On the Light Side
The news is a little light this week, but here’s what’s happening:
Last Friday’s Lit Lounge at SMOCA featured (among others) writer and KJZZ commentator Robert Pela, and Comedy Central and The Moth writer/performer Shaz Bennett. Robert told a compelling story about having to care for his father, and Shaz was quite funny with her story about visiting a New York City sex club. Yes, I did say a sex club. That’s just to let you know that the stories are uncensored, so leave the kids at home! The shows are always sold out, so get your tickets soon! More info and tickets here: http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org/smoca-events.php
Timpanogos is just a few days away. There are several Phoenix storytellers going by car and air. Ruth Shaw let me know that she won’t be going, and has two senior tickets available. If you are interested, contact her at RShaw38@cox.net. If you are going, shoot me an E-mail and we'll try to have a Phoenix Group meal or get-together if possible.
Mark your calendars for the first SMCC Faculty Concert of the season. The concecrt will be Wednesday, September 12th in the performance center, featuring Doug Bland, Harriet Cole, Penny Morningstar, Marilyn Torres, Liz Warren and Sule Greg Wilson. The theme is Real Stories: All Stories are Real
NEW CALENDAR FUNCTION – I have a new calendar on the site (click the link in the Menu above). In addition to the text listings in below, I have placed a new monthly Calendar on the site. You can now see all events in each month, open an event for details and links to info, and even search for an event. Check it out! (There may be some events not listed yet, or some details absent as I compile the current list.) BTW...If you have an event you want listed, contact me and I will add it to the calendar.
Next Monday: Will you still need me, will you still feed me...?
StoryRise in Avondale - This Friday Sean Buvala has another StoryRise event at Gangplank Avondale this week. Friday, August 31st - 12 pm -Bring your own Brown Bag Lunch
Where are you going? Is success the destination or the journey? Who walks with you? Is stumbling really that bad? Three accomplished storytellers and fringe performers take on the real and metaphorical journeys from the perspective of world folktales. This is an event for adult listeners and the urban entrepreneurs who know that “one foot in front of the other” is really the only way to go. Presented for the Gangplank Brown-Bag Series. Bring your lunch if you wish.
Liz Warren, Mark Compton and Sean will all be telling stories.
CLICK FOR MORE INFO
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
How many ways are there to say I love you, or to express love? Elizabeth Barrett described several in her love sonnet XLIII to her suitor Robert Browning. How many ways are there to say the same thing?…as many stars as there are in the sky.
When telling stories, we often focus on the plot vs. the details of the language of the story. We say, “They met, they fell in love and lived happily ever after.” Last week I mentioned Heather Forest’s site that has many three or four sentence descriptions of the main plot of a story. Our job as tellers is to flesh out the details of the story, and then find language that best paints the vivid images of that story. How many ways are there to do that? Let’s try a few.
Falling in love:
One look at her alabaster skin, and Cupid’s arrow struck his heart.
The twinkle in his eyes made her body tingle, and then wilt.
Her touch sent waves of icy heat rippling from his fingers down to his toes.
His smile made all her troubles seem to disappear in its blinding brightness.
He reached across the bench and softly took her hand, as did she with his.
Their eyes met and their hearts melted in a pool at their feet. (Thanks Laura Rutherford)
Being angry:
Words of spite and malice spewed from his mouth like venom.
His fists clenched as his body turned dark red, darker, the black-red of molten lava.
His contempt grew larger, like the bulging contents of Pandora’s box, ready to burst out.
Her eyes threw sharp daggers, as they flashed from fiery red to green, and back again.
I think you get the idea. Use a thesaurus to find all the many iterations of a word, i.e. “love”: adore, admire, crush, fervor, fondness, infatuation, lust, passion, rapture, etc. Then find the images that fit. See those images in your own mind. Then use metaphors and similes to paint those images.
Storyteller, coach, colleague and friend Laura Packer once said, “Use and trust your image engine.” I keep mine next to my desk, gassed up and ready to go!
Curated Articles – A Great Resource
My colleague, Karen Dietz curates articles using Scoop.It, a great way to share ideas and information. Karen scours the web for good articles on storytelling, primarily for business. When she finds something she likes, she posts the link on her http://www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it page, with a review of the article and why she likes it. How great is that? Someone else does the legwork and we (storytellers) reap the benefits!
Here’s an example.
Last week, she posted a link to an article titled How to Tell a Great Story. Although the article is focusing on business stories, the information is applicable to ALL storytelling. This article takes you through seven simple steps for creating a story, starting with “the takeaway”, or “What’s the story about? What’s your point?” Here’s the link to the specific article review on Karen’s Scoop.It page (once there, click on the “X” in the upper right of the box to see all the article reviews, or click directly on the article title to go to the article).
If you want to be in the loop and get periodic notices from Karen, go to her FaceBook page and FRIEND her. What, you’re not on FaceBook? You should be, and use it as one of your storytelling tools!
East Valley Tellers of Tales -Storytellers Guild Second Saturday of each month - SCOTTSDALE
Scottsdale Public Library (Civic Center Branch)
10:00 am - 12 Noon
Gold Room http://www.evtot.com
Storytellers Open Mic First Sunday of each month - PHOENIX *NOTE: THERE IS NO OPEN MIC ON SEPTEMBER 2nd
AS IT IS THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND
Resuming on October 7th
Terra Java Coffeehouse - 3619 E. Indian School Rd. in Phoenix
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm http://www.storytellermark.com/openmic/
AZ Republic Live Storytelling
Live Storytelling Nights - Sometime around the third or fourth week of the month
Venues change monthly
To request to tell, Contact Megan Finnerty:
602-444-8770 or megan.finnerty@arizonarepublic.com
Check the schedule here http://www.azcentral.com/storytellers/events.php
Lit Lounge - Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMOCA) Fourth Friday of each month - SCOTTSDALE
It’s a little bit This American Life and a little bit rock-n-roll! Every fourth Friday, some of the most engaging writers and performers in Arizona, and the nation, will share their funny, compelling and TRUE stories fused together by kicky, live music!
7:00 pm http://www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org/smoca-events.php
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Sean Buvala has another StoryRise event at Gangplank Avondale this week.
