© copyright 2000 by Harlynne Geisler
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"They say I tell a great many stories; I reckon I do, but I have found in the course of a long experience that common people, take them as they run, are more easily informed through the medium of a broad illustration than in any other way, and as to what the hypercritical few may think, I don't care." --Abraham Lincoln
APRIL FOOLS' FUN
Wanna celebrate April 1 (or any day you feel like being silly)? Invite your friends over to share funny personal stories about times when they were foolish. You can tell them about the silly happenings in the towns of fools. "What towns of fools?" you ask. Why, in folklore in many countries people have been laughing for centuries at the noodleheads who gather together in one place. Many storytellers know of Chelm in Jewish stories of Poland. How many of the following towns of fools have you heard of?:
Belmont and Meiringen, Switzerland; Gotham, England; Holmola, Finland; Hums, Iran; Lagos, Mexico; Masi, Solomon Islands; Montieri, Italy; Schilda or Schildburg, Germany; Kampen, Netherlands; Mols, Scandinavia
Plus there are fools whose very names make listeners smile in anticipation of their antics: Giufa in Italy, Guno and Koya in Java, and Nasreddin [or Nasrudin] in Iran and Turkey.
Two authors have even collected stories of crazy nuts: Jagendorf Moritz's book is called Noodlehead Stories from Around the World (Vanguard, 1957) and Maria Leach's book is Noodles, Nitwits, and Numskulls (World, 1961).
I suggest starting your party with the African-American tale, "The Walk-off People" in A Treasury of Southern Folklore by B.A. Botkin. When Eve grew lonesome, she asked the Lord to make more folk for her to talk with. He made them out of the mud and lay them up against a fence to dry. The next morning when Eve met the Lord at the fence to watch Him put the brains in all those folk, there weren't any there. They'd dried during the night and walked off...and they've been multiplying ever since.
To find other stories of the fools and towns I've mentioned, use the subject index in Margaret MacDonald's The Storyteller's Sourcebook.
* * * *
Here's a short, funny tale about one of these fools:
A WISE FOOL
Everyone knows that Nasreddin was a wise fool of whom many tales are told in the Middle East. You say you didn't know that? Well then, I'll tell you a story about him, and you will. Nasreddin was asked to give the sermon for the next three Fridays at the local mosque.
Being a lazy man he hadn't prepared his talk by the time the first Friday rolled around. Looking at the congregation, he asked, "Good people, do you know what I'm going to tell you today?"
"No, Nasreddin," replied the men seated on the prayer rugs.
"No, Nasreddin," whispered the women hidden behind the latticework in the balcony.
"What! If you're so ignorant, I can't be bothered to share my knowledge," huffed Nasreddin. He stalked out of the mosque.
The next Friday he asked the same question. This time the cunning congregation, remembering the week before, called out, "Yes, Nasreddin!"
"Then I won't waste your time telling you what you already know." Nasreddin smiled and walked out.
By the third Friday when Nasreddin repeated his question, the congregation was so confused that some answered "Yes," and some answered, "No."
"Good," Nasreddin beamed. "Let the people who know tell the people who don't." And he strolled out of the mosque to go home and lie under his fig tree.
* * * *
A good story fills the belly. Irish proverb
THE SEE, HEAR, AND DO METHODS OF STORY REMEMBERING
Are you one of those people who swears they can't remember a story, not even a short joke? Not everyone learns in the same way. You may not yet know what method of learning a story works best for you, so try several of these methods on the short story above. You'll soon figure out what works best for you.
The methods are:
SEE: VISUAL METHODS
l. Close your eyes while sitting or lying in a comfortable position. Imagine that the inside of your eyelids is a movie screen and picture the narrative happening as if it were a silent movie.
2. To get the basic details of the plot firmly in mind, draw the story in the form of a cartoon strip with 4-8 boxes. Stick figures are okay. Balloons with minimal dialogue written in them can be put above the characters' heads.
3. If you think more in words than in pictures, writing an outline of the story may fix it more firmly in your mind.
4. Photocopy the story, and put the copy in your purse, pocket, or backpack. The next time you're standing in line at the grocery store, bank, etc., read your copy.
HEAR: AURAL METHODS
1. Read out loud every story you're considering remembering.
2. Make a tape of a written story you wish to learn. Play the tape back to yourself whenever you're washing dishes, driving in the car, or doing any chore that doesn't call for your full attention.
3. Buy or borrow from a library a tape or CD of stories, and listen to it.
DO: KINESTHETIC METHODS
1. Act the story out several times. Each time take a different character's role. Be sure to handle props, and move around as the characters would, for this is a method I call "learning the story through your bones."
* * * *
Belonging to a storytelling group can provide you with many benefits. Just a few:
1. You'll meet good people.
2. You'll hear wonderful stories.
3. You'll get a chance to practice your own telling.
Starting a storytellers' group isn't difficult, but it requires a little time and effort. Find a free room somewhere (a local library, bank, or your home), and decide upon a date at least a month in advance of the meeting. Type up a notice of the meeting, and send it to every newspaper and radio station in the area. (They may be interested in interviewing you, which will further publicize the group.) Photocopy an attractive flier about the meeting, and send it to every library, college, school, and bookstore with a request to post it. Call not only every professional and amateur storyteller you know but also every storytelling teacher listed in adult education and college catalogs, every children's performer, folklorist, and every person who would enjoy listening to stories but might not want to tell them. Listeners will be the largest portion of your group--and what would the tellers be without them? Don't charge for membership or meetings, and don't start a newsletter until a few meetings have shown you the interest in your community. Be sure to have at least three tellers lined up in advance of each meetings, and invite people to perform at each meeting who haven't signed up in advance. Don't waste time at public meetings with elections and minutes. Save that for a private monthly meeting with the dedicated regulars.
WHERE CAN STORIES BE TOLD?
- camp programs
- museums
- churches
- nightclubs
- coffeehouses
- park
- programs
- conventions
- radio
- festivals
- schools
- fund-raisers
- senior citizen centers
- historical associations
- television
- social concerns groups
- holiday programs
- hospitals
- universities
- hotels
- variety shows
- luncheons
- women's clubs
* * * *
Wide is the leaf, narrow is the way,
Tell yours now, as I have had my say.
Saturday, April 8, 2000, Los Angeles, CA 2:00 p.m. Harlynne Geisler tells "Tartan Tales: Scottish Stories." Los Angeles Public Library, 630 W. Fifth Street. 213-228-7256
April 11, 2000 10:30 a.m. San Diego, CA Harlynne Geisler tells. Mission Hills Library, 925 W. Washington St., San Diego 619-692-4910
April 16, 2000 San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park 1:00-4:30 p.m. Colors from the Garden Family Festival! See the world through rose colored glasses of your own design. Create a flowerpot and fill it with seeds to grow your own living artwork. Dance to the sounds of Vivaldi's Spring. Listen to stories about flowers by Harlynne. Adults $10 Children $5 619-696-1966
Saturday, May 6, 2000 Long Beach, CA Southern California Storyswapping Festival 9-4:30, Harlynne Geisler, author of Storytelling Professionally, will present a workshop on professional storytelling. Los Altos United Methodist Church, 5950 E. Willow St. Small fee charged. Long Beach Storytellers (310) 548-5045 Fax: 548-5576 e-mail: nancycon@earthlink.net
May 13, 2000 2:00 p.m. San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park Second Saturday Storytelling. Harlynne will tell stories. 619-696-1966. Free.
June 10, 2000 2:00 p.m. San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park Second Saturday Storytelling. Harlynne will tell stories. 619-696-1966. Free.
June 16-20 2000 Harlynne will be on tour in Illinois. For a listing of her public shows go to her website. To book her in Illinois, just give her a call or e-mail storybag@juno.com.
June 23-25 2000 Calabasas, CA Summer Solstice Folk Music, Dance & Storytelling Festival. Harlynne will tell and teach stories. Soka University. http://www.ctmsfolkmusic.org/ 818-342-7664
Tuesday, July 18, 2000 San Diego, CA 10:30 a.m. Harlynne Geisler tells "The Story Behind Star Wars" Rancho Bernardo Branch Library, 17110 Bernardo Center Dr. 538-8163
July 25, 2000 San Diego, CA 10:00 "The Story Behind Star Wars" Storyteller Harlynne Geisler will tell the original folktale about a farm boy who goes off to rescue a princess with the help of a magical old man and a lot of strange friends. Clairemont Library, 2920 Burgener Blvd. 858-581-9935
Tuesday, August 1,2000 10:30 a.m. San Diego, CA Harlynne Geisler tells "Leaping Lizards: Dragon Tales Around the World." Rancho Bernardo Branch Library, 17110 Bernardo Center Dr. 538-8163
Saturday, August 5, 2000 Los Angeles, CA "The Story Behind Star Wars" Storyteller Harlynne Geisler will tell the original folktale about a farm boy who goes off to rescue a princess with the help of a magical old man and a lot of strange friends. 2:00 p.m. Los Angeles Public Library, 630 W. Fifth Street. 213-228-7256
Tuesday, October 31, 2000 Oceanside, CA 6:30 p.m. Harlynne Geisler tells Gross and Gory Stories for adults and children ages 10+. Old Mission Branch Library, 3861 Mission Ave. 760-966-4684.
Saturday, November 4, 2000 Los Angeles, CA "Leaping Lizards! Dragon Stories Around the World" Dragons can be dimwitted, dance-loving, diabolical, or diminutive. Storyteller Harlynne Geisler's tales and riddles about them are from Ghana, China, and Spain. 2:00 p.m. Los Angeles Public Library, 630 W. Fifth Street. 213-228-7256
When you think of master storytellers one name is familiar to us all--Walt Disney! And now, at The Disney Store Online you can find lots of popular stories for children and adults. When you go to The Disney Store Online
click in the search window and type in: storybook. You'll see lots of wonderful Disney stories there (some on cd rom for your computer). You can purchase them right On-Line and have them shipped straight to your home. It is so convenient shopping from your computer.