Some stories are missing

I was using a service at Fileden.com to store the story recordings on this site, but for some reason, all the files have been deleted! This means that some of the streaming stories will come up as errors until I replace the files.

So if you notice that a story is no longer playing, please send me an email and I'll fix it.

The Lost Poetix Bag

The Montreal spoken word community seriously rocks. We are so blessed to have such an open and welcoming community. Last year, I dipped my toe into the spoken word community with some hesitation, not sure how they would react to a storyteller with all these poets. I had heard horror stories from other communities that stated that the spoken word community and the storytelling community stayed on opposite ends of the road and very rarely crossed to see what was happening on the others side. Supposedly, the storytellers didn't like the raw edginess of the spoken word world, and the spoken worders didn't like the traditional format of the storyteller's art.

But not in Montreal. For over a year, I have been warmly welcomed into various spoken word events and labeled as the Storyteller. The audiences have been receptive and generous and it has been a great, rewarding experience. Much love to Montreal's spoken word community!

So there's this event called MadPoetix run by the great Kym Dominique-Ferguson that happens on the second Sunday of the month (soon to be the second Saturday of each month in 2013). I've been going off and on for over a year now and I've told quite a few tales. Tonight was my return to MadPoetix after having taken the summer off, and I promised a new story that was a sordid tale from Kym's past.

This is a great frame story that I have used several times already. It allows for lots of customization, so I can throw in details about other people and events and it all seems natural. Enjoy!

I tried to clean up the audio on this recording, but since I used my Android to record it, it is what it is.

The Lost Poetix Bag (6:23) told by JD Hickey

Yuletide Story: The Devil's Canoe

People often ask me if I ever tell original stories or if I ever write my own stories. I usually bristle at this question, as if it suggests that I'm just parroting other people's stories word-for-word. When I  find a story I like, it goes through a transformation as I learn it, change it, drop details, add new details, and slowly make it my own.

You may be able to see a thread in the story that connects it to its traditional source, but the story I tell is mine.

That being said, this is a story that I wrote. I wrote it around the classic Quebecois story La Chasse Galerie, but the presence of the devil's canoe as a plot-device is the only thing I re-used. The rest of it is my own creation.

I don't tell this story often enough, mainly because it's a story I associate with this time of year. It was recorded before a live audience at Chateau Ramezay in Old Montreal in December of 2010.

The Devil's Canoe (11:35) told by JD Hickey