How to Tell A Story
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
I do not claim that I can tell the story as it ought to be told. I only claim to know how a story ought to be told for. I have been almost daily in the company of the most experts storytellers for many years. There's several kinds of stories, but only one difficult kind. The humerus. I will talk mainly about that one. The humorous story is American. The comic stories, English. The witty story is French. The humorous story depends for its effect upon the manner of the Talon, the comic story in the witty story upon the matter. The humorous story, maybe spun out to great length in May, wander around as much as it pleases and arrive nowhere in particular. But the comic and witty stories must be brief and end with a point. The humorous story bubbles gently alone, the others burst. The humorous story is strictly a work of art high and delicate art, and only an artist can tell it. But no art is necessary and telling the witting or the comic story, anybody can do it. The art of telling a humorous story understand? I mean by word of mouth, not print was created in America and has remained at home. The humorous story is told gravely. The teller does his best to conceal the fact that he even dimly suspects that there is anything funny about it. But the teller of the comic story tells you beforehand that it is one of the funniest things he has ever heard, and it entails it with eager. Delight is the first person to laugh when he gets through, and sometimes if he's had good success, he is so glad and happy that he will repeat the nub of it and glance around from face to face, collecting applause and then repeat it again. It is a pathetic thing to see very often, of course, the rambling and disjointed, humorous story finishes with a nub point snapper. Whatever you like to call it, then the listener must be alert for In many cases, the teller will divert attention from that no, by dropping it in a carefully casual and in different way with the pretense that he does not know what is enough. Artemus Ward used that trick, a good deal. Then, when the belated audience presently called the joke, he would look up with innocents. Surprises if wondering what they had found a laugh at Dan Sexual used it before him nigh, and Riley and others use it today. But the teller of the comic story does not slur the nub. He shouts it at you every time. And when he prints it in England, France, Germany and Italy, he italicize is it? Put some whipping exclamation points after it and sometimes explains in the parentheses. All of which is very depressing. Makes one want to renounce, joking and lead a better life.