Joe Platt <jd_platt@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:ca0dd0a5c6548782383097923a1407e1.47334@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hello everybody,
>
>
> This is my first time on this newsgroup so let me introdoce myself.
>
> I'm a man of wealth and taste :)
> (It's such an old joke but I couldn't resist)
>
>
> My name's Joe Platt and I spend much of my time studying dolphins in the
> Outer Hebridies (A group of islands off the West Coast of Scotland).
> Somewhere along the line while I was up there I fell into storytelling.
> Personally I blame Ceilidhes. For those for whom the term is unfamiliar,
> or who can't decipher my spelling, they're a gaelic dance/session/party.
> You're expected to do a turn and in order to avoid inflicting my singing
> voice on the ensemble I ended up telling a story <Neil Gaimen's Dream of
> a thousand cats>.
>
> It got a pretty favourable reaction, people particuarly liking the
> story. With Ceilidhes being fairly common I thought I could do the same
> thing next time and so started preparing a story for the next one. And
> so the avalance started.
>
> I started about two years ago and in the meantime have managed to
> include some stories into a radio show called Fishtank which I do for
> local community radio station Isles FM.
>
> I've got to admit I'm completely hooked. Maybe it's the joy of taking my
> inability to stop talking and turning it to a useful, nay creative,
> purpose. Maybe it's the challenge because I don't know about you guys
> but I find it very difficult. Remembering the story, keeping the
> audience interested, maintaining clarity and above all keeping it smooth
> and flowing. For some strange reason it seems a lot easier on radio. I
> guess not being able to see your audience actually helps :).
>
> Now that's who I am and what I do, so, why am I here?
>
> Well first, it's always nice meeting people who you share a passion with
> but I also wanted some feedback on something I've encountered,
> particuarly feedback from people with experience in storytelling. I'd
> come across the storytelling tradition in Scotland several years
> perviously and quickly came to realsie that there were a small number of
> dedicated people who are maintaining the tradition. So I, like I suspect
> a great many people, associated the art with two main things.
>
> Fairytales and children.
>
> Every story I'd ever heard told was some variation on folktale or
> legend, and almost exclusively was rooted in celtic/gaelic myth. Now
> that's great. That's wonderful. Please don't think I'm criticising them
> because really I'm not. I really enjoy them but when I started telling
> stories myself they weren't the kinds of stories I was telling. I was
> using material from short story collections, comics and some from TV
> shows like X Files and Farscape.
>
> Incidently it's suprisingly hard to find modern authors who write short
> story anthologies. I'm very grateful to Stephen King.
>
> And that's what people liked. I'm not that bad at telling them but what
> got people hooked were the stories. They liked the fact that the story
> was directed at them as an adult, and they liked the dark, and slightly
> disturbing, nature of some of the stories I picked.
>
> Talking to my audience I soon became clear that none of them had heard
> storytellers telling stories aimed at a mature audience. So, getting to
> my point at last, I was wondering if anybody out there told similar
> stories and whether anyones interested in expanding into this area. It's
> real fun even if it's never more than a party trick to entertain your
> freinds.
>
> Anyway love to know what you guys think. Please forgive my spelling and
> that although I might be able to blather I can't write for squat. Look
> forward to hearing from you.
>
>
> Bye now.
>
>
> Joe
>
>
> P.S. There is one group of professionals who do tell ***y, funny
> stories. Billy Connolly, Eddie Izzard, Bill Hicks. Some of the best
> storytellers I've ever heard.
>
>
> --
> Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Hello Joe.
Nice to meet you.
Have you thought of taking your talent into the local schools?
I do school workshops as promotion for my books. The schools (in ***bria
anyway) love having people in and are very grateful and sup****tive of
people
willing to go in and work with the kids.
I charge expenses, ask that they buy at least two copies my books for the
school library ( or two books for each class if I'm doing a week) and I
sell
books to the children via flyers home. Which has proved sucessful.
The schools have now started booking me in week long blocks (leaves very
little time for writing) and I've done most of the primary and secondry
schools in the area.
I always read a chapter of one of my books before the end of the session,
and, without exception, the kids (even the hecklers) have been polite and
well-behaved and sat entranced listening. I think, if you have the gift
of
ad-lib storytelling, the kids would love it.
Sooz.
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