“Beware Beware the Bully Goat Grim” There is healing in laughter, especially the belly-rolling, milk-snorting, can’t-breath laughter. Watch the video below. Perhaps you have heard the story of the Billy Goat Grim, but this is a fractured version of the story, The Bully Goat Grim. The talented Willy Claflin performs with his “malaprop” puppet Maynard …Read More
Category: Storytelling
Pandora’s Box: A Story of Hope
“Be careful! You might be opening a Pandora’s Box.” Today, this means that a seemingly small and innocent action might have large and dire consequences. What are the lessons that most people take from Pandora’s Box? Be cautious! Don’t be too curious! Be careful what you wish for! You might be opening a Pandora’s Box. …Read More
Huge success! My first solo performance
“May the legacy of love live on through all of you.” I am deeply grateful to the beautiful audience of 32 friends and “once upon a time” strangers that supported me in my first 90-minute solo performance yesterday (August 25, 2017). Ten years ago, I was a timid voice exploring public speaking through a local …Read More
The four universal healing salves
In many shamanic societies, if you came to a shaman or medicine person complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions. When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence? Where we …Read More
Dr. Joel Ying on TV! Interview on Storytelling
Behind the Headlines: Storytelling Storytelling Performance gets more mainstream. Check out my interview by Amy Oshier on Behind the Headlines: Naples Daily News – part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. Originally aired at 10 a.m. Sunday on ABC-7. (The show starts after the commercial on the video link below or go directly to the Naples …Read More
Kevin Kling: Lost and Found
“Now when you’re born into loss, you grow from it. But when you experience loss later in life, you grow toward it.” Kevin Kling is a well-known, infectiously funny, and deeply touching storyteller, poet, and playwright. He has the distinction of having being born with a disability and also acquiring one later in life. He …Read More
The Rise and Fall of the Pun
What did the donkey say when he started to cough? I’m sorry, I’m just a little hoarse. When you hear a “good” pun, there is a reflex to moan, and you immediately say, “Oh, that was bad,” as if you had sustained a mortal wound. With a truly “good” pun, you might think, “That was …Read More
Florida Storytelling Festival: “The Teacher”
“Perhaps we should love ourselves so fiercely that when others see us they know exactly how it should be done.” — Rudy Francisco There are special people in the world who teach us what love is. One of those people came into my life in middle school as a very special teacher and mentor. Mrs. Chennault …Read More
The Right Honorable Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou)
The Right Honorable Dr. Louise Bennett-Coverley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on September 7, 1919. She died in Ontario, Canada, on July 26, 2006. Her body was flown back to Jamaica to lie in state in the National Arena, and then buried in National Hero’s Park, next to other great heroes and leaders of Jamaica. This …Read More
The Elephant: Stories You’ll Never Forget, 2017
“I haven’t laughed so hard in years…. It was captivating.” After a standing ovation, last year’s sold-out audience raved over the first StorySLAM to come to the Sugden Theatre. Ten local storytellers each gave spellbinding performances. On Monday, April 3rd, 2017, at 7pm the oral tradition of storytelling returns to Sugden Theatre in Naples, Florida, with “The …Read More