THE PATRIOT LEDGER – The South Shore’s favorite comedians and storytellers team up for ‘FunnyBones,’ a benefit performance for the South Shore Arts Center in Cohasset.
Who doesn’t love a good story? Especially a funny one we can relate to. It’s one of the most basic forms of communication. Through stories, we learn, connect, empathize and find inspiration. It just feels good to share an experience through someone’s words, voice and body language.
Hopefully, we get to exchange stories everyday, but if you don’t, or just want more from a cross section of interesting performers, the South Shore Arts Center in Cohasset is hosting a new type of storytelling event. Jointly produced by South Shore Story Slams, and Laughs and Company, “FunnyBones,” will take place on Oct. 18, featuring a mix of comics and storytellers combining for a night of funny five-minute stories.
Abington’s Andrea Lovett is the founder of South Shore Story Slams. She has been storytelling for 27 years, but also coaches “tellers” and produces slams and showcases at places like the Turtle Swamp Brewing Co. in Jamaica Plain. She would like to find more places on the South Shore to hold events, and is really excited about putting together this benefit for the South Shore Arts Center.
“I had friends who were comedians, saw that there was a little cross over between the funny stories and comedy, and thought maybe we should merge the two. We could have five funny storytellers and five funny comics,” said Lovett.
Lovett is providing the storytellers while Mindy Mazur Laughs and Co., whose comedians perform regularly at Maggy’s Lounge in Quincy, is providing the comics. Included among the tellers are Colleen Blanchard and Mat Brown of Scituate, Meghann Perry of Bridgewater (who will also emcee the event), Valerie Patino of Plymouth and Maria DeRosa from Boston.
Local comedians joining the fun include Erin Lynch from Milton, Jill Shastany and Ed Hayward. Unlike a slam (perhaps you have seen or heard The Moth’s Radio Hour or storytelling events), this showcase is not a competition, but just like the slams, both tellers and comics will perform humorous stories of five minutes in length.
Lovett said she’s pleased that most of the performers hail from the area. “They reflect a lot of the culture. They have a lot to say about what happens around here. In Boston, we have our own wicked sense of humor and colloquialisms. I mean – who knows what ‘buddah’ is, or a ‘quadah,’ ” Lovett said laughing over the Boston-accented pronunciations of “butter” and “quarter.”
If you go
What: Funny Bones
When: 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Oct. 18
Where: South Shore Art Center, 119 Ripley Road, Cohasset
Cost: $20 in advance at EventBrite at tinyurl.com/y4copc7h, or $25 at the door.
Info: ssac.org
Often, a slams have loose themes like unintended consequences, dating and relationships, “Whoops! What did I do?” or the road not taken, but at this showcase participants will share a favorite story, that focuses on the humor in everyday life. That might entail anything from professional disasters created through technology to a Thanksgiving catastrophe narrowly averted to dealing with the boss from hell in Japan.
At storytelling workshops, Lovett works with students, some who have graduated and will be performing in Cohasset, to develop their stories and techniques.
“I use prompts like ‘Has this ever happened to you?’ or ‘Have you ever gotten lost in a foreign country?’ and then one story inspires another until we (eventually) get to an entire polished story by the time they are done. We usually do about four weeks of training,” said Lovett. Part of the process is working on how to use your facial expressions and hand gestures while speaking.
“Whatever comes out of your mouth should match the expression on your face. And, the gestures that you make should match the story, the tempo, and the pacing. If you have dialogue, make sure you use an alternative sort of voice, so the people can differentiate between the two. There is a lot to it that people don’t realize,” said Lovett.
So what makes for a good story? Lovett says, “a personal story with a nice little hook at the beginning to give a little preview what’s coming up. It has to have emotions so you can take the listener with you, and they can share the experience. I also like a story that has dialogue in it and maybe a twist at the end. It should have a good ending. It could end with a question. It could end with a reflection, but people should know when the end is,” said Lovett.
Lovett can’t emphasize enough the power of a well-told story. “When you listen to a story, you are not just listening. On some level you are experiencing it through their words. It’s more of a connection, and it’s better than YouTube, or any video because you are face-to-face with a person telling you something that happened in their life.”
She said she hopes people will “come on down” to this event and enjoy the stories.
By Jim Dorman
