A Ghost Story for Children

This story is written and told for a much younger audience than previous stories presented on this storyblog. I first heard this story from Priscilla Howe on one of her storytelling CDs.

Telling to very young children (3 to 6 years) has always been very challenging for me. The stories are simple, repetitive, and very short, which is very different from the stories I tell to adults or older children. I only have three stories I tell to this age group and I have difficulty finding more stories that appeal to my telling style and suits their needs.

But all kids love a good ghost story and this tale is entertaining and not scary at all. I love how the kids get to jump in with this tale and it takes almost no time for them to recognize the pattern.

This is a simple story that you can tell to your kids over and over again. Enjoy!

Recent Gigs and News

Already at the end of April and I've been able to post one story! Apologies dear listeners, I was hoping to release the telling of a story based on Oscar Wilde's The Selfish Giant, but the computer malfunctioned on the day that I tried to record that story. *grumble*grumble*

The good news is that I did record a show I performed at Gerald McShane school in Montreal last week: I just need to make some time to review it and pull out the stories that really worked.

And the big news this weeks is ... *drum roll* I got tentative permission to retell and record a story called The Hall of Wonders. Ever since I heard this story (back in the early 2000s), I've been telling it at shows and festivals (always giving credit to the author, Thomas Fuller).

But now that I'm recording my shows, I was hoping to be able to include it on my next CD project. Unfortunately, the author has passed away, so I wasn't sure who to contact. I finally got in touch with the creator of The Moonlit Road (the inspiration for this storyblog) and he has put me in touch with Mr. Fuller's press agent. They have given me tentative permission to include the story on the CD, but I need to contact the agent for written permission. Still... very exciting!

Also, this past weekend I attended the Montreal Beltane Fair and listened to a panel discussion with 8 authors about the publishing business. It was one of the most honest discussion about writing and publishing I have ever heard, which was a bit depressing and heartening at the same time.

Dr. Brendan Myers explained that modern publishers do very little to promote their writers these days (with few exceptions). The time, effort, and expense of promoting and marketing of a book is left mostly to the writer. I've toying with the idea of going to a bigger publisher with my next book, but if they're not going to help me with the promotion of it, I might be better off with sticking with my small publisher and simply selling the books at shows.

However, it was heartening to hear that my efforts over the past four years to promote and sell my book/CD You Don't Know Jack are quite standard now, which means I haven't been doing it wrong all this time.

I need to root through my things, but I thnk I might actually be down to my last 25 copies of the book (from the original printing of 500 copies back in 2005). I may do a second printing of You Dont' Know Jack in addition to my new CD and future book/CD. Money is tight for everyone nowadays, so everything must be carefully considered.

And lastly, keep an eye out for our new show taking place in the next two months. It's likely to happen on a Sunday night at Hurley's Irish pub. Musician Shayne Gryn and I have been rehearsing a show since December and hope to put it on sometime in May or June 2009.

A Wise Fool story for April

The Wise Fool is a classic theme in storytelling. I've always been a fan of underdog stories, and Jack has always had great things to teach us. Even in modern storytelling, we always root for the underdog because he embodies our greatest fears and hopes. Somewhere, lurking in our psyche, we fear that we're not good enough, but we hope that we can carry the day just by being who we are.

Our hero Jack shows us that if we just trust in ourselves, we can rise to any occasion. No ghost is too terrifying, no dragon is too big, no quest is too impossible, unless you don't try and Jack always tries.

In this story, Jack Cures the Doctor, everyone seems to be trying to trick everyone else. Everyone is playing the fool, challenging the others to out-fool, to out-wit. This story is featured on my book/CD You Don't Know Jack, but I really like this recording of it because you can hear the children's reaction to Jack's solution.

I love it and I hope you do too. Happy April Fool's day!

News: This story was published on my new CD "The Bard's New Hat". Read more about it on my website.

Jack Cures the Doctor (11:17 minutes)

Podcast Alley test

To be able to be listed at Podcast Alley, I need to post this:

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-a1debb0d59e87b2c762264d1ae8e33ed}

St. Patrick's Day story: The World's Greatest Thief

This is a story taken from my book/CD You Don't Know Jack called The World's Greatest Thief. It remains one of my favorite stories to tell because when the secret is revealed, first there's confusion, then there's amazement.

The World's Greatest Thief (4:41 minutes)


One of the first times I was contacted by the CBC to tell an Irish story for St. Patrick's Day, I told the producer that I had a story, but it was about 6 minutes long. "Oooooh," he said. "Six minutes is a long time for radio. Can you shorten it?" I said I would try to get it down to three minutes.

So I worked on shortening the story, but I took many details out and had to practice speaking as quickly as I could without stuttering. I finally got it down to three minutes and made my way to the Old Dublin pub where the live broadcast was to take place.

I met with the host, Ms. Anne Lagace Dowson, and we chatted briefly off the air about the story I was to tell. She asked me how long it was and I proudly replied I could tell it in three minutes. "Ooooh," she winced. "Three minutes is a long time for radio. Can you shorten it?"

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all.

Telling Tales in Schools

Last Friday, I had the immense pleasure of telling stories in Our Lady of Pompei elementary school in Montreal's East End. I had three groups: Kindergartners, Grades 1-3, and Grades 4-6. Each group had about 60 to 80 kids in attendance.

It was immensely fun. The kids were very receptive and excellently behaved. I brought my laptop and my microphone to record each show, so I'll be working on those clips and will post the highlights from those shows to this blog.

Just to give you a taste, here's a sample to what my introduction to each group sounded like.

Our Lady of Pompei: Introduction (1:38 minutes)

February Story #2: Ti-Fleur and the Fiddler

In honor of Mardi-Gras (which is today), our second story for February is a Quebecois cautionary tale about the devil called Ti-Fleur and the Magic Fiddler. This story is a variation on the classic tale Rose Latulippe when a mysterious dark stranger turns up at a Mardi-Gras celebration and tempts the beautiful girl to dance with him for all eternity.

This story was told to a modest audience during a Yule fair in Montreal in December 2008. Shayne Gryn is accompanying on guitar.

I read the first version of this story in a book called Ghostwise (collected by Dan Yashinsky), as told by Chris Cavanagh. Several years after I first started telling this story, I was asked to retell it at an event. It had been so long since I had told it last that I need to review the tale, but my version had evolved so much from the Cavanagh's version, the book was of almost no help!

I hope you enjoy this story, and if you do, please pass the link along to your friends!

Ti-Fleur and the Magic Fiddler (12 minutes)


NEWS! I'll be performing a collection of Celtic tales in NDG on Saturday February 28th 2009 (my father's birthday!). Click here to visit the Facebook Event page for it.

Here's the info about that:

Ceilidh
Saturday, February 28
from 6:00 pm until 10:30 pm.
Tickets $12 for adults (children free)

The Anglican Church of St. Columba
4020 Hingston Avenue
(corner Notre-Dame-de-Grace Ave)
Montreal, Quebec
(514) 486-1753
mrogers@montreal.anglican.ca

The evening will start off with a dinner including Irish Stew and Oatbread, and a special Irish dessert. Beer and wine will also be available for purchase.

John David Hickey, a professional storyteller, will entertain us in the time-honoured Celtic tradition. Also included in the festivities will be a Celtic band led by Jim McDermott who will invite us to share in the excitement of a traditional Celtic ceilidh, including music, dance, jokes and stories.

There will be an opportunity to admire and purchase the works of skilled craftspeople at a mini-marketplace at the beginning of the evening.

February Story: The Dark Princess

This story was told in the River's Edge church in NDG during a fundraiser we had put together for the Montreal Children's Hospital called Through a Child's Eyes. Unfortunately, the fundraiser was a flop because, although we advertised lots, we had an audience of 6 people.

But the storytelling itself was fantastic. It was video recorded and miked, so we got a DVD of the performance afterward as a keepsake.

So in honor of the upcoming holiday of Valentine's Day, I offer you this story told by Sarah A. Comrie (originally penned by Richard Kennedy). We hope you enjoy it.

News: This story was published on my new CD "The Bard's New Hat". Read more about it on my website.

The Dark Princess (15 minutes)

Neil Gaiman on Fairy Tales

On Thursday February 5th 2009, CBC's Jian Ghomeshi interviewed British writer Neil Gaiman about his upcoming book-to-film Coraline, during which they discussed the purpose and the point of fairy tales.

Click here to visit CBC's Q podcast page (February 5th, 2009).

As you can imagine, as a storyteller, I was pleased, relieved, and excited to hear such talk. Too many people in our North American society regard fairy tales, fables, and myths as only frivolous entertainment. Because they are not literally true, they are (at best) a distraction and (at worst) contain no useful information or serve no constructive purpose.

At the beginning of Gaiman's Coraline, he presents the following quotation:

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
G. K. Chesterton

Here's part of what Gaiman had to say about that quote:

I think what I love about that is that it talks about what you are taking away with you from a fairy tale, and what the real morals are, and what functions these things serve. And Chesterton wrote this wonderful essay in which he talks about fairy tales and he says:

"They do not tell children that there is a bogeyman out there. Children know that there is a bogeyman out there. They know that there are monsters out there. They know that there are dangerous things. What is important is to tell them that the bad thing can be beaten."

It's important for kids to be taught that, but it's even more important for adults to be reminded of that. Our lives are filled with beasts, but known and unknown. Myth reminds us that we can beat our dragons if we take a stand, hold our own, and allow our courage to fuel our actions.

In this way, stories can inspire us to move forward, take risks, and enjoy our victories. I hope as you visit this site, and when you can, come see a show, that you find inspiration in the adventures of our heroes as they face their challenges.

Two stories coming up in February!

Next week, in honor of Valentine's Day, I will be posting a new story: a love story. But this story will not be told by me, but by my gracious guest teller. My lady Sarah has agreed to have a story she told a few years ago posted on this blog. Yay Sarah!

And then, at the end of February, I will be posting a Quebecois devil story that is appropriate for the season. Come back and check out the storyblog during the last week of February.

See you all then!