Storytelling on YouTube

According to today's Guardian, YouTube is sending out 100 million videos a day to Web viewers. Fully 3.9% of everything zipping around the Web are videos from YouTube, making it the most popular site on the internet.

I'm not a fan of internet video. It's too small, and too blurry. And storytelling doesn't translate well to video in the first place.

But storyteller Tim Ereneta has created a place on YouTube to showcase The Ancient Art of Storytelling. He's found folktales, footage of traditional tellers in Asia, a few contemporary practicing storytellers, and some spooky stories from around the campfire.

Some of the campfire stories are really dark.

Not scary and morbid dark: I mean literally, it's like watching black rectangle for three minutes.

Podcast: Activated Storytellers

The Activated Storytellers are a family of performers who have been on the road practically forever telling stories through drama.

Now they've got a podcast! In addition to stories, you get to hear the backstage news. Great audio quality. Nice to hear the interplay of different voices among the family. And their stories have that same quality of Old Time Radio. This would be a good resource for schools, both those that have booked the Activated Storytellers, and those that haven't.

Youth Storytelling

tyler&chris1.jpg, originally uploaded by storycast.

Someone, presumably Elizabeth Rose, has posted photos at Flickr from the 2006 National Youth Storytelling Showcase in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. You can see the next generation of storytellers here, at the storycast photo page.

Podcast: Storyteller.net

Sean Buvala at Storyteller.net has finally got around to creating a podcast... and this is one the storytelling community will take a liking to.

In addition to stories, he's got reviews and tips. But the stories: he features not just himself, but seveal tellers, so each broadcast you get to hear a couple of storytellers.

Let's hope he keeps it up... and that he figures out a way to improve the sound quality from the live performance venue. The in-studio pieces have so much better quality, it makes the stories less appealing than the non-story parts!

Adventures in Storytelling Blog

James Nelson-Lucas and Patti Christensen tell stories as a duo in Southern California, and they've started a blog about their storytelling adventures.

Storycast: the First Podcast for Storytelling

Elizabeth Rose has laid claim to the first podcast for storytelling, that is, for storytelling as we know it: oral storytelling, as part of the storytelling revival.

Her podcast, which started in July 2005, has her telling classics like "No News" and "Barney McCabe." These are recordings of performances, not studio recordings, so she's playing to a live audience.

You don't need an iPod to hear her recordings. You can just click on the various entries to get the mp3 file and your computer will play it directly.

There is a link for a podcast feed, but since I don't listen to podcasts that way, I don't have the faintest idea what you'd do with it.

The Storyteller and Listener Online

Blogger Holly Stevens keeps several blogs going, including this one on storytelling as a tool for peacemaking and healing.

The Storyteller and the Listener Online publishes two guest essays each month on storytelling at the community level for purposes of peacemaking, healing, bridge building and/or reconciliation.  Essayists come from all over the English-speaking world. Many are professional storytellers; others are conflict resolution specialists, community activists, social workers, teachers, counselors, clergy and more. All have experienced first-hand the value of narrative in peacework and healing.

Holly has found a great cross section of contributors here.

If you don't use a newsreader to keep up with blogs, you can send Holly your email and get a notice each time the site is updated.

I haven't read Blog City blogs before: you'll find the archive links in the left column, under the large site graphic.