One of my favorite things about storytelling showcases is how it reinforces something I tell my public speaking skills clients all the time. It isn’t about needing a story about the time you climbed Mt. Everest. Or the day you fell six stories and survived. Or when you saved a village in Africa.from burning down. Those stories may have an edge because they are inherently interesting, but they can be told poorly just as easily. Conversely, a very small and simple story, told brilliantly, can be far more interesting. A great example is the late great speaker Jeanne Robertson, who could captivate an audience with something as simple as her struggle in trying to send her husband to the grocery store and having him get the right stuff.. The trick is in taking a moment and peeling away all the layers and insights to make it interesting.
Tonight (June 5), at the So Say We All program called “Long Story Short” in the South Park region of San Diego, I’ll be sharing such a small tale from my days as an elementary school substitute teacher. The gist of it is that it’s constantly some child’s birthday when you sub and there’s perhaps no song I am less enchanted by than that joyless, relentless nightmare called, “Happy Birthday to You!” I’d sooner hear a two-hour medley of “It’s a Small World,” “Macarena,” and “The Chicken Dance” than one verse of…that song. And tonight I’ll be sharing the tale of the day when, like the Grinch stopping Christmas, I stopped “Happy Birthday to You!” from happening. The difference between me and the Grinch, though, is how I stopped the song without denying little Fernanda even a moment of birthday joy.
There’s nothing significant about this story. No one’s life was changed by it. No one will be inspired to greatness by hearing it. But it will, I hope, touch upon that part of all of us who, when faced with something they don’t want to face, find a way to conquer their nemesis − even if it’s just a miserable four-line funeral dirge that undermines all light and laughter at a birthday party.
And don’t get me wrong. I love birthdays! I love the idea of making someone special and enjoying food and music together. Just not that song.
That said, this birthday of mine…this big, round birthday…is a toughie for me. it’s one of those ones where you have to really take inventory of your life. One where you have reeeeeally try to appreciate how much wiser, how much more clever, and how much more creative you are now than you were, say, twenty years ago…to offset the fact that you can no longer reach your knees for the first hour of the day. And have decided it’s better not to look in the mirror for the first 30 minutes of any day. And get blank stares from fully-grown adults when you mention M*A*S*H, Marlo Thomas, or Donna Summer.
If you live near San Diego, I hope you’ll come down to Thorn Brewery and hear my story (I promise you’ll be entertained by what happens with Fernanda and the rest of the class) and over a dozen others stories from other folks on topics I can’t tell you yet…because I’m there to be delighted by them as well.
Stories unify us. There’s little we all have in common more than the appreciation of a good story.
And if you can’t make it tonight, come down to Mockingbird Improv where my musical improv company, Broadway Unscripted, will be creating a one-hour long musical on the spot based on an audience member’s suggestion. You can even get frée tickets just this one time by clicking here. Crazy good fun that keeps this old man young, even when he realized two weeks ago that the sweatshirt he was wearing was four years old than the woman he was performing opposite.
Maybe, with good friends, good stories, and good humor, it won’t be so bad on this birthday turning si…. si…. forty. (Nope, not ready to say it).
And if you come, I welcome hugs, laughter, and birthday good wishes. Just don’t even THINK about singing THAT song.