Karen Chace will be interviewed on the podcast on Tuesday May 20th at 8 p.m. be sure to join us live on the conference call. Karen has a great resource of storytelling links and other storytelling goodies that are worth your time at http://www.storybug.net

On a warm, spring night in June of 2003 nineteen third and fourth grade elementary storytelling students took center stage in the school auditorium. The event was the first Student Storytelling Festival where their dedication and talent came together for a glorious evening of folktales, fables, myths and legends from around the world. Each child had personally selected their tale and their work quickly becoming a labor of love. Without hesitation each storyteller stepped to the Continue Reading »

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Tuesday night we will be talking with Hurist and storyteller Buck P. Creacy at 8pm on May 13th.

Who Is Buck P. Creacy?

Buck P. Creacy is a homegrown Humorist and a Storyteller. But that is hardly an adequate description of this very funny man. Buck P. has always used humor to make life better for those around him. In the process you can tell he has gained a passion for life and people himself.

He started his humor apprenticeship in Slim’s Barber Shop, Farmington New Mexico, at the tender age of 14. There he realized he could shine more shoes and get bigger tips, if he made his customers laugh. He is still putting a shine in peoples eyes and making them laugh.

Buck P. is also a real live “honest to God” Toolmaker, with nearly 30 years in the tool room, working, consulting and teaching for the benefit of companies all over America. Sharing his wit and wisdom with some of the best known international companies in the world such as Toyota, Dresser Corp., Osram Sylvania and the list goes on and on for more than 98 companies. Groups both large and small love him.

Today his focus on humor is as razor sharp as ever, but never malicious. He has chosen early in life to make his humor “safe” for any audience. Whether his audience is a group of first year students or industry team members or a family reunions, he manages to bridge the gaps with easy grace.

Buck P. sees the whole wide world just a little bit different. And that difference is enough just enough to make you laugh out loud.

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I’m looking forward to discussing with Eric what it means to be a street Storyteller as well as the fusion between magic and storytelling. While I have performed in theaters, schools, café’s and more traditional storytelling venues, I most commonly perform for people under trees, in fields and on corners. This is actually a more traditional means of performing storytelling back when storytellers worked in the marketplace in the street or would travel from home to home singing for their supper. Largely I do this in the context of a Renaissance or fantasy festival but I have, in the past, taken it upon myself to just do storytelling in the modern street.

Why work in this storytelling fashion? Well for one it breaks the third wall in a very special way. One can actually reach out and touch ones audience members, clink mugs and adjust ones programming according to their expressions. Certainly this can be done in a theater but one gains a greater sense of control through a cluster instead of a crowd. And storyteller can pay greater individual attention to the storytellers audience. The storyteller can also judge them more effectively when storytelling with a tighter lens so to speak.

Picking the right story for an individual that you meet in passing can be very powerful. One is also afforded a greater Continue Reading »

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On April 29th at 8PM ET Sally Crandall will be interviewed about historical storytelling on the Art of Storytelling with Children. You are welcome to join the call as it is recorded in the conference environment.

Sally Crandall writes…

This Tuesday, I’m looking forward to talking with Eric about historical storytelling. When I take on the creation of an historical story, I look at it as an opportunity to go back in time and explore places and people. The first story I told was about the 1913 flood, which changed the future for Columbus and for Ohio. I was sitting in my kitchen one summer afternoon when I heard a survivor of the flood, Ida Griswold, tell her story during a radio interview. I called her up, and, even though she shouldn’t have, she let me come over and spend a day getting to know her and see the house in which she grew up and which survived the flood. She pointed out the crack in the window caused by a floating telephone pole, and told me her dad never fixed it, and she never would either.

I’m excited to be talking with Eric about some of the stories I tell and about their specific uses in the classroom. A few years ago, I spent several days in Cleveland at a Kennedy Center Workshop for teaching artists. It was a valuable experience. There I began to explore the idea of using the drama idea of tableau, or frozen pictures, with students to explore the history and characters in the stories I tell. I hope listeners call in with questions and their own experiences.

Sally’s Blog
http://sallycrandall.typepad.com/

Sally’s Home Page
http://www.sallycrandall.com/

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Last week I facilitated a conference call with Jo Radner and Teresa Clark the Board chair and vice chair of NSN. About a dozen people have expressed interest in listening to the results of that discussion and 27 people took part in the online conference call environment live.

I am sorry to report that the conference call was not recorded - due to a technical problem or a mistake on my part. I don’t really know why. This has never happened before, where a whole recording was lost, in any of the 60 hours of recorded interviews I have done so far, but – hey their is a first time for everything. I apologize if this is annoying to you – you have no idea how much annoying this is to me.

Just goes to prove my point that you will wish you were there live for the call. In any case, I hope that you will participate if or when we hold another open forum on the future of NSN.

Peace

Eric Wolf
Host of the Art of Storytelling with Children Talk Show
http://www.storytellingwithchildren.com

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Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on March 4th at 8PM ET when I spoke with Mark Morey on the Art of Mentoring.

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Diane Williams will be talking about creating a storytelling classroom and literacy development in the storytelling classroom. Teachers, parents, storytellers and students can effectively get involved in a systemic, sustainable, and holistic approach to learning across the curriculum by incorporating story and storytelling elements.

This discussion delves into how a storyteller can Continue Reading »

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Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 2/19/2008 with Syd Lieberman as he speaks about telling your family’s stories.
Continue Reading »

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Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 1/07/2008 with Baba the Storyteller who spoke with me about podcasting as a storyteller.

Baba and I speak about the podcasting revolution. Comments or feed back welcome here on the blog post. Do you think I should have Baba back? Is podcasting to narrow a subject? Are we off topic fro the art of storytelling with children? Will we ever stop talking off topic of podcasting during this episode? All this and so much more on two tellers talking – the podcasting special. Continue Reading »

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Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 2/12/2008 with Dianne de Las Casas who spoke about storytelling and how it can be a safari into literacy.

Dianne de Las Casas writes…
My whole life has been a safari (Swahili word for “journey”) of stories. The power of stories permeated and impacted my life so strongly that, at an early age, I knew I wanted to share stories with the world. It became my life’s dream, which I am realizing today through storytelling and writing books.

Because books, reading, and telling stories are such an important part of my family’s life, I am always saddened to watch the declining literacy rate in America’s school children. Nearly 2/3 of elementary age children read 2 grade levels below their expected reading level. Why is this happening?

Many of today’s families are not “storied” families. Stories are not a daily part of life – they are not shared at the “campfire” - the dinner table (many families don’t even eat at the dinner table together anymore). There are a vast amount of children who do not have a basic foundation of nursery rhymes and folktales. Imagine my surprise when I learned that my 6 year old niece never heard of Rapunzel because Rapunzel wasn’t a “Disney Princess!”

In addition, few teachers have time to spend doing something “fun” like storytelling. There are standards and benchmarks to meet as well as tests to administer. Many educators do not understand the value of storytelling and how storytelling is an integral part of literacy in the home and the classroom.

Of course, pop culture also plays a role. Stories are pre-fabricated for our children in the form of television shows, movies, and computer and video games, leaving little room for Continue Reading »

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