Spoken Word Highs

I have a love-hate relationship with open mike events. I do these often to promote my work and I prefer the ones that are music centered for 2 reasons. First, I'm more likely to get a longer slot - anywhere from 15-20 minutes - which gives me more freedom to weave a tale, and second, the audience doesn't see me coming as a storyteller. It makes a nice break, especially if the musician before me isn't that good or even abysmal. It's especially gratifying when I win over that audience that isn't there to hear spoken word.

Also, most storytelling nowadays makes the audience completely passive; TV, movies, and even theatre provide the images for them. Many times folks have told me their parents never told them stories, or even read to them. I always savor the victory when I win over an indifferent audience and awaken that appreciation in them. DNA is on my side, for this art is so ancient, an appreciation for it is stored inside us, in our bones, muscles, and sinews. When somebody tells a story, a good raconteuse will describe things well enough that the pictures unfold in the mind of the listeners and thus, the audience participates.

I can always tell when somebody is drawn in. I can see in in the melting of the face and the widening of the eyes. The sensation is delicious whenever that happens. I can feel their focus, their energy feeding me in much the same way thin slivers of streams feed a bigger tributary and making its current stronger. When I'm "on" and in the flow, that energy coming may way makes for the sweetest high, and I'll float on that for the rest of the night. Even if I'm in a miserable state of mind when I begin, so long as I hit that wave at its crest and ride the story to its end, I can leave the microphone feeling that all is right with my world.

Sure beats Prozac.