Press Play to hear Catherine Burns who is Artistic Director of The Moth speaking on diamonds in the rough, coaching new storytellers on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
The Moth is America’s #1 storytelling podcast with over 600,000 downloads a month and at least 100,000 listeners. Catherine Burns is one of the minds behind the curtain at The Moth storytelling main stage in NYC and LA.
Press Play to hear Loren Niemi who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on Honoring Elders and Apprentices on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf.
Loren Niemi writes… I’ve been a storyteller for 30 plus years and yet in so many ways I feel like a beginner learning how to do now, what I learned how to do then. It is “LOL” a very “Zen and now” approach to storytelling: beginner’s mind.
At this point in time, I understand clearly and fondly what a gift I received when I came to storytelling. The gift of generous mentors – specifically, Ken Feit and Rueven Gold – who took a “Zen and now” approach offering friendship, access, who posed and (sometimes) answered questions, encouraged and gave permission for me to find and develop my own voice rather than adopt theirs. They welcomed me wherever they were telling and often made space for me to tell a story at those gatherings.
They were prolific in suggesting, cajoling, handing me books and lists of books to read that would ground me in the storytelling traditions. It is one of the laments I have about a significant portion of those coming into storytelling now, that they do not Read more »
Press Play to hear Andy Offutt Irwin who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on entertaining children with out boring the grownups out of their skull on the Art of Storytelling on Tuesday, Dec. 16th at 8pm.
Bio
A native of Covington, GA, Andy started out in comedy, but added music and storytelling because he had a lot more to say. In storytelling circles,he is especially known for relating the adventures of his eighty-five-year-old aunt,Marguerite Van Camp, M.D. He’s always on the go, performing at festivals, theatres and schools throughout the United States, including two gigs as a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival, where in 2008 he will perform a solo concert at the Midnight Cabaret.
He has been a Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center; a Guest Artist at La Guardia High School of Art, Music, and Performing Arts in New York (The “FAME!” School); and he has been a Keynote Speaker/Performer at the Library of Congress-Virburnum Foundation Conference on Family Literacy. He is an award winning recording artist with five titles and growing.
Andy used to have real jobs: from 1991 to 2007 he was Artist-In-Residence in Theatre at Oxford College of Emory University. He spent five years writing, directing and performing with the comedy improv troupe, SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World. But he’s had lots of more interesting life experience-type employment, including – but not limited to – actor, camp counselor, political satirist, youth director, janitor, deputy voter registrar, theatre orchestra conductor, garbage man, teacher, carpenter’s flunky, and bullfrog tadpole catcher (Honest).
Press Play to hear Connie Regan-Blake who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on a history of the National Storytelling Festival on the Art of Storytelling on Tuesday, Dec. 17th at 8pm.
Connie writes… It was October 7, 1973, in Jonesborough, Tennessee – an afternoon that changed my life . . . and the course of storytelling in the United States. The setting was the first National Storytelling Festival.
I had been hired two years earlier by the Public Library in Chattanooga, TN, as a full time storyteller – another life changing event for me. So when I heard about a festival devoted to storytelling, I was thrilled – and knew I had to go. My cousin, Barbara Freeman, who was also a teller, was up for the adventure so we jumped in her little yellow truck and headed off on an adventure.
There I met and heard Ray Hicks, who was to become the patriarch of Southern Traditional Storytelling. He was perched on a flatbed truck, telling Jack Tales to a group of 35 of us, sitting on folding chairs in front of the County Courthouse, hanging onto his every word. When they asked if anyone in the audience wanted to tell, I jumped at the chance and have been involved ever since.
That day, I also met Jimmy Neil Smith, who had the brilliant idea to have a storytelling festival. His vision included an organization to promote the art of storytelling and two years later “NAPPS” came to life – the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling. With the town’s support for seed money, a Board of Directors and lots of volunteers, the word began spreading.
And now, over three decades later, storytelling is thriving. That first intimate gathering inspired many to go home and start their own events. Now hundreds of storytelling festivals take place in almost every state in America and around the world from New Zealand to Austria. Today Jonesborough is home to the International Storytelling Center. The National Festival continues to be the premiere storytelling event in the country with an audience that has grown from the original 35 listeners to over 10,000 people who make the journey every year to listen to and tell stories. For many, it is a transformative experience; reawakening the comfort, joy, and pathos that is storytelling. Elizabeth Ellis sums it up best – “The festival is more fun than you can stand!”
For my own professional path, storytelling has taken me across the world. As a partner with Barbara Freeman, we were known as The Folktellers for 20 years and trail-blazed the art of tandem telling. During the past decade I have continued telling stories as a solo performer and workshop leader, as well as collaborating on a unique blend of storytelling and chamber music with the Kandinsky Trio.
Every autumn since 1973, I continue to be drawn to Jonesborough, and welcomed onstage with the distinct honor of being either a featured teller or an emcee. Now, after almost 40 years as a fulltime, professional storyteller, my life’s work continues to be a privilege and a blessing. And I always remember, as the storyteller I have the best seat on the house! Read more »
Press play to hear Elizabeth Ellis who was interviewed by Eric Wolf on the relationship between Storytelling and the Development of Ethical Behavior on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8pm.
Elizabeth Ellis Writes…
If I had a nickel for every time someone (attorney, state trooper, loan officer, IRS agent) has made fun of me because I told ’em I am a storyteller, I could take us all out to dinner. At a nice place. With tablecloths. Because often the public perception of storytelling is that it is fluff and foolishness. Well, we storytellers know better, and we have survived an entire movement of Back to the Basics and Almighty State Testing. What the left brain-ers don’t realize is there is another entire level of education far more basic to being human than the 3 R’s will ever be. The most basic things about being human come from the right side of the brain, not the left. Chief among them is the ability to make ethical decisions. I am not talking about Read more »
Very few storytellers make it easy for potential clients to listen to their material online. Many storytellers choose to hide the treasure of their professional work behind a wall of profit and self-interest. Unluckily for them profit and self-interest can be better served by bringing down the wall. How do you expect potential clients to be sold on your ability as a storyteller if they have never heard you tell a story? How many potential presenters or school administrators are not hiring storytellers just because they had one bad experience and need more evidence to overcome their prejudice? How do you expect people to buy your online CD’s without being able to test the waters?
As a movement we are offering what the world wants to hear. Currently America is filled with cynical, disconnected and apathetic people who are dying for authentic relationships. What is good storytelling? – authentic, real and Read more »
Saturday, October 25, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Eric James Wolf
Phone: (937) 767-869 Speaking out in Defense of Scary Stories on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show
Eric James Wolf, professional storyteller and host of the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show, is available for print, radio and television interviews to defend the use of the scary Halloween stories in the oral tradition with children.
Scary Halloween stories and ghost stories for children have taken the place of ritual trials of adulthood for teenagers, according to Mr. Wolf. They also serve as a means for adults to warn children away from dangerous places or behavior. Ghost stories and scary Halloween stories in the oral tradition can be age appropriate and satisfying for families. Currently on his the Art of Storytelling shows website he has five interviews available for easy download about the art of telling scary Halloween stories.
Eric Wolf does not condone or support horror or the graphic use of violence. “It is possible, however, by carefully working within the confines of scary Halloween stories and ghost stories for children, to leave our audience psychologically stronger and more emotionally capable of dealing with their fears or the shock of real world disasters,” Mr. Wolf says.
March 13, 2009 7:10 pm | 
