Archive for the 'Healing Storytelling' Category

Talking about humor with Buck P Creacy.

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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Storytelling in The Street at Festivals and as Outdoor Theater and Storytelling With Magic.

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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La’Ron Williams on Supporting Peace and Social Justice through Storytelling.


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Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on April 8th, 2008 at 8PM ET when I spoke with La’Ron Williams on supporting peace and social justice through storytelling interviewed on the Art of Storytelling with Children podcast.

Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on April 8th, 2008 at 8PM ET when I spoke with La’Ron Williams on supporting peace and social justice through storytelling interviewed on the Art of Storytelling with Children podcast.

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Mark Morey - The Art of Mentoring



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 talks about the Art of Mentoring.

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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On the Power and Responsibility of Comedy: My lil’ Soapbox



Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on March 18th at 8PM ET when I spoke with David B. Epley on storytelling with comedy.

Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on March 18th at 8PM ET when I spoke with David B. Epley on storytelling with comedy.

Comedy is one of the most effective tools for imparting any information:

  • It actively involves the audience; laughter is not passive.
  • It encourages the audience to focus on the process; you must pay attention to the setup in order to get the punch line.
  • It makes the process fun.

All of these aspects conspire to make an event, an individual, or a particular subject matter, more memorable. Think of your favorite Teacher, Storyteller, Pastor, Politician, Actor, Choreographer, et cetera, and you will see the truth of what I’m saying. Comedy can be used to educate, to alleviate tension, to ease stress, to help in almost any situation.

Unfortunately, comedy can also be used for Continue Reading »

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Tim Sheppard - The moment of impact - the timeless art of inspiration and presence.


Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 11/13/2007 with storyteller Tim Sheppard and Brother wolf discuss the Art of holding a storytelling space in front of an audience..

Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 11/20/2007 with storyteller Tim Sheppard and Brother wolf discuss the Art of holding a storytelling space in front of an audience..

Tim Sheppard talks about how various traditions hold the responsibility of an audience differently. What is the moment of impact that storytellers can create and hold for there audiences?

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Fran Stallings talking about environmental storytelling…


Press Play to hear this interview that was recorded as a conference call on 10/23/2007 with storyteller Fran Stallings appeared on the Art of Storytelling with Children to talk about environmental storytelling and telling hope to inspire action.

Recorded on Tuesday the 24th of October - Fran is an amazing storyteller who will dazzle you with her narrative skill and storytelling heart!

Fran Stallings writes…

My main concern with this topic is the observation that many of our Environmental tales are DOWNERS. While our storytelling ancestors probably used them as Continue Reading »

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Victoria Burdick - Storytelling in Ceremony

Press Play to hear the Reverend Victoria Burdick, M. Div Hospice Chaplain ~ Celebrant on August 7th, 2007, discuss how storytelling can be used in wedding ceremonies to create the ceremony.
In this interview with the Reverend Victoria Burdick, M. Div Hospice Chaplain ~ Celebrant on August 7th, 2007, we discuss how storytelling can be used in wedding ceremonies to create the ceremony. We also discuss how storytelling is used in hospice work. The Reverend has officiated over five hundred weddings and is well sought after for her service because of her ability to represent the stories of both the bride and groom in the ceremony.

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Article in the NY times on Storytelling

If you are interested in how storytelling defines who we are. This article in the New York Times, that was published on Tuesday in the Health section, explores the role of story in a positive self outlook in life.

I highly recommend this article as a source for good arguments in why we do what we do as storytellers and how it can help children to have fulfilling lives.

by Eric Wolf

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Manitonquat (Medicine Story) - The Power of Myth

Press Play by activating this link
Post written by Manitonquat (Medicine Story) who was a Guest on the show on Tuesday April 24th at 7pm. Missed the call? Don’t worry - you can listen right now by clicking the play button.

Selections from the book RETURN TO CREATION, by Manitonquat (Medicine Story):

What we need to investigate and learn together is healing. In a time of great sickness nothing else should concern us. Healing the earth, healing society, healing our communities, healing ourselves. To paraphrase a saying, if we are not part of the medicine, we are part of the disease.
You have come to the circle which this book represents to hear me speak. Perhaps you wish to learn something about Native American healing from a medicine man. Maybe you wish to experience a healing yourself. Well, I hope you do learn something, and I hope you get in touch with the spirit of healing. I must tell you, however, that the healing power for you is only within you. A medicine person’s real job, whether it be with a ritual, with herbs, with steam or water, with song or dance or with story - whatever the medicine, the real work is to convince you of your own healing power. That is the healing power of Creation which is within each of us.
Sickness of any kind is a dissonance in the harmony of nature, a noisy intrusion into the Song of Creation. A certain amount of dissonance and conflict is expected and desirable. They are a spur to consciousness. Our most essential teachers are Continue Reading »

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