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.