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Storyteller Brings Tall Tales To Life

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Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 5, 2008

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The first time Art Johnson heard a seriously skilled storyteller at work, he found himself - like the rest of the audience - hanging onto every syllable.

No matter how improbable or farfetched the tale became, he couldn't pull himself away from the unexpectedly intoxicating stream of words, images and gestures.

So beguiling was the experience that Johnson resolved to take up the art of storytelling himself. Many years later, the 47-year-old actor-interpreter ranks as one of Colonial Williamsburg's foremost spinners of tales. He also was a featured performer in a storytelling festival that recently drew more than 3,000 people to the Historic Area.

But that doesn't mean the veteran story keeper took things in stride when he stepped onto the stage. Surrounded by eager and knowledgeable fans, Johnson knew he would have to bring his best stuff to each of his fables - especially when the rest of the talent-packed schedule included some of the country's best-known performers.

"I'm always a little nervous when I go before an audience," the imposing, 6-foot-5-inch storyteller confessed. "If you're not, that's when you get into trouble."

Schooled by such formidable Historic Area storytellers as Dylan Pritchett and Rex Ellis, Johnson began his own career by watching, listening and learning from some of the emerging field's most prominent pioneers. Both men went on to become nationally known for their tale-telling prowess, providing the aspiring young interpreter with unusually good role models.

In the beginning, however, the Virginia Tech grad frequently faltered when he attempted to retell what he had heard.

"I would try to tell the same stories they told, and I would try to get the same reaction by telling them in the same way that they told it," he recalled. "I was usually disappointed - and what I learned pretty quickly was that you've got to tell it your way if you want to be successful."

Telling it his own way meant mastering the essential "bones" of a story first, Johnson said. Then he translated each individual narrative element into words, sounds and gestures that described each part of the tale as he saw it himself.

Different voices and speech mannerisms help make his characters more vivid, he says. But any one of them can become still more memorable when he adds telltale gestures and movement.

"When I have a rooster in a story, I like to get the audience involved by asking how a rooster moves. And after they show me, I say - 'Now let me just show you how a Williamsburg rooster moves!'" he said.

"I want them to see it. So I have to do the rooster - get the head going - get the legs going - get the arms flapping in the air like wings. That way you can get them to see what you're talking about with their own imaginations."

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