children have reviewed and blessed the public presentation, and can verify that this stuff actually happened!

I hope you enjoy….