A Story That Mattered

A Story That Mattered A Story That Mattered ©2020 Jennifer Munro Jennifer will be presenting her workshop Creating Stories that Matter at Sharing the Fire 2020. Register today at https://www.nestorytelling.org/conference-details/ I’ve been thinking a great deal recently about the title of my workshop, “Creating Stories that Matter,” for this year’s conference.   It now strikes me that it’s a bit presumptuous – well, OK, a lot presumptuous; however, I had an experience recently that clarified what I mean by this. I did a performance two weeks ago on a Saturday night at Next Door restaurant in New Haven: a new series, which includes storytellers and musicians, organized by Saul Fussiner, a well-known local storyteller.  The owner of the restaurant gives the main room where the bar is over to this event, and it’s always a sellout, as it was this particular evening.  The storytellers were asked to tell a true story about 10 to 12 minutes in length on the theme of fitting or not fitting in. What I loved about the audience was its diversity: some old, young, black, brown, white, and LGBTQ.  Many of the audience seemed new to storytelling.  (Storytelling is, I believe, a new thing at the restaurant; usually, the shows are made up of musicians.) When it came time to tell my story, I took my place behind the microphone and looked into the bright lights shining into my eyes, which made it difficult to see the faces of the audience.  Nonetheless, I began to tell my story and could sense the audience was with me.  When I reached the climax, something happened, and I’m not sure exactly what it was.  Either my eyes had become accustomed to the darkened room, or the lights shining at me dimmed, whatever is was, the audiences’ faces came into sudden focus.  I could see quite clearly that they were seeing the story along with me.  This realization completely side-stepped any intellectual reasoning on my part – it registered deep down at gut level.  When I said the next line, there were cries of “Yes!” and “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”, and a spontaneous burst of joyful applause.   This has never happened anywhere where I have told this story before. I finished the ending lines to cheers, laughter, and thunderous applause – well, it would have been thunderous if there had been more than fifty people there! So, why does this short story matter?  Because on a dark, rainy night in New Haven, it spoke a simple truth about the human condition to a small bunch of people. About Jennifer: Jennifer Munro creates stories whose characters will have you cheering one moment and weeping the next.  She has performed at major festivals across the nation, most notably, the National Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee.  She has two Storytelling World award-winning CDs; her first book Aunty Lily, is also a Storytelling World winner. www.jennifermunro.net        

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Sharing Our Stories - An Act of Generosity ©2020 Jennifer Otto and Eileen DeLorenzo      Jennifer and Eileen will be presenting their workshop "A Bicycle Built for Two: The Balancing Act That Is Tandem Telling" at Sharing the Fire 2020. Register today at https://www.nestorytelling.org/conference-details/ “Hallo.” “Hello. Can I help you?” “Is this your house?” This was my first story swap at Northlands regional storytelling conference. From those first lines of the story to the end, I was enamored with the pig in Jennifer’s story, “How the Pig Came to Stay at My House.” For almost a year, her contemporary folktale held a spot in my brain as a story I needed to tell. When I finally emailed Jennifer, asking for permission, she generously emailed me the story. It was a hit in local elementary schools. The regional storytelling conference rolled back around. Excited to be back and still in the glow of a well-received story freshly in my repertoire, I met Jennifer in the hall going into the restroom. “Hello.” I chimed out in my best Pig voice. Jennifer raised one eyebrow, “What? What’s that?” “That’s the Pig from your story.” “That’s not my Pig. That’s your Pig.” “Are you sure?” “Yep.” “How does your Pig say, Hello?” “Hallo.” “That doesn’t sound right.” “That’s my Pig.” “I’ve been telling your story thinking it was with your Pig when it was actually my Pig!” “We all have an inner Pig.” Indeed, personal epiphanies can come in the most unexpected places. This encounter set us on a fun-loving path of friendship and partnership as tandem tellers. Stories need to go out into the world. Standing by this belief, Jennifer shared her story. In its own course, it made its way back to her. “The Pig” became the first story we would tell as tandem tellers. This is what happened at one regional storytelling conference. Who knows what might happen at Sharing the Fire!   About Jennifer: Jennifer Pahl Otto creates original stories for children and adults, always with a unique point of view and a distinctive voice, quirky and kind. She tells her stories at schools, nature centers, storytelling festivals and conferences, and other public events. Mead Hill has published four books of her children’s stories. https://jenniferpahlotto.wixsite.com/jennifer-pahl-otto About Eileen: A mid-Michigan storyteller, Eileen DeLorenzo enjoys telling stories to audiences of all ages. Her love of story within the art of creating images, and the shared dynamics between teller and listener fuel her warm and lively performances. A professional storyteller, Eileen performs at schools, libraries, community engagements, organizations, and Tellabrations! www.eileendelorenzo.com    

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