True Tale: La Maudite

Last Sunday, I was telling tales at Hurley's Irish Pub in Montreal. Mike Burns usually tells tales on the last Sunday of each month, but he was away in February and he asked me to fill in for him, and I was more than happy to do so.

I was able to record the entire show and, with some minor editing, I ended up with some fine recordings. Today's story post is an original piece which takes the form of a personal story. I've been telling this story for years in my social circles, but now I present it to you.

This is a pre-amble (or pre-ramble) to the telling of my version of La Chasse Gallerie, which I posted a version back in December of 2012. For those of you who do not know French, "Maudite" means damned and "La Chasse Galerie" means "The Bewitched Canoe" or "The Flying Canoe".

WARNING: I do use a curse word in this story, but it only happens once and is used for effect.

Maudite (2:11) written and 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

Les Mensonges Delicieux

I really need to tell more stories in French. I really, really do. In Quebec, there are just more opportunities to tell if I start telling in French and, if I play my cards right, I could become the Jim Corcoran of storytelling.

So a few months ago, André Lemelin asked me to take part in an evening of storytelling at the Maison de la culture de Villeray, Saint-Michel, Parc-Extension. It was a small crowd, but the stage was very nice. I was honored to share the stage with André Lemelin, Patti Warnock, Bernard Antoun, and Jacques Pasquet.

Unfortunately, the show was not being recorded. But at the last minute, I decided to try the recording app on my phone so I would at least have a record of it. It turns out, the recording quality wasn't so bad!

When I rehearsed this story, I had it all down perfectly. But of course, the presence of an audience and a microphone challenged my composure, so my telling isn't as smooth as I would have liked it to me. I really need more practice telling in French, and I need to slow my pacing down so I can mentally prepare to say each sentence properly so I don't auto-correct so much. Practice, practice: that's how you get to Carnegie Hall.

So with just a bit of editing for sound quality, here's the recording from that night.

Les Mensonges Delicieux (7:34) told by JD Hickey