Currently, I have three shows that I offer up for
Fairs and Festivals. In order of my choice they
are: The Daring Dougless, Storytelling, and The
Bawdy Buccaneer. Each of these shows is different
from each other and each is explained first in the
short and then in the long. To get from the short
to the long, simply click on the title of the show
and viola there you are.
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The Daring Dougless Show is a one man stage show
in which I demonstrate for the audience my skill
at three working side show acts; "The Human
Blockhead," "Fire-eating," and "The Nail Bed."
This rollicking show is presented with my tongue
placed firmly in my cheek and with the humour
coming from the show itself and what is happening
on stage both with what I'm doing and between
myself and the volunteers that come up to aid me.
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I have been telling stories for the greater part
of my life and been a professional storyteller for
over ten years. My Storytelling show takes a bit
of a different approach in that I structure the
tales to be told to fit the theme of the fair or
festival at which I am telling them. In style, I
would consider myself to be a traditional European
Male Storyteller.
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The Bawdy Buccaneer Show introduces the audience
to songs sung by Sailors and Buccaneers in their
less guarded moments. While nothing is ever stated
exactly, all of these poems and songs rely on
implication to get the point across.
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The Daring Dougless Show is a rollicking
demonstration of three skills from the classic
street performers stock of skill acts. These
skills are; Fire Eating, Lying on a Bed of Nails
and Driving Nails into the center of a human head.
They are presented with humour, levity and much
audience participation.
To set the stage, I have a small rolling table on
which lay the tools I will use throughout the show
with a small wooden coffin leaning up against it
and off the back of the stage I have the two parts
to my nail bed.
I begin the show by introducing myself, the show,
and educating the audience on proper Renaissance
cheers and the specific words that will be needed
throughout the course of the show.
Next, I cover what they will see in a vague way
and if there are children in attendance make
everyone recite "The Pledge." This is basically my
way of getting across to all present how dangerous
what I do is and that they should never try it on
their own. Also, at this point I cover my
requirements for volunteers. The main one being
that any person who comes on stage with me will
have reached the age of maturity, even if they are
not mature themselves.
Having done this, I call forth a female and then a
male volunteer. I have the female select a nail
from those lying on my table. As she is doing
this, I have the male inspect my hammer to make
sure that it is, in fact, a real hammer. This
having been done, I explain that I will now use
the hammer to drive the nail she chooses directly
into the center of a human head, and I point
towards my female volunteer. This never fails to
cause a reaction, just what it will be I'm never
sure. It varies from total denial to complete
acceptance. Whatever the reaction, I play off of
it and then inform that I will be using my head.
However, I do need her to point to the center of
her head. This again produces another bit of by-
play as we determine where the center of the human
head is. All this being done, I proceed to drive
the nail into my head. After removing the nail and
licking it clean, I ask the male volunteer to
drive the nail halfway into a block of wood that I
have for that purpose. After he drives the nail
into the wood, I have first the male and then the
female volunteer sign a label attached to the side
of the wood block. As I escort them back off
stage, I hand to woodblock to the female volunteer
as a souvenir of the show.
Having regained the stage to myself, I proceed to
duplicate what I just did with; a drill, a
screwdriver, an ice pick and lastly a dart. The
dart being the final bit of comedy to end the
first third of the show.
The next third of the show is the fire eating. For
this I pick up the coffin and open it to reveal my
fire torches within. After telling the audience,
once again, how dangerous what I'm about to do is
and that they should never attempt it on their
own, I go into a bit of the history about fire
eating and how it came into being. While I'm doing
this, I ignite and consume first one torch, then a
series of torches, followed by a couple of hand
extinguishes, then a mouth pass, all the while
maintaining a running talk about fire eating.
At this point I star to go onto the next pass and
then decide that better would be to call a
volunteer from the audience to aid me. I select a
female to come up on stage to be the eyes and heat
receptors of the audience. I have her sit cross-
legged on the stage and lie back so that my head
is in her lap. I then light the two torches that I
have in my hand. While doing a series of
extinguishes I ask her a series of questions that
I know are running through the minds of the
audience. Basically, these question pertain to if
the fire is real, if it really enters my mouth, if
I'm blowing it out on the way in and finally if
she would be happy if I finished so she could
leave the stage. This last question normally
produces a nervous laughing response in the
affirmative as I extinguish my final torch and
escort her off stage. This ends the second third
of the show.
For the final portion of the show, I announce that
I will now be taking a nap. Often, especially if
there are children present, I will be told I have
no bed on which to do so. If this happens I run
with it, if not, then I go onto to state that for
my nap I will be needing a bed and I have one with
me. I then get the support frame for my nail bed
from its location off stage. The fact that there
is no mattress or support gets a reaction, so I
bring out my nail bed. I have a short bed of about
four feet in length and shaped like a six-sided
coffin. As I am setting this up on stage, I inform
the audience about the history of the nail bed and
it's origins. Having done so and having the nail
bed set up on stage, I recline back on it and tell
the audience, "Good Night." This gets a laugh and
applause. I stand back up and inform then that
it's not enough, I need to do more.
To this end, I select four average size male
volunteers from the audience and have them come up
on stage. I then explain to them what is going to
happen and how I want them to arrange themselves
on my chest after I lie back down on the nail bed.
I lie back down on my bed of nails and have these
four men suit on my chest. This being
accomplished, I light the two torches that are
lying beside me on the stage and proceed to do a
series of single torch extinguishes followed by a
final double torch extinguish. After the torches
are out, I have the men stand up, help me up and
escort them off stage.
I close the show by once again reinforcing the
fact that I am a trained professional and the
audience should never attempt what they have
witnessed during the show.
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My approach to Storytelling for Fairs and
Festivals is slightly different from what I've
seen other storytellers use. I have a wide a
varied stock of stories. In fact, I couldn't even
begin to guess how many different stories I know
or have told.
I learned the art of storytelling from my
Grandfather at a vary young age as he had learned
it from his Grandfather and as far as I know the
line of tellers in my family goes back into the
far reaches of my family. If pressed beyond just
calling myself a storyteller, I would have to say
that I am a Traditional Western European Male
Storyteller. By this, I mean that I tell tales
without a large stock of props, the only one I
really use is my drinking vessel, and without
running all over the stage and without a lot of
different voices or accents. When I do use that
later, it is used with greater effect due to its
scarcity in the story.
All that being said, I have been known to keep
sixty young children, kindergarten - early grade
school age, enthralled, still and quite for well
nigh onto two hours at a time.
Being that I have such a large variety of stories
to select from, I find it vary easy to tailor my
show to the theme of the fair or festival. In
other words, I make certain that the stories I
tell fit the theme of the day and help to further
it along.
An example would be if you were hosting a Robin
Hood themed Fair and I were asked to tell stories,
the stories I would tell would all be from the
Robin Hood folklore. To go further, if the theme
of the day was that it was the fair of the golden
arrow and the famed archery contest. I would tell
stories from the folklore that occurred before
this event. Telling the tale of Robin and Marion's
wedding would be out of place as it has yet to
happen in the timeline in which the fair is
occurring. On the other hand, the tale of Robin
and John's first meeting would be fair game.
To take this concept further, At a 1500's fair,
telling the tale of Columbus and the New World
would be much in as the event has already
happened, especially if your festival had a
Spanish or Nautical theme to it.
The variety of stories available are endless, and
I am more than willing to work with your
Entertainment Director in selecting stories and
themes that fit your fair or festival. I only ask
that you give me enough forewarning so that I can
make certain to have the tales you want presented
waiting and ready to go.
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I begin The Bawdy Buccaneer Show with a disclaimer
about how the verse and rhyme to follow is not
intended for the ears of the young and those with
young ears or those easily offended should take
this opportunity to head for the hills as it were.
The warning having been issued, I proceed to
introduce myself and explain that this is an
interactive show in which the audience is
expected, nay required, to sign along. After all
if some like myself a Bass 3 is willing to get up
and lead them in song and verse, they should be
willing to sing with me, and besides these are the
songs their mothers never wanted them to learn.
The songs that I use are all written either by or
about sailors and buccaneers, and while very few
words are spoken in cursive if you play along and
listen between the lines, you just might find
yourself chuckling and time or three.
I have structured this show to be done without
instrumental accompaniment, one because the only
instrument I play well at present is the keyboard
and I don't have a period keyboard instrument that
is mobile. However, if a musician is on site and
wants to join in, I have no problem with that
either.
The main songs that I have chosen are raucous and
bawdy, rowdy and fun. Some of them are well known
and the other not so well know. The main list of
songs includes:
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A Pirate's Song - from an 18th Century Broadside
A Clean Rhyme
The Ancient and Ould Irish Condom
The Cuckoo's Next
You're A Liar
A-Rovin'
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I have other songs that can be added into the list
or taken out as the dictates of time and the show
apply. Also, I am always looking out for new
material and learning those that might fit into
the show in the future.
However, due to the nature of the material of this
show, I would never add a piece to the show that
has not been first approved by the Entertainment
Director of a given Fair or Festival. That way, I
ensure that the event is well aware of what
material I am presenting and has some
foreknowledge of what is likely to be commented
on, even though the audience was forewarned at the
beginning of each show and prior to any
particularly racy songs.
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