Storyteller Mark Goldman

Some Foolishness - But No Fools

Last night's storytelling at Community Christian Church was great fun. The theme for the the night was The Holy Fool. It may have been the stories of fools, but the tellers were all masters. Sean Buvala started off the evening with a group exercise about Love & Toilet Paper and the similar aspects of both (some very interesting facts)! Then I told The Magic Spoon, a Chlem story offshoot of Stone Soup.

It was great to have Doug Bland tell at this venue that he so deftly curates! Doug's "silent" version of Death Knocking on the Door was a thing of beauty. Who knew one could tell a story without words!

Jan Flaatan told You Gave Up This for That, about why anyone would want to be named Francis. High school students John Dallyn and Forest Redlin as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, did a great version of The Walrus and the Carpenter, replete with appropriate costumes.

Sean Buvala returned to tell The Naked Woman, his powerful version of a sacred story, told from a very unique point of view. Liz Warren closed out the night (as always) with a rousing version of The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. A masterfully told tale that showcased her talents as a teller, and revealed how a long story doesn't have to feel long!

Kudos to Doug for his talent, his teaching, and his long-standing support of storytelling and storytellers. Don't miss the next CCC Event on Friday, April 19th - Going Native. Now that should be interesting!

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Coming Up

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WEDNESDAY April 10th - Folk Tales for Grownups
Community tellers will regale audiences with both time-honored and "slightly twisted" folk tales. The theme is Consider the Uses of Adversity. In the SMCC Library Community Room, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, it's FREE and open to the public!

Check the calendar section for details

Student Concert - Mark Your Calendar!
Thursday - May 9th - Arcadia Neighborhood Learning Center
Culminating and celebrating a year of storytelling in the classroom, there will be a storytelling concert with the 5th and 6th graders I work with at ANLC. Several of the students in Nan Wilkinson's class will tell stories for the Night of the Arts at the school. We would love to have you attend and support our young tellers! Watch this newsletter and the calendar section for more details, but mark your calendars now!

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Tips

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POV Changes Everything

Most often, we tell stories from the Narrator's, omniscient role. Telling the story from a different Point of View (POV) can change everything.

To learn more about your story, more about your characters, try telling it from a different POV. What if we told Jack and the Beanstalk from Jack's point of view? Or from the Giant's? Or the Giant's wife's POV. What might we learn?

Take a look at the two pictures on the right. Quite a different perspective! One from the road, one from the bike. Do you tell this story as the Narrator, describing how our protagonist rides down the road? Or do we tell it from the first person? Our hero's description while on the bike, while riding the rough terrain, will be a different story. What if "The Road" were recounting the tale of this lone rider, making ruts in its already worn and scarred surfaces? How would "The Road" react? What would it say to our rider?

Try it, just for fun. You will learn a great deal about the characters and the story. You might even find a new way to tell it!

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Tidbits

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Writer David Mamet Talks About Story and Drama

If you have seen any of these movies, you know his work: Glengarry-Glenross; The Postman Always Rings Twice; The Untouchables; The Verdict or the TV show The Unit. I went to high school in Chicago with David Mamet, in fact, I directed him in a school play! David has won many awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, for Glengarry-Glenross.

In this "letter to the writers of The Unit", David tells them about story and drama, and how the writers need to write, in order to keep the audience interested. It's good stuff for us storytellers too!!

Click here to read the piece

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Ongoing
Events

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Storytellers' Open Mic at Terra Java
First Sunday of each month - PHOENIX
http://www.storytellermark.com/openmic/

Yarnball Storytellers Mic
Every Wednesday at 8 pm - PHOENIX
https://www.facebook.com/lawngnomepublishing/events

Odyssey Storytelling
First Thursday of each month - TUCSON
http://www.storyartsgroup.org/odyssey/Odyssey/Welcome.html

East Valley Tellers of Tales -Storytellers Guild
Second Saturday of each month - SCOTTSDALE
http://www.evtot.com

West Side Story Tellers -Storytellers Guild
Second Saturday of each month - GLENDALE
Westsidestorytellers@yahoo.com

Lit Lounge - Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMOCA)
Fourth Friday of each month - SCOTTSDALE
http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org/smoca-events.php

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL MONTHLY CALANDAR

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All Newsletter content ©Mark Goldman
Got some news or information you would like to get out to the storytelling community?
Contact Mark Goldman -x602-390-3858x - Mark@Storytellermark.com