Spending our evening class with Donald Davis last Thursday, after hearing him tell stories Wednesday night, was a very special occasion for me. Donald is one of the first professional storytellers I ever heard and I’ve always loved his stories. It was such a great learning experience, asking him how he does things, and then reflecting on his responses.
Of particular interest to me in the Wednesday night concert, was when he said that he observed the audience as they came in and decided which stories he would tell on the spot. I never would have imagined doing that, but his reasons make good sense. He saw the age of the people coming in and knew if he told stories about when he was in college, the kids would be lost. He said we were all kids once, so if he told stories about when he was a kid, NONE of us would be lost. And that’s just what he did! Before hearing this, I might have “prepared a program” and told it to whoever showed up. Now I realize that while I don’t have his skill at pulling stories to the front of my brain yet, I could go in with a cheat sheet of stories to tell based on my audience. I could categorize stories as “suitable for” – and if my story is suitable for adults only, and kids show up – just don’t tell that one.
As a separate topic, he talked about the audience feeling “safe” and it being his job to not tell a story that would threaten them, or make them feel unsafe. The audience has to feel safe to him, in order for him to tell certain stories. I think that’s sort of related to the point above, but this time it’s not just that they “get” the story, it’s whether it makes them uncomfortable. If it’s not a fit for the audience, and it makes them squirm in their seats because of the language or the content, it’s not a pleasant storytelling / story listening experience.
I know I had heard about audiences feeling “safe” before, but it was a foo-foo term to me before. The audience has to feel “safe”, what does THAT mean? But now I think I understand. I have a story about “Foreign Languages”, in which I’m the bartender and the old man from Texas tells me he “needs a little ice.” In his Texas accent, it sounds to me like he’s saying “ass” and I’m shocked! Well, this is a funny story for adults, but if there were families present, I can imagine a kid’s mother cringing at me saying what sounds like a crude sexual comment with kids present. With adults, while they may be initially shocked, they are pleased to learn he just wanted some help for the warm beer. I don’t think that story would go over in a public setting with both adults and young kids. I knew that, because I do have some common sense, but now I think it’s that foo-foo feeling “safe” I’ve heard about.
Finally, his suggestion to mine for stories by remembering places, and people was made relevant when I heard him say “This doesn’t happen overnight – it can take years!” I had heard of his memory jogging technique, but I tried it and it “didn’t work” – no story magically materialized. But now I know to keep working it, to keep remembering things, and like he said, eventually a story will just naturally come out of it.
It’s hard to walk away from a couple of evenings with Donald Davis without wanting to BE Donald Davis. I picture my growing up years, and at first I hear Donald’s voice and his familiar three-time repetition of a phrase: “I was running, I was running, I was running – fast as my legs could carry me towards Willy Walleye…” And then I have to stop and remember that while I have a lot to learn from Donald, nobody can BE Donald Davis, except Donald Davis. I need to tell my stories in MY voice, because nobody can be Sally Borg, except Sally Borg.
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