Discussion Post: Favorite Styles of Storytelling

Today’s Discussion Post is going to be more of a list. It will consist of several memories of the types of storytelling I have loved.  We’re all lovers of books, but I’m going to broaden this idea a little beyond the pages…

1. Skits: Do people even do those anymore? I remember creating them at grade school when I was young, at Boy Scout camp, and even at an overnight field trip when I was in middle school. They always involved a lot of horrible puns and some great props. I remember my friend cut the sleeve off his sweatshirt at camp to make a real authentic-looking “lost” arm… Well, he didn’t think about having to wear a sleeveless sweatshirt for the rest of week!
2. Old Time Radio: When I was young in the 80s, there were still a couple radio stations by my grandparents house that ran old time radio shows from the 50s. We would listen to them in the summers after dinner. The Lone Ranger. Fibber McGee and Molly. The Green Hornet. At night the signal would drift, so we’d always be at the edge of our seats waiting to hear the conclusion, only to have it cut out at the most inopportune time. “And the killer is …..          bzzzz#$%*#*@*STATIC#$%#@@…..  join us next week for another Mystery Theater…”
3. StoryTellers. There are some people who are naturally gifted storytellers. They can spin a story out of nothing and have an entire audience entranced. I remember I went to a campfire in a National Park one time and the ranger was telling stories from the old mining days. She told of an average summer from the perspective of a little girl joining her parents on the wagon train up into the mountains to prospect for silver. The ranger really got into it by dressing up and speaking with the slang terms of the mid 1800s.

What are your favorite types of storytelling?  Do you have any memories like mine?