Great Storytellers

September 27, 2005 7:09 PM

Who are our great storytellers?

And by storytelling, I'm referring to the purely oral tradition; not written stories, songs, poems or the like, but strictly, you know, stories spoken aloud (and recorded). The only name that comes to mind for me is Garrison Keillor. Who else?

posted by jazzkat11 to society & culture (39 comments total)

Bill Cosby?
posted by fatbobsmith at 7:13 PM on September 27, 2005

Margaret Cho? Stand-up comics, radio personalities, activists. I used to despise Ralph Nader but after attending one of his rallies, I found that he was an amazing storyteller.

Also, why do the stories have to be recorded? Traditional storytellers wouldn't have recorded them.
posted by honeydew at 7:13 PM on September 27, 2005

Jean Shepherd.
posted by interrobang at 7:16 PM on September 27, 2005

Utah Phillips is pretty good in my book
posted by edgeways at 7:21 PM on September 27, 2005

David Sedaris - sure, he writes books, but his NPR pieces and audiobooks and concerts add so much more to the experience. (also, his sister Amy is hilarious)
posted by i love cheese at 7:25 PM on September 27, 2005

I miss Spalding Gray.
posted by SPrintF at 7:25 PM on September 27, 2005

Aw, seconding Jean Shepherd. He's missed much.
posted by GaelFC at 7:40 PM on September 27, 2005

Second on David Sedaris -- as well as Sarah Vowell ... but let's not forget Mark Twain.
posted by ericb at 7:40 PM on September 27, 2005

Will Rogers
posted by alteredcarbon at 7:47 PM on September 27, 2005

Robert Munsch is a genius. My sister and I listened to his cassettes and read his books until they fell apart.

I'll also include Shel Silverstein since although most people knew him as an author and poet I have very clear memories of him coming to visit my class when I was seven and telling us stories. He is very much missed.
posted by nelleish at 7:49 PM on September 27, 2005

I miss Spalding Gray, too. But I'd also add Henry Rollins to that list, not to mention Sedaris, Vowell, and a lot of the This American Life crowd, which seems to be pretty serious about storytelling.
posted by Vidiot at 7:51 PM on September 27, 2005

You can listen to clips of Munsch here, btw. "Mortimer" and "Mud Puddle" and "Jonathan Cleaned Up" were some favourites.
posted by nelleish at 7:51 PM on September 27, 2005

Eric Bogosian
John Leguizamo
Bill Clinton
posted by horsewithnoname at 7:53 PM on September 27, 2005

I think a lot of the This American Life crowd would fit the bill. A couple that haven't been named yet are Scott Carrier and David Rakoff.

Outside of the U.S. - I've really enjoyed hearing Steve Abbott as the Sandman.
posted by Staggering Jack at 7:55 PM on September 27, 2005

I never would've expected it, but a friend dragged me to a Henry Rollins speaking engagement, and it was one of the great entertainment experiences of my life! He was at least as funny as pretty much any standup comic, only instead of 30 minutes of material, he talked for about two and half hours! Some of his stories were poignant and/or insightful as well. I would definitely pay money to hear him talk again. I'm not into his music much, though.

The same friend also likes Jean Shepherd, Spalding Gray, and David Sedaris. Most recently, though, he took me to a fun reading by George Singleton, a southern writer with a great sense of humor and talent for spinning a yarn. (I'm not sure how much of a storyteller he presents himself as being.)

Finally, the National Storytelling Festival is just over a week away!
posted by kimota at 8:10 PM on September 27, 2005

I second edgeways' Utah Phillips nomination. Nothin' like a fundamentalist anarchist tramp to spin a good yarn. A yarn that's got more than a bit of truth to chew on, mind you.
posted by Oddly at 8:16 PM on September 27, 2005

recorded, honeydew, only because I can't pull up a log next to them at the campfire. My motives are selfish - I'm looking for those who are accessable. I'm sure the best of the best never may have even come near a microphone, and much of what is special seems to come from the telling.

These suggestions are great, thank you.
posted by jazzkat11 at 8:18 PM on September 27, 2005

Robyn Hitchcock.
posted by johngoren at 8:26 PM on September 27, 2005

Jello Biafra?
Danny Hoch?
posted by box at 8:31 PM on September 27, 2005

Joe Frank.
posted by dobbs at 8:33 PM on September 27, 2005

Truman Capote. Graham Greene.
posted by autojack at 8:37 PM on September 27, 2005

Gore Vidal?
posted by box at 8:51 PM on September 27, 2005

No Garrison Keillor? 22 comments in?
posted by weston at 8:55 PM on September 27, 2005

Josh Kornbluth.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 8:55 PM on September 27, 2005

Kurt Vonnegut, of course.
posted by Ostara at 9:32 PM on September 27, 2005

weston writes "No Garrison Keillor? 22 comments in?"

Look at the original question!
posted by fionab at 9:38 PM on September 27, 2005

Lord Richard Buckley
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 9:39 PM on September 27, 2005

I know that Pat Conroy and Nuala O'Faolain are authors, but they've told amazing stories at their readings which are not necessarily related to their books (yes, Conroy's novels are autobiographical).
posted by brujita at 10:06 PM on September 27, 2005

My friend, Joel Miron.

Seriously: I think the oral tradition is alive and well, but that our culture has no place for it outside the circle of the personal. In the middle of the twentieth century, great popular storytellers could be found on the radio. David Sedaris and (especially) Garrison Keillor are the only two I can think of now, and what do you know? They're both popular radio storytellers.

While there's no place for the oral storytellers in popular media, they serve an important function in social groups. I'm serious when I say that my friend Joel is one of the great storytellers. He's one of the best I know. (Then, of course, I do not know you're friend Elizabeth or your Uncle Ray, and they're surely better.) My friend Dave is pretty good, too.

I've thought some about this subject over the past year as I've become an avid listener of audiobooks. It seems to me that in many ways audiobooks hearken back to an age of oral storytelling, and this is one of the reasons I love them.

This is a fine question, and I look forward to discovering other Keillor-esque storytellers from it...
posted by jdroth at 10:15 PM on September 27, 2005

Look at the original question!

Sigh.

There's a story in this somewhere....
posted by weston at 11:42 PM on September 27, 2005

Syd Lieberman
posted by Xalf at 6:40 AM on September 28, 2005

The great British improvising guitarist Derek Bailey is an amazing storyteller, as evidenced on some of his records. He's pretty old, but I think his new record (documenting the effects of his carpal tunnel on his playing) includes some stories?

Not sure.

There's one called "George" on his "Playbacks" record. I think most of his stories are on old, out-of-print records, though.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:14 AM on September 28, 2005

Richard Pryor
posted by Sully6 at 7:17 AM on September 28, 2005

Tom Bodet is good. Gamble Rogers was great.

There are some folk musicians who work stories into their live acts, as a sort of punctuation in-between the songs. Cheryl Wheeler, Bill Morrissey, and Adrian Legg come to mind. I'm sure there are more.
posted by tdismukes at 8:31 AM on September 28, 2005

The oral tradition is alive and well, but often at more of a local level than a national one. With the plethora of media available now it's hard for storytelling to compete for people's attention. There are undobtedly some great local storytellers near you if you want to hear someone tell in person. Some storytellers are able to make a living at it, others are often teachers or librarians who do it as part of their job or in their spare time. It can be a really intense experience to listen to someone telling a story first-hand. If you want to check out the big names of the storytelling community any past or present tellers from the National Storytelling Festival are a great place to start. Also try checking with the library school at UT Austin. They probably have a storytelling class or group that might do local events.
posted by MsMolly at 9:41 AM on September 28, 2005

I loved Julia Sweeney's story about how she became an atheist. She has a one-woman show about it, but you can also hear it on this (RealAudio) episode of This American Life.
posted by callmejay at 10:04 AM on September 28, 2005

Seriously: I think the oral tradition is alive and well, but that our culture has no place for it outside the circle of the personal.

Agreed. But the lameness and lack of storytelling in mass media has also created a real heyday for the type of story known as 'personal narrative'. Just think back to the last time you urged a friend to "tell them that story about...."
posted by Miko at 10:06 AM on September 28, 2005

Jay O'Callahan. In the 70s, he performed every year at my elementary school. In the 90s, I saw him perform again, and he was just as captivating to adults ...perhaps even more so.
posted by hsoltz at 10:10 AM on September 28, 2005

I'll second Joe Frank.
posted by ikkyu2 at 5:52 PM on September 28, 2005