Blog ; Denton Scare on the Square

    October 29 ,2011
    Saturday night at the Denton , County Court House,  Scare on the Square Ghost Story Concert.
    The ghost story concert was lots of fun with fun stories for the kids outside and the adult tales inside the court house. I want to share my appreciation of the other tellers and their talent and donated time for this concert.  Every teller did a great job and a good time was had by all. I would like to thank Genie Hammel for putting the concert together and the other tells were, Tim Couch, Maryann Clark and Janet Latham.
     What most audiences don't realize is how much a storyteller feeds off of their audiences faces, eyes and even their bodies. During the lawn concert, I was the last teller,  I asked the kids to come gather around closer to me  for the story and about a dozen or more plus a parent did. The reason I did that is somewhat selfish.  I had decided to tell a jump tale and that requires that I be in close contact with my audience but the main reason is that I needed to see your eyes and your faces. I feed off of your reactions to my story and without that ' 1 on 1 ' interaction storytelling looses its some of its power. We also had joining us a signer with what I believe were his kids or a group of kids and he did a great job.
      Storytelling is an intimate and very personal process which has greater impact in close quarters. Sound systems are wonderful but they should be there to help the storyteller be heard but that does not mean we should be telling to 1,000 people at a time. We have been seduced by the use of technology into playing up to larger audiences for the sake of time and money. Really I do understand this and how it came about and I have myself performed on the big stage but just because that is how it is done doesn't mean that is the best way. We (Storytellers and our stories)  are not movies or theater plays that are designed to entertain large audiences. We are only ' One ' and we are meant for small groups.
      The courtroom setting inside the courthouse is absolutely awesome. It is my favorite venue and perfect for almost any kind of storytelling though ghost stories do work particularly well in that setting.
   I only had time for one story last night in the court house and again I was the last teller (which by the way I enjoy being)  I performed the one story that I wanted to tell the most 'The Erl King' which uses the idea of Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe poem as its basis and theme.  This performance takes me back to my earlier dissertation regarding feeding off of my audiences faces. I had practiced this story 7 or 8 times trying to develop how the presentation would go. You have to understand that storytelling is more than just telling a tale. A certain amount of theater is involved as well.      
      To be honest I never really know how a story will come off until I perform it because the story doesn't really come to life until I am in front of my audience. Again this goes back to having an intimate audience but admittedly not all stories requires intimacy. [ Some stories like 'Jack Tales ' don't require intimacy to tell or for the audience to enjoy but even stories such as this will benefit from a small audience.]  So last night for the first time ever I told ' The Erl King ' not knowing if it would work or not.
      I can't begin to tell you how this works. How my mind kicks into gear and how all the practice suddenly fires up and something that had not existed moments before comes to life. ( it's kind of like Frankenstein "It's Alive... It's Alive...) It is hard to explain how I suddenly find myself improvising as I tell the story or how looking into the eyes of my audiences fires me up like a rocket going into the 3rd stage boost. It is all very surreal as it happens and takes me into a level that is even a mystery to me. The point is though that without that intimacy of the audience I don ' t get the same kick. Otherwise I might as well be telling my story to a wall. It is not that storytelling to a large audience can't work , it is more of a case that it is limited in how it works. So what happened last night I really can't explain. It is a mystery even to me. But what I can tell you is that it is a result of interaction between me and the audience. When I first discovered the Erl King  Poem nearly 5 years ago I immediately wanted to find a way to tell the tale. Finally last night I did and it became a powerful story just as I had hoped it would.
    I consider myself blessed to have had the opportunities that I have experienced as a storyteller and that includes the good and the bad (believe me there has been plenty of bad as to me and the setting and even audience). But it is moments like last night that make them all worth while.
    I would like to thank all who were there last might in that court house room as I told the tale of the Erl King . Thank you for letting me look into your souls and feed my story with it. It was your eyes, faces and bodies that breathed life into that story.  I was just a vessel through which the story took shape.
Thank You for allowing me the opportunity to share

Gary Whitaker aka the Storyman