Jan_Feb_1997

January/February, 1997
'Once upon
a time ... ,
(Editor's Note: Cheri Venturi is a professional whiteface
clown who's developed a distinctive storytelling style. She
also owns a firm, "Cherri-Oats and Company," that sells
clown wigs and accessories.)
By Cheri "Cherri-Oats" Venturi
COAi Executive Vice President
Storytelling is a clown art that seems to be growing in
popularity. If you're considering adding this particular skill to
your repertoire, here are some tips that you might want to
consider.
First of all, if you're telling stories as a
clown, it's a little different than storytelling
in other ways, because when you walk into
a room as a clown, you have established
yourself before saying a word. You ARE a
clown. So your story is going to have to
wrap around your clown character,
involving circumstances and situations
that the clown might have experienced.
My clown is a two-year-old. Since I'm
very short, I decided they were the only
age group shorter than I was. And this age
also was the basis for the kind of stories I
tell. Of course, the best stories that you
can tell children or adults are stories out of
your past. But being only two years old, my
clown could not have a lot of past. So I had
to figure out how to use my character and
tell some stories with her.
As a result, when I tell a story, my
character has heard it, either from her
mother.her father, or an aunt or uncle or
cousin, or maybe the neighbor kid down
the block. My scary stories always come
from the older neighbor kids.
When I tell a story that I have taken from a book or a
magazine, I give the author credit by using the author's
name as my relative or friend. For example: "My Uncle Jay
O'Callahan told the story, 'Herman the Worman' ." Most
storytellers don't mind if you use their story if you give them
credit for it.
You can find stories out of your past, stories from books
out of the library. You can use music in storytelling if you can
sing (I don't.). You can use poetry (I don't use poetry
because I can't remember it!). If you do use poetry, you
have to remember each line exactly the way it is. If you are
just retelling a story, the kids don't know it exactly, so if you
forget a part, you can fill in with your imagination.
To refine your storytelling techniques, you should
practice with various groups: Nursery schools, department
stores (in the children's department.). Go in and ask them if
they would like a story hour on Saturday for about 45
minutes. This will give you the experience of telling stories
to people. You don't charge for them; you must give them
good service, but you will learn from doing it. You can also
use your family and friends to practice on. (Just remember -­
those friends might not be friends for long!) A suggestion:
Try telling your stories in clown character and then in plain
clothes. The comparison will give you a good idea where
your character should take over.
I like to use props once in a while,
but I don't like to carry a lot of things
when I'm doing a show. So I take
along as few props as I can -- magic
things that might bring the
audience back together. And
remember -- the prop is not the
story, the story is the idea of what
you are doing. The prop just helps
the story along .
Here's a story that I do for "Cherri­
Oats, my whiteface clown:
Hi! My name is Cherri-Oats, and I'm
two years old. And, and, and I go to
Kidieclowns Preschool. Yes, I do. I
ride a bus to school. You have to sit
down while the bus moves all over.
And you have to wait ti/ it stops to
get out. And I walk down the aisle:
"Hi, Sereline, Hi, Tommy, hi,
Hermione." Hermione is my best
friend. She likes me.
When school is over, I walk home.
Two houses I get to walk, because
I'm two years old. And I get to my
house, and my Mom is there. But,
one day my Mom wasn't there. The door was open thi-i-i-s
much. And I pushed it some more, and said, "Mom -- are
you there?" She wasn't there. "MOM! ARE YOU
THERE?" And I pushed it way open and said (very loud)
MOM!! ARE YOU THERE?!!!" And she heard me. And
I 've never seen my Mom run down the stairs that fast. And
she said, "What's wrong?" And I said, "Where were you?"
34 The New Calliope