Storytellers bring tales -- tall and otherwise -- to Story Guild’s online Tellebration
On Wednesday, you can listen to a first-class liar.
No, we’re not getting political. This one has won several championships, and her lies are for entertainment only.
The lauded liar is storyteller Ingrid Nixon, who’ll share a story of the sea as part of the South Sound Story Guild’s Tellabration, happening at 7 p.m. online.
So great is Nixon’s skill at tall tales — such as the one about how getting braces on her teeth launched her into international intrigue — that she’s won three “liars contests,” including one at Northwest Folklife in 2016.
“The story starts out plausible and at some point veers into the outrageous, and the audience comes along for the joy of it,” she told The Olympian.
She also tells personal stories and traditional stories — including a twisted take on Hansel and Gretel — has won awards for two of her story albums and appeared at the National Storytelling Festival, which she calls “kind of our equivalent of Broadway.”
Nixon, who lives in Southeast Alaska, and Randi Moe of Olympia will both take the virtual stage at the Tellabration, which also will include an open mic.
Though the celebration is smaller this year, with COVID-19 preventing the usual in-person extended performance and party, stories might well be more important than ever at this time.
Moe, who’s been telling stories with the guild for two decades, will tell stories of “Finding Blessings in Hard Times.”
“I have some stories about the end of life, disabilities, things that don’t really go away,” she told The Olympian. “Sometimes people pray for everything to get fixed. There are lots of things in our lives that don’t get fixed, but there are ways to find blessings. While you are struggling, you can find little things to appreciate.”
“Storytelling is all about connection,” Nixon said.
Traditional stories tend to contain universal truths, lessons considered important enough to be repeated over and over, she said, while personal ones have another kind of power.
“I love hearing stories that allow us to walk in another person’s shoes and to feel what they felt,” she said. “That strengthens us as people and as a society.”
“We humans have many of the same kinds of experiences and emotions,” Moe said. “When someone tells a story about those, whether it’s a folk tale or a personal tale about something that someone has gone through, it really touches the hearts of the people who are listening.
“It serves the audience,” she added. “They’ve all had that experience in some way, but only a few people are brave enough to stand up and talk about it.”
Stories from around the world also broaden one’s perspective, Nixon said, and the story she’ll share at Wednesday’s Tellabration reflects that.
“I’ve always been intrigued by the idea that if you throw something in the sea, it can show up anywhere around the world,” she said. “The ocean connects us. Even though we talk about different oceans, the truth is that it’s really one body of water. That parallels the connections that we have with stories from around the world. If you really listen to them, you see humanity, and by seeing humanity, you see yourself.”
South Sound Story Guild Tellabration and Story Swap
- What: The guild celebrates the art of storytelling with an online evening of stories told by Randi Moe of Olympia and Ingrid Nixon of southeast Alaska.
- When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11
- Where: Online
- More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/334504707960456/
- Also: Nixon also will tell stories online as part of Better Said Than Done’s “Four by Four” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Tickets are $6 and up. https://www.bettersaidthandone.com/storytelling-shows/