Story of the Week: Aunt Marguerite's Practical Joke Etiquette

I count Andy a friend. He has headlined our Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival twice. Seven or eight years ago I took part with five or six other tellers in a two day storytelling workshop led by Andy at Sautee-Nacoochee.  It was great fun. I developed a story there that is still a part of my repertoire. At least three of my storytelling buddies from that workshop are still much-admired and good storytelling friends, Denise and Mike Mount and Melanie Knauff.

I think I heard Andy tell this story very early in its existence. I dearly love his Aunt Marguerite. She ranks among my very favorite fictional characters. In Andy's telling she seems quite real to me, and reminds me of folks I have known. 

I think you will enjoy this eight minutes of one of America's best storytellers. Be watching out. I think I will soon be able to invite you to a nearby AOI live storytelling concert. 

Meanwhile, you can enjoy some great storytelling right here in Rome Thursday afternoon, January 26,  at 2 o'clock. The Spires at Berry sponsors a storytelling session for their residents once a month in the big building by the lake and everyone is invited. I usually tell a story and then invite those in the audience who will to tell one of their own. I especially hope some of my friends in the Ridge and Valley Storytelling Guild will come join us. We'll tell stories for about and hour and that'll be it till next month. So come tell a story or just hear a few stories. Y'all come!

Gleaning Facebook: Saturday at NSF

 The fellow who wrote the following Facebook post saw the same three tellers I did in the courthouse tent this afternoon, Susan, Bil, and Andy. I hope he won't mind me sharing his words. I don't believe I have ever seen/heard such consistently good storytelling here before. I miss some of my favorites like Ed Stivender, David Holt, Carmen and John, Elizabeth Ellis, Kevin Kling, Suzi Whaples, Barbara McBride Smith, Jim May... I could go on. But I have met new favorites, especially Peter Cook, a deaf storyteller who is hilarious, creative, and sometimes touching. This afternoon he told of deaf folks and WWII starting with deaf students taking cover in Honolulu as Pearl Harbor was bombed, a deaf guy trying to pass as hearing so he could serve in the army, deaf people collecting money to help supply our troops, and of the German deaf people being liberated after horrible mistreatment by the Nazis.

-------------

Greg Weiss

National Storytelling Festival 2015

Saturday, October 3

What a day, what a day!

Once again, Susan Klein cast a spell over the audience with her first person tellings of Medusa and Beauty & the Beast. She opened Pandora's box or a treasure chest...or both, as she brought a richer, more complex understanding of these "simple" stories to her lucky listeners.

Bil Lepp's stream of comedy consciousness took us on a runaway rollercoaster ride through Half Dollar, WV and the lives of various public officials (the game warden, a chain smoking high school health teacher...), as seen through the lens of his teen posse. Every word of it was God's truth (insert lightning strike here). By the way, he is the first teller I've seen in Jonesborough who was notably disappointed that a train did not roll through town behind our tent during his set...the train tunnel was significant location in his story.

In Nonfiction Andy, a set as poignant as it was mirthful, Andy Offutt Irwin took us on a personal journey that answered the existential question, How did I get here? In this sixty minute memoir, he shared moments from college days, family life, his broad performance background, giving us a deeper appreciation for the person behind the stories. His genuine affection for those here and gone came through powerfully, if at times irreverently, as he impressed upon us the vital importance of extending kindness to all whose lives we touch. This was one of my all-time favorite sets in my 15 years attending the National Festival. By the way, Andy got Bil's train.

After a filling day of stories, I shared dinner with good friends from St. Louis at the Dining Room. Delicious food and delightful company.

And there's more tomorrow.

Gleaning Facebook: Azalea Storytelling Festival 2020

We have enjoyed a wonderful weekend of stories with hundreds of friends at the 24th annual Azalea Storytelling Festival in LaGrange Georgia. The four headliners include our two-time Big Fibbers stars Bil Lepp and Andy Offutt Irwin. I hope one day to bring Kim Weitkamp and Michael Reno Harrell to Rome as well. All four are such amazing crafters if stories. Joyce Morgan Young and Carol Cain and Linda Hart and all the folks who put ASF together can be real proud; what a great thing they have wrought.

I'm looking forward to #25 next March!

Comments:

Carol Cain Thank you, Terrell! So glad you were with us all weekend!

Terrell Shaw We had a ball!

Michael Reno Harrell One of the top festivals in the country. Loved being back!

Joyce Morgan Young Thanks, Terrell. So glad you and Sheila came to Azalea. Joyce

Alan Hoal Uncalled for quartet?

Gleaning Facebook: Bil & Andy Are Unleashed On Rome

The class clowns have arrived in Rome.

Mama Wolf’s expression says it all.

We kick off the public shows Friday evening at eight. Www.bigfibbers.com for tickets.

Paula Gordon Lepp, should you allow this guy out of the house unchaperoned? 

Comments:

Bill Candler
A traveler who went to Europe last fall informed me the original has only one sucker.

Terrell Shaw
Huh?! I never heard that! Did somebody steal one, like someone did here one time? 

Bill Candler
No clue, they seemed to be on the side of it was originally that way and the gift to Rome, Ga. is different for an unknown reason.

Andy Offutt Irwin
Bill Candler . ‘Posed to be two, the twins Romulus and Remus.

Benjamin Amis
There should always be two.

Capitoline Wolf - Wikipedia

Paula Gordon Lepp
I thought Andy Offutt Irwin WAS the chaperone! My mistake...

Terrell Shaw
Have mercy, Paula, you gotta know better'n that!

Paulette Crimm Gordon
Wish I was there.

Terrell Shaw
Paulette Crimm Gordon come on we got room.

John Paul Schulz
They're making a new one that looks like you. You will be honored.

David Matheny
No, Bil and Andy.....Momma ain't sharin'.

Dekie Hicks
Uh oh. It's started!

Tammy Lepp Killebrew
We will see u Saturday!!

John Paul Schulz
"Hey Romulus, this one's chocolate"

Tony Pope
Between our regular Tellers of Tales...can Rome handle this much storytelling at one time?!?!?! 

Gleaning Facebook: John Schulz on Andy Offutt Irwin

 February 16, 2019

Enhancing the movable living room.

Andy Offutt Irwin is the second of two champion storytellers who will be coming to Rome, GA for the Big Fibbers Storytelling Festival.

“…peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. One of the most sought after performing storytellers in the United States, Andy is a perennial favorite of the Teller-in-Residence Program at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and he has been a Featured Teller at the National Storytelling Festival nine times (as of 2017).”—pirated from the website.

Andy and Bill Lepp (from yesterday’s post) will be featured at the opening night of the Big Fibbers Story Telling Festival. These two men will open your eyes to the art of storytelling—I guarantee it.

The two men will also split up and visit the students who have participated in the in-school storytelling workshops.

The kids are in for a total treat. I can only guess at what effect storytellers of this caliber would have had on a ten-year-old John Schulz.

Mark your calendar for March 15

Judy Blankenship Emerick Can anyone go??

John Paul Schulz It's open to the public. I'll get ticket informaation in the next few days--just letting you know what it's all about right now.

Judy Blankenship Emerick John Paul Schulz thank you, you are making it VERY appealing!!!

John Paul Schulz Judy Blankenship Emerick Share it with all of your friends,

Robert Christopher Sawyer I'd like to take a crack at this story telling thing. You know I spent a lot of time in my youth listening to some great story tellers who had no televisions.

John Paul Schulz There are a lot of storytelling groups all over the world. You should go check out the events in Jonesborough, Tenessee some weekend. Are you still in Augusta? I'll ask my friends about contacts. (Terrell Shaw"

Emily Barba Can’t wait! He is fabulous!

Gleaning Facebook: Andy On the Homeless AND Refugees

 Andy Offutt Irwin is not only a wonderful and hilarious storyteller, he is also a thoughtful and principled person. He expressed my thoughts better than me today on his Facebook...

This morning I saw a meme on Facebook that read, "I WISH SOME OF YOU CARED ABOUT HOMELESS VETERANS... AS MUCH AS YOU DO ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES."

These words were mounted on a photograph of a veteran slumped on a park bench. He is obviously cold within his camo jacket, his capped head in his hands. A worn backpack at his side. He is the pitiful being on the streets whose gaze we avert.

But the either/or, two-dimensional condemnation of this meme gets under my skin. Somebody took the time to surf around the clip art sites, pick a font, type the words, and reduce this man's image to something that "could go viral." ("LIKE IF YOU AGREE!!!")

I have no way of knowing if the person who created this social media finger-wagger has ever volunteered at a homeless shelter. But I can tell you this: the majority of folks who do stay up all night to help to feed and shelter the poor and homeless in inner city church basements and repurposed bus stations, the people most likely to boldly make their way into abandoned buildings to help lift up the most damaged and forgotten of the "least of these my brethren," the people who possess the compassion (and risk the heartache to nurture that compassion) to dirty their hands on the blood and literal shit that accompanies such work, those are some of the same people who are going to go home, shower, take markers to poster board, and head to the airport so we won't have to dismantle the Statue of Liberty.

- Andy Offutt Irwin

Gleaning Facebook: Big Fibbers

From Tony Pope:

At Big Fibbers finale. I like this one the best!

 

Howard Smith

Are you at some Republican rally.... just guessing by the signs

Terrell

Maybe we could sell our posters to the Trump campaign?

Howard

And, invite one of his spokespeople to participate in the professional category next year.

Gleaning Facebook: Big Fibbers Poster 2016

This is the slightly updated version. A couple of typos have been changed and some unnecessary stuff removed, so share this one. The Workshop on Saturday will last two & a half hours from 9 AM till 11:30 AM. I had the time wrong on the last version. I'm not gonna make Andy be there at 8 AM after a very long Friday!

If you haven't heard Andy, let me tell you: You're in for some hilarity!

Lanette Adams Greene

He is so hilarious! I have heard him many times, and he never fails to tickle me. Not a second of down time when he is on stage.

Terrell Shaw
You are right about that Lanette!

Gleaning Facebook: Andy Offutt Irwin University

What a treat Saturday and Sunday have been for me this week. I spent them at the Stovall House B&B at Sautee Nacoochee, GA.

Our class picture, Sautee-Irwin University, 2015

 

Of course, I couldn't get a mere three miles from Helen Georgia without checking in on our dear friend Mildred Greear. My ulterior motive was to get Mildered to sing her song about Lookout Mountain into my cell-phone-recorder. She and I and Virginia Summer sat around a table this morning and talked and talked. And yes I recorded Mildrred and her song. And then about four other songs!

Julia Hilburn Dent
Wow!! Virginia looks great too!! I did not get to go to Mr. Summers service.

What a delight these two bright, and interesting nonagenarians are. Virginia just lost Lloyd (II) three weeks ago.

The upstairs hall.