Ed Stivender

You can listen to Ed’s video start to finish—or use this list of time markers and quotations to fast forward to those locations in the video: 5:27 – “[In third grade] I was put on stage before people I didn’t know. At the end of my performance, I heard applause and ever since that day it has been my drug of choice.” 8:15 – “Humor was the best defense against bullying…the bully had realized I had more power than him and the power was witty words.” 12:07 – “My mom wanted me to be a priest. My father said, ‘Eddie, you don’t want to get a job where you have to wear a dress to work’.” 29:19 – “The banjo has always been a part of my opening act…”. 31:34 – A crying baby is an example of a technical difficulty on the stage to which I always respond.” 32:03 – “Having your audience believe that you are in control is a very important aspect of solo performance.” 34:04 – “I don’t bow to authority unless it looks rational…I like to play with that line between good taste and horror in ways which I enjoy and the audience might enjoy.” 35:51 – “[It is] the sweetest aspect of what I do – to hit down that middle and entertain people on both sides of an issue.” 38:00 – On the role of the storyteller in responding to the issues of the day: “My main interest in coming onstage and doing a presentation is to give the audience a break; a break from whatever it is that is bothering them. if I can make fun of if I can make fun of the issues, that gives them a break and that’s good.” 38:25 – “I very rarely try to influence an audience to think a certain way or to act a certain way, in a political way.” 41:17 – “Structure is the main thing I am interested in in general. When I see another storyteller, I love to watch the structure.” 41:34 – “The beauty of doing improv storytelling is that there is a structure already there to play with.” 45:43 – On giving feedback: “I think it’s important to support good work and support good work with specifics.” 52:21 – “I think the relationship between a solo teller and the audience is not only oral/words and aural/hearing, but pheromonal. Storytelling is a sharing of endocrinological and pheromonal information between the audience and each other and the storyteller and the audience. Zoom ain’t got no pheromones.” 102:16 – “I think that the local storytelling community groups that rehearse with each other, then do shows…is part of the secret of storytelling going forward…” 106:04 – Ed gives credit to storytelling event producers 108:27 – – Ed sings his original song in tribute to the Armed Forces and to sharing ‘a story or two’ at the National Storytelling Festival