Storytelling in a recession - an epiphany.

[Norah Dooley]

I feel a bit sheepish posting this, since economic need had already driven me from the ranks of full time pro tellers a year and half ago... but this wisdom is worth sharing.
From the pithy and always quotable
Empress of Story, and long time LANES member in Fredericksburg, Virginia,Megan Hicks

She said, "Regarding the comment about storytelling during recession -- Post it, needlepoint it, write it in neon, send it up in smoke signals. I think it's an important commercial message."
I thought so too, so here it is...
norah

Holding Our Collective Breath

The other day I was commiserating with a community college Cultural Arts Program Director about the recent wave of belt tightening among public institutions here in Virginia. She asked me about my fees, and when I told her she said, "Oh, well. That's still doable. Tell me, though, if this meltdown on Wall Street lasts long, how are you going to see yourself through?"

At that moment, I was slapped upside the head with an epiphany and the first surge of optimism I've felt since Market Meltdown Day.

I told her, "In times like this, I think storytelling will fare better than other performing arts. Think about it -- storytellers are a cheap date. We're simple to produce, we come in ones and twos instead of quartets and troupes. Give us a microphone and a bottle of water and most of us are ready to hit the ground running, and if the power goes out, we can still perform. And a good storyteller can transport audiences the same way they are transported by a good stage production. In times like this, people want, crave, need diversion. Hollywood thrived during the Depression," I told her. "As a storyteller, I'm Hollywood on wheels." -Megan Hicks
look her up at:
www.meganhicks.com
www.meganhicks.com/includes/whatsnooautumn08.doc/whatsnooautumn08.doc

[James McCoy]

The fact that we're in a Recession isn't enough to make ME want to go pro. I'm going to wait until we're in a Depression.

[Norah Dooley]

Good call!
N

[Kate Chadbourne]

Wow, that is fantastic: "Hollywood on wheels."
Hear, hear!

Here's to the homemade, the easy, the low-fuss, and accessible magic.

[Vernon L. Cox]

Hear Hear
Well told
Let us qoute her often and to many
LV