Tellabration and More

Well a lot has happened for the Patchwork Players since last we blogged. The high point was probably International Tellabration Day. That is the day when folks all over the world, on every continent except Antarctica, gather to share stories. In these parts James (JamesStoryMagic), the South Coast Storytellers Guild, and the First Lutheran Church of Vista hosted a concert. The event included local, nationally known, and internationally known tellers, including Harlynne Geislar, Mindy Donner, Panchita Acevedo, David Whiting & Dianna Sprithawk, and The Patchwork Players. There was probably the greatest collection of tandem tellers ever collected on one stage. The show was second in a series of concerts at First Lutheran. The crowd was enthusiastic and plan to return for future concerts.

After the Tellebration, Patti jetted off to perform for an overnight gathering of teen from the Seaside Church. She told them a variety of stories (NOT the kindergarten variety). The highlight, though, was a storytelling game where each had to tell us three "facts, two totally true and one that was a dream that they hope to make true in the future. It gives you a lot of faith that this planet will be okay when you hear the dreams of our young people!

On August 22^nd James produced the first in a series of concerts at First Lutheran. Since it was back to school time, the theme was 'Lessons Learned'. Tellers included Doris Hand, Marilyn McPhee, Dave Chittenden, Sarah Saulter, Laura Beasly, and James. There was an great turnout. At the artists reception after, two young girls had the tellers autograph a 40 year old book of folktales. They were so excited, the tellers and the girls. It looks like we can build North San Diego into a storytelling nexus.

There were two wonderful storytelling festivals in the last few months. There was the first Orange County Storytelling Festival, and the long running Los Angeles Storytelling festival. Patti & James attended both.

The Orange County Festival was produced by internationally known teller Michael McCarty, and featured tellers like Christopher Yates, Antonio Sacre, Sandra Muzimoto Posey and. It featured concerts, a story swap where folks can share their stories, and Patti & James tell some of theirs. There were also workshops on storytelling, and a 'Fringe' concert with tales of a more adult nature. It was a fine first offering for the Orange County Festival.

Then there was the 8^th annual LA Storytelling Festival. Again there were concerts, workshops, swaps, and Fringe. Tellers at the LA festival included local, and national favorite Angela Lloyd, Hawaiian teller of spooky tales Jeff Gere , performance artist Kristina Wong, and storyteller Richard Marsh all the way form Ireland, Ina Buckner-Burnett the 'Sunshine Storyteller, and San Diego favorite Marilyn McPhie as emcee. We're glad this festival continues to draw top notch talent.

Along the we Patti and James busied ourselves with other shows.

James presented as Kvasir, his Norse storytelling alter ego, at a local Viking Festival.

The Patchwork Players old 'Not To Scary' stories at a San Diego library. We have been well received at that library in the past. They have already asked us to do three gigs next year. And then we performed for a Happy Halloween corporate event.

James told at the 'Thrilling and Chilling' concert hosted by the South Coast Storytellers Guild on Halloween night.

Patti and James also served as MC's for the San Diego Jewish Book Festival in La Jolla. This is the 4th year we have been there, and so enjoy seeing the new books for Jewish authors, meeting some of the authors, and sharing some of our favorite Jewish folktales. It is so fun to see friends there year after year.

And, as always, we continue our weekly work at Rady Children's Hospital as Healing Arts Associates on staff. We never get tired to telling stories to the children, family and staff at the hospital. We are even going to play Santa and Mrs. Claus for a special event there mid-December. Ho ho ho!

Now we are running headlong into the new year. Huzzah! remember, the Patchwork Players are already booking for next year, so contact us soon to get us soon to do a concert of workshop for your event, party, or gathering. And for our librarian out there, we are offering two programs for the Summer Reading theme; 'Tales of the Seven Seas: Pirate Stories', and 'Why the Sea is Salty, and Other Stories of the Sea'.

And don't forget the day after Thanksgiving is National Day of Listening. Get someone to tell you are story, or tell one to somebody. It is a great project and a perfect way to enjoy your holiday weekend. http://www.nationaldayoflistening.org/

James' Adventure at Anticipation and Montreal

While Patti is still on her Alaska Adventure (see her blog here www.pattidicksgrandadventures.blogspot.com ), I have returned form my adventure to Montreal. As you may remember, I was there for the 67^th annual World Science Fiction Convention, this year called Anticipation. Although I have been going to science-fiction conventions for over 30 years, I did more than play attendee. I taught a Storytelling workshop, and sat on several panels. What follows is my travelogue.

Things started a bit bumpy. When Wes, my traveling friend for many years, discovered he had forgotten his passport. So, he caught a later flight, and I went alone. That's OK, it gave me time to review for the convention. After four hours in the air, a few hours at O'Hare, and another two hour flight, I was in Montreal. I found it interesting, that flying into Montreal, I noticed that nearly every home, and apartment building, had pools! I never thought of Montreal as a hot place. I suppose I should be more aware of our neighbors to the north.

Montreal is beautiful, unlike any other city that I have been to in the Americas. Of course, we were smack, dab, in the middle of some of the most interesting places in the city. Our hotel abutted Old Montreal, with is narrow streets. Very old (by new world standards) buildings. Quaint shops, and restaurants, magnificent churches, and museums. China Town was just on the other side of the convention center, maintaining her charm. Then there was St. Catherine's Street just a few blocks away. St. Catherine's is where you will find all the happenin' shops, restaurants, street performers, and such like.

Since Wes was following four hours behind me, I settled in, and set to do what conventioneers of all stripes love to do: Party. There are many parties to choose from, hosted by cities, countries, publishers, fan organizations, etc. Each with it's own theme, and food, and drink combinations. I thing this year it goes to the Texas party. They had both beef, and chicken fajitas. and margaritas.

The next day, it was time for the programs to start. It's hard to describe what kind of programming an SF convention has to offer. I'll tell you about a few that I attended: The Politics of Science, Mad Social Scientists, George Lucas; Film Savior or Destroyer?, Food -Ancient-Modern-Future- Near and Far, and, Cultural Geography in Science Fiction, Re-Boot; Old Shows and Movies That Have Been Remade. As well as all that there was gaming, films, Filking (folk music for SF fans), and more.

Now, as for what I participated in; I did a concert for the kids in the kids play area. Those kids told almost as many stories as I did. There are some great budding tellers out there. I was on a panel called “What Makes A Good Story?” Other panelists included; Robert Silverberg, Scott Edelman, Nancy Kress, and Bill Willingham. It was fun to discuss the basics of Story with those luminaries. There was the panel called “First Contact: Creating History. Myself, and too many panelists to mention, took teens thorough a thought experiment; How would they create the story of our first alien contact. Then I was part of a panel called Playlists, Side Two, where the panelists played their top ten Science Fiction-y songs. And gave a little history behind them. Panelists; Alaya Dawn Johnson, John Kenny, Richard Chwedyk, and myself, brought tunes ranging from 1920's Blues, to 21^st Century Alternative. Great fun was had by all, and we all went away having heard something new. I also taught a Beginning Storytelling workshop. I was scheduled against the Masquerade Show, and a fireworks show. Even still, a few stalwarts showed up. Evidently I was doing a good job, as they stayed over a half an hour after the workshop was to end. One of the attendees was author Walter Hunt. He was looking for some tips to improve his book readings. Walter later told me that he had learned a lot. So much so, I was worthy to grace his blog. Thanks Walter, next time I hope to make it to your reading.

Let's not forget the food! Since we were right on top of Old Montreal, Wes and I stopped at one of their watering holes, The Victoria Pub. Where we sampled some of Canada's beers, had a bit, and started the afternoon. We ate in Chinatown twice. Once at The Hong Kong. It was not the best Chinese I have ever eaten. But there were some wonderful flavors that I can't remember tasting before, with interesting names for the dishes. Like the War Bar, which, it turns out, is a combination of shrimp, scallops, squid, bass, Chinese cabbage, and tomato. All in a rich sauce that tasted like a cross between BBQ and Sweet and Sour. Our second trip to Chinatown was a specific hunt for those 'happy little packages', Dim Sum. We were told that the Maison de Hong Kong was the best in town. We got there the last day of the convention, Monday morning. So the place was pretty quite. But after we tasted those tiny morsels, we could imagine the place packed on the weekends. Wes and I are both shrimp lovers, so we must have had shrimp dim sum at least eight different ways. Everything was delicious. A definite must-return-to, next visit to Montreal.

Even the restaurants at the convention center, and the hotel, Delta Centre-ville, had something memorable to offer. At then convention center we tried Fourquet Fourchette, it bills itself as Bière et cuisine. There was a definite flavor of the native peoples there, canoe over the bar, carvings here and there. They even had a dish that, in English, was the Amerind Mixed Grill. However, on the reverse of the menu in French, it was called the Pow Wow Platter! This place specializes in micro-brews, and game meat. So we ordered the six beir taster. Everything form very dark, to very light. I found the most interesting to be the Cassis bier, just sweet enough. The salad bar was nothing to write home about. And we both had the Cream of Lettuce Soup. Good, but not something I'd cross town for. But the main dishes were very good. I had the mixed game sausages. I tiny bit dry, but better with the mustard. Wes had the Venison Ravioli. I think he got the best end of the deal.

At the hotel we ate on the ground floor restaurant, the name of which I cannot remember. There we had steaks. They were quite good, but nothing we can't get back home. The appetizer, however, was excellent! Bison Carpaccio, with shaved aged Parmesan, and a hazelnut-truffel oil. That was the best bison I've ever tasted.

Most of the time, however, I ate at the parties. And what food and drink there was to be had. There were cheeses, candies, cookies, treats, and all manner of adult beverages, from all around the globe. There was the Nippon party, hosted by the producers of the 2007 Worldcon, in Japan. They served Japanese Pancakes, and all kind of Japanese snacks that are hard to describe. And of course Sake. The Montreal party features something called 'Smoked Meat', which is evidently a local specialty. It is smoked brisket, on a bagel. And ther was the Friendly Scandinavians party, regulars at every Worldcon I have been to. They are a contingent of Fins , Swedes, and Norwegians. The, of course, featured Aquavite. Now if you haven't tried Aquavite yet, be careful. It has a very strong anise flavor, and it packs a punch. There were at least a dozen more parties, to many to review here. But it's not just the food and drink that make the parties. It's the mingling. There are always lots of old friends to meet up with, and new friends to be made. Friendships forged at Worldcons can last for decades. I got to meet David Kyle, likely the oldest SF fan yet living. He is a spry 90 years old, he attended the first Worldcon in 1936, and seems to have never left. And I met some other new friends, whom I will likely be connected with for years to come.

So that is my mini-travelogue. A brief introduction to Montreal, and Science-Fiction fandom. Maybe you will be moved to join our ranks. Either way, hope to see you at a storytelling venue soon.

Speaking of storytelling again...don't forget the concert I am producing on 8/22/09:

Lessons Learned Storytelling Concert

Saturday, August 22, 2009
6:30p-8:00pm

Followed by reception and snacks

Do something fun before school starts!
James Nelson-Lucas brings some of his storytelling
friends from Orange and San Diego Counties to share stories for the whole family. Some true, some not so true, and others just plain fantastic. Laura Beasley, Dave Chittenden, Doris Hand, Marilyn McPhie, Sara Saulter, and James will be telling. Be prepared for a a fun evening.

Admission at the door: $5.00

First Lutheran Church of Vista
1410 Foothill Dr
Vista, CA 92084
(760) 583-9578 for info

I hope to see you there

A Summer for Art

On July, 11th we performed at The New Children's Museum.: in San Diego:

We have done programs for The J. Paul Getty Museum, in LA, as well as at the San Diego Museum of Art, and the La Habra Children's Museum, always striving to bring art to life for the audience. We have developed some interesting ways of working with art. It's always different everywhere we go, and we always learn something new. Here is what Patti and James have to say about their process and experience at The New Children's Museum.

We were asked to create a storytelling experience using an amazing large mural/interactive piece of art by Mark Mulroney entitled '“Don’t Put That in Your Mouth” and other good advice from my mother'. This piece is often referred to as The Shadow Puppet Theater by most visitors.

The installation is huge, Covering two walls, and a carpet on the floor. It is full of all kinds of strange, funny and wonderful images. Such as giant hands and shadow puppet-like figures, ladders, cats holding umbrellas, twisted tress, and window that could be showing us the contents of a giant’s tummy….our thought was “Okay, there has GOT to be some stories to be found there!” And we went to work, looking for the stories,.

First, as in any art piece, we looked at it, both in person, and in photos. Our brains started churning out ideas. We found, in our research, that the piece was inspired by thinking about strange things kids thought might live under the stairs. Hmmmm, okay. Lots of shadows, including a projection screen and a place that kids could create their own shadow puppets and then try them out in the light. Interesting! What about those cats? And the trees? Maybe the shadows are what is important. Or maybe the theme of being inside either the giant’s tummy or the cat’s tummy. Wow! A lot of different possible directions that we could go.

There are a couple of main ways to go with melding art and stories. One is to see what already written stories the piece reminds you of, and the other is to create something new, either with the audience or beforehand by ourselves. We thought we would try a combination. Definitely, we would spend some time helping the kids be “art detectives” and take a lot closer look at the piece than most children are apt to do. We often see kids look at a roomful of art in 10 seconds and then declare they are bored, and ready to move on. They need to learn how to slow down and really be with the art. We help them to to be 'Art Detectives', and soak the art in.

Then we began our search, and harvesting of already existing folktales or literally stories that might fit in here. The first one we thought of was about a contest between two artists. One artist works hard, and paints fantastic pictures on a wall, while the other naps. At the end, the napping artist, with his blank wall, uses a mirror to “copy” other other artists' work. Thus, fooling the judge. But the lazy artist learned his lesson. Next time, do the work. That story could work well with the great art, but a blank wall as well.

Next we thought of one of our favorite stories, about a princess who asked for all the cats in the kingdom for her birthday. Every kind of cat! She received thousands of cats, which eventually needed to be cleared out of the castle. This was done by inventing the “catapult” and sending the cats on an airborne trip out of the castle. The catapult sent the first batch flying, MEEEOOOW, and landed on their heads, BUMP. But the next ones figured out how to land on their feet. And that is how, even today, if a cat falls out of a tree, they land on all four feet. This fits in with our cat theme, and we would be able to use the shadow puppet project to show the catapult and cats flying through the art. Good!

Alright, what else? Oh, the Japanese folktale called 'The Boy Who Drew Cats', where a boy only loved drawing cats everywhere. He has several adventures , until he is finally sent to stay at a haunted temple with blank, white walls (there is that wall again) on which, he of course draws cats. He goes to sleep and then in the night hears a terrible ruckus, and when he comes out in the morning he is surprised to see blank walls, with no cats, a servant comes in saying he saw and giant rat running out of the temple, and down the road screaming. It had been chased away by hundreds of cats. The boy is a hero, the temple is saved and he is made the resident artist where he got to draw cats all day long.

Great, we have our stories (along with a bunch of appropriate props) and so headed off the the museum to see what we would create together with the children.

Thea art detective portion went very well, with one big surprise: these little nondescript blobby guys, which neither of us could figure out What in the world they were, we got an answer. One little boy looked at them and announced He’s the Hot Dog Boy. And all agreed yes, indeed he was. With him as the main character in place, we created the following group story using the art as our jumping off point and focus.

This is the story we, and the kids, made up:

Once upon a time there was a little Hot Dog Boy who was off walking in the scary woods. AS he walked along, it got scarier, and scarier. Suddenly, he was very surprised to look up and see a giant hand with a flying cat on it. He was so scared that he ran away as fast as he could Then, he saw in front of him, a ladder, and he thought, “Oh good, I can escape by the ladder”, but at the top of the ladder, he saw a giant ready to eat him. So he turned around and ran the other way there. There he was very surprised to see a cat holding an umbrella because it was raining so hard. The Hot Dog Boy asked the cat where he could hide, and the cat told him,”You can hide in my tummy”. After along time, the giant passed on by, and the cat sneezed the Hot Dog Boy out of his tummy and they all lived happily ever after.

In an alternative version, Hot Dog Boy was looking for his mother and found her in the cat’s tummy, where he rescued her by tickling the cat’s nose until he sneezed the mama out. She got flowers from the Hot Dog Boy and they both lived happily every after. (Do you detect a theme here?)

All in all, the folktale stories went well, and creating the Adventures of Hot Dog Boy was a great time for all. Several kids and parents remarked that they had a great time, and one boy told us that he was going to go look for stories in the other art at the museum.
We had a wonderful time, and, as always, are so pleased at what happens when you get an audience to slow down and look and listen, using their imagination, for the stories.

It seems to be a summer of art for us. We are just finishing our library Summer Reading program. Every year, the libraries have a different theme for the program. This year it was 'Be Creative'. So we developed a program we call 'Art to Life'. We traveled to libraries all over Southern California. The 'Art to Life' program is a lot like what we did for the New Children' Museum. Except, we got to bring along a bunch of art of our choosing. Paintings, sculptures, masks, and cloth art. Again, we helped kids create new stories from looking at the art, we tell them to be 'Art Detectives'. One of the pieces was a painting of a beach scene. When we ask the kids about what is going on in the picture, they always say there are sharks in the water. Kids are fascinated by sharks. They came up with some great ideas. Not surprising. Most of children's play is centered around creating stories. And, of course we told some classic tales that we thought of when we saw the art. Rapunzel (thanks Karen Dietz for that piece), The Man Who Lost his Shadow, and, How Maui Caught the Sun. We can hardly wait to hear what the theme for next year will be.

Just because the Library Summer Reading program is almost over, does not mean we are done working. Next month, each of us will be doing some storytelling in Canada. Patti telling tales around the campfire in, Whitehorse Yukon, on the west coast, And James, teaching, and telling in Montreal, near the east coast, for the Anticipation convention. It will be great fun, telling to international audiences.

Remember to keep an eye on our calendar. We are always adding new stuff. For example: The Story Lovers World radio show. Hosted by Storyteller Jackie Baldwin. All SLW programs are on Sundays, 5-6 p.m. Pacific time, KSVY 91.3 FM, Sonoma, CA
After adjusting for your time zone, go to
http://thmm.com/ksvy/
Click on Listen Now! in the upper banner
You should be switched immediately into the program in progress.

Storytelling Tip:
Stories aren't about what happened. But rather, who it happened to.

We've Been Jumpin'

The Patchwork Players' Summer is officially about to begin. Throughout June and July, we will be taking our 'Art To Life' program to libraries throughout SoCal. In this program, we teach the kids to see the relationship between stories, and art. We will tell them some stories with art, and help them to create new stories from art.

On July the 11^th we will be telling at the http://www.thinkplaycreate.org/, in San Diego. They have a special area where kids can make shadow, hand puppets. We will be telling some interesting stories, with lots of audience participation. Come on down, bring the family. This museum is a beautiful space to explore.

Later, Patti will be taking a much deserved trip to Alaska. She will be gone from the end of July, thru August. She will be traveling by car, so she will get to see a lot of beautiful country. We are sure she will be bringing back some True Tales from her adventures.

July 15^th & 29^th James will be at the South Coast Storytellers Guild's 'Yarning and Yakking' concerts. He will be MC & Teller at beautiful Heritage Hill Historical Park, 25151 Serrano, Lake Forest, CA 6:30 to 8:30. Admission is $5 per person. For directions log on www.ocparks.com/heritagehill . There will be some great tellers from around Orange County, and one or two of us from San Diego.

James will be taking a trip as well. From August 5-10, James will be in Montreal for the annual World Science
Convention Convention: World Con; Anticipation. Longtime readers will remember that The Patchwork Players performed at the World Con when it was in Anaheim a few years ago. Then James was a Storyteller panelist at last years' World Con in Denver. This year he will be performing a concert, teaching a beginning storytelling workshop, and will appear on a few panels. Montreal, James is going international!

On Saturday, August 22^nd James will be producing a storytelling concert: 'Lessons Learned; It's never too late'. 6:30p-8:00pm James brings some of his storytelling friends from San Diego and Orange Counties.including some nationally known tellers; Laura Beasley, Dave Chittenden, Doris Hand, Marilyn McPhie, and Sarah Saulter. Be prepared for a a fun evening. Just a few days before school starts, they will be telling tales about lessons learned. Admission at the door will be $7 for Adults, and $5 for Kids. Such a deal!
firstlutheranvista.org
First Lutheran Church of Vista
1410 Foothill Dr
Vista, CA 92084
(760) 724-5440

Patti & James will be back together as The Patchwork Players again in September. We will also be looking forward to October. Always a busy month for us, what with spooky, and Not Too Scary Stories and all. Book us now and beat the rush.

So what have we been up to since we last blogged? A lot, that's what!

Everyone knows April 1^st is April Fools Day. But not everyone knows of The Fools Of Chem. Chelm is a town that is a part of the Eastern European Jewish storytelling tradition. Everyone in town is a fool. Their a multitude of Chelm stories. On April Fools day James shared some tales of these fools in one man concert, at the First Lutheran Church, in Vista, California.

The folks at Emeritus Senior heard James tell Mexican stories for Cinco de Mayo.

The annual Sam Hinton Folk Festival in Poway was on May the 9^th this year. There was lots of great music, and storytelling. James & Patti were there, along with Sam Diego tellers; Linda Whiteside, Fred Laskowski, Steve Gregory, Charles Johnson, Cynthia Griffin, Lynn Manning Ross, and Marilyn McPhie. We hope to see you there next year.

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On the 25^th Patti was off with her partner, Panchita
Acevedo. They told bi-lingual stories, for the Fallbrook Library. Patti tells in English, and Panchita tells the same story in Spanish. They put on a great show. Try to catch them sometime.

Meanwhile, James was at the 26^th annual Southern
California Story Swapping Festival, In Culver City. As one would imagine there were tellers, beginners as young
as 8 years old, and old pro's alike, from all over. There
were tellers to represent LA, Riverside, Orange Counuty, the Inland Empire, the High Dessert, San Diego, and st about anywhere else in SoCal you can think of. There are workshops, concerts, and fun. James told tales from
Norse Mythology to the crowd of his peers.

Sunday the 26^th, we entertained friends,and families of walkers at the Carlsbad Multiple Sclerosis Walk. It's important to set aside time, to give back to the community.

Wide, hooped, and ruffled skirts, soldiers from the North, and the South, Mountain Men, and even Abe Lincoln. It was Roosevelt Middle School's annual 1800's Day on May the 29th. Kids and staff alike came in some incredible costumes. There was a cotillion, other events, and James telling classic Tall Tales; Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and John Henry.

The Quail Botanical Gardens is one of the most beautiful places in North San Diego County. On June the 13^th they had the grand opening of their new Children's ' Garden. The Patchwork Players were there to tell stories about plants and nature, for the eager crowds. We also had the chance to peruse the gardens. They were wonderful. A creek for the kids to splash in, a tree house to climb. And of course, lots of cool plants And they had food, musicians; like Martin Espino of Mexica, and lots of great stuff for the opening.

Jontsok is a traditional Norwegian Summer celebration. The Vista Son's of Norway Norge Lodge, and the Fish Club Odin (James is a member, and resident storyteller) threw a joint celebration on Saturday, the 20th. There were more than 150 people gathered to throw axes, toss spears, watch live fight demonstrations, and to eat. There was also some fine music from Highland Way, among others, and pageantry. James was on hand to tell how how the Norse God Odin gained his wisdom.

We love the Girl Scouts, and we love telling stories for them. So on the 24^th the Patchwork Players did some heavy lifting for them. We went to a Girl Scout Day Camp in Anaheim, were the theme of the week was Pirates. We told pirate stories for more than 500 scouts, plus volunteers, and a few brothers who got dragged along. Since this was the Girl Scouts, we talked about true life women pirates, and told a great story called 'The Pirate Girl', surprise, she has a pirate mom as well. The girls (and boys) loved the show.

At the end of the month, James went to the San Diego Highland games to celebrate his Scottish roots, and listen to two of his favorite bands, The Wicked Tinkers, and Highland Way. Well, it happens that their storyteller, Steve Gregory, had a dickens of a time finding a parking spot. The event is huge. So, until the teller arrived, James jumped in, and told Tale of a Tail, Rory the Fox, The Man with no Story, and the Legend of Red O'Halloran. At last Steve was able to situate himself, and took the stage. No rest for the weary.

Along with all that, we continue our regular gig at Rady Childeren's Hospital. We are there every week to tell stories, and do a magic trick or two. We are also lucky to do a little show with musician Sundiata Kata, also on staff in the Healing Arts department. We have drumming, a plethora of other musical instruments, and storytelling. It is a very healing time.

See our Facebook pages under facebook.com/james.nelsonlucas & Patti Christensen.

As always; check out our calendar for our schedule.

Don't forget this regular event:

Story Swap; The Fourth Wednesday of every month at the Barnes & Noble. 10775 Westview Parkway, San Diego, California 92129. Storytellers of all levels share stories. If you are new to storytelling, this is a great place to be. Hosted bu Marilyn McPhie; 858-484-1325, mcphie@cts.com


Storytelling Tip: Folk Tales, Fairy Tales & Legends;

Everyone knows a Folk Tale, Fairy Tale, or Legend. As we mentioned last time; these are stories that you know, not that you memorized. This time we will talk about how to really put your own stamp on a story. James follows a process that works quite well for, and may work for you as well: Most every story you know, or about to learn, has many versions. Variations from different regions. Spins by individual tellers, and writers. We suggest that you get your hands on several versions of the story you want to tell. Go to the library, search the net. Here are some great sites; courtesy of Vicky Reed, She teaches storytelling at USD. Then read, and digest them all. Think about the elements that speak to you, run through the story in your mind. Then write your own version, one that incorporates all your favorite elements. Practice that version. Now, you still don't have to memorize. But now you have a deeper understanding of the story. And have personal ownership of your version. That will stick in your mind, and come from your heart, more than someone else's version. Now go wow your audience.

Spring '09 is here

Top of the Morning...and Happy Spring to You

March is always a favorite time for telling Irish Tales....as well as Patti having her birthday on St. Patrick's Day. We had a marvelous show at one of our favorite venues: The Dove Library in Carlsbad CA. We got some great press coverage including a couple of news articles. Take a look at one of them here. We brought out a new (for us) story about the dangers in building a house in a “fairy circle” of stones. As an audience participation piece, we had children standing and stomping and clapping chanting “We will, we will rock you” a la Queen. Got some smiles from the parents on that one.

Here's a place to find some great Irish stories if you want to read some for yourself. http://oaks.nvg.org/irish-tales.html

James also had a couple of fun solo shows, including stories and magic for the Order of the Eastern Star women. He traveled from table, to table, astounding attendees with his feats of legerdemain (a fancy way of saying; doing magic tricks). He went on to entertain the audience with folk tales from around the world.

James also told a tale of Norse mythology for the Fish Club Odin. A lively group where James is the resident storyteller. Everyone comes dressed as Vikings, eats cod, and does Scandinavian stuff. What can be more fun than that? Join the Viking Blade Yahoo group to learn more.

We also just were part of the 8^th Annual

Multicultural Festival in Irvine CA, filled with fun,

food, stories, music, dancers, and entertainment from cultures from around the world. We love dipping into stories that have traveled the world round, and enjoy sharing them. It was so much

fun to see different families in that school community cooking and sharing some of their VERY delicious specialties with the rest of us. There was food from Korea, Africa, India, Iran, England, the USA, Armenia, Spain, Italy, Japan,Viet Nam, and Belgium. And it was fun to tell stories and see nod's of recognition when we told a story that someone recognized from their heritage. Celebrating eating and telling stories together, goes a long ways towards creating a world where people get along.

And we still very much enjoy our weekly days at Rady Children's Hospital. The kids, families, and staff there are a joy to work with. Good news; the administration has decided to fund the Healing Arts department , for another three years. Our department consists of four storytellers, two harpists, a musician and his signing language using wife, and a visual artist. This is a great way to bring arts, and entertainment to kids in need.

Storytelling Tip:

Are you afraid to tell stories because you're not able to remember the whole thing? Not to worry! Forgetting a bit here is no big deal. The audience does not know the story, so they won't know what is missing. If you remember a bit later in the story you can always bring it back in: 'But what you don't know is...”. And whatever you do, Do Not Apologize. That just alerts the listeners to your mistake, when they otherwise would not have known. So, pluck up you're courage, go out there, and tell someone a tale.

As always, remember to check out our calendar at http://www.my.calendars.net/patchworkplayers , for more Patchwork Players, and other, storytelling events.

Into the New Year!

Happy New Year....who would have thought we would so soon be in 2000? It seems as though we just had 1984 and "The Millennium".

For the sixth year, we ended the old year at First Night Escondido. A family friend, alcohol-free event in North San Diego County. For a reasonable entrance fee there is truly fun for little kids, teens and adults and everything form hat making, to Tex-Mex, classical, country music...and don't forget storytelling.

We were so happy to see so many old friends and make some new ones. We enjoyed having our own dressing room (a perk that storytellers don't often get) and also had a fun experience. We were scheduled to tell stories until 9:10. At 9:00, a mother stood up and said, "You guys were really great storytellers. We so enjoyed your show, but we have to leave to go see the fireworks!" And then a few of the audience got up and left. Our sound tech told us, though, that when one dad leaned over to ask his kids if they wanted to go see the fireworks, they replied, "No, we want to hear the last story!" So, it's official, The Patchwork Players are better than fireworks!

We hope this year is one filled with lots of fireworks, fun, and great stories for all!

Patti and James

Happy Holidays 2008

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