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Bardics 2008
Jun. 23rd, 2008 08:09 pmI went to Wic Can Fest this past weekend. It was my first time at this fest, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The people were friendly and the site was clean and comfortable. The weather was a bit weird with waaaaay too much variety in it. When is Summer going to kick in exactly?
Saturday night was the Bardic circle (basically a talent show), so of course I signed up for it. I decided to tell the tale of the Teamaster and the Samurai (there is a version of this story here, but it's not exactly the way I tell it) and, thanks to the generosity of Apaulo of Kuts and Kapes, I had a genuine Katana as a prop to use in the story.
At many of the bardics, there are judges and the traditions are that they accept bribes which are presented right before or after the performance in front of the crowd. I used to bribe the judges too, but it just felt wrong somehow. So a couple of years ago, I started to publicly NOT bribe the judges saying "With the utmost respect for our Bardic judges, I have no bribe because a Bard's truest pleasure comes from performance, not competition."
That is a very flowery way to say that I know bribing judges won't help me win a Bardic because storytellers almost never win these kinds of compeitions. Almost.
Well 2008 seems to be the year in which that changes. You're looking at the winner of the Wic Can Fest Bardic 2008 (one of the winners, actually. It was a tie between myself and a talented guitarist named Jen). I was pleased as punch to accept the honors, although I was also too stunned to speak for several hours (a major problem for a storyteller, let me tell you).
So what has this experience taught me? It has confirmed that performance really is more important than winning and that storytelling can indeed carry the day in a competition. It has also taught me that the thrill of telling a good story to an appreciative crowd is much more intense than winning a competition. Winning is fun, but doing a good job is much more satisfying.
And I'm still not bribing the judges.
Saturday night was the Bardic circle (basically a talent show), so of course I signed up for it. I decided to tell the tale of the Teamaster and the Samurai (there is a version of this story here, but it's not exactly the way I tell it) and, thanks to the generosity of Apaulo of Kuts and Kapes, I had a genuine Katana as a prop to use in the story.
At many of the bardics, there are judges and the traditions are that they accept bribes which are presented right before or after the performance in front of the crowd. I used to bribe the judges too, but it just felt wrong somehow. So a couple of years ago, I started to publicly NOT bribe the judges saying "With the utmost respect for our Bardic judges, I have no bribe because a Bard's truest pleasure comes from performance, not competition."
That is a very flowery way to say that I know bribing judges won't help me win a Bardic because storytellers almost never win these kinds of compeitions. Almost.
Well 2008 seems to be the year in which that changes. You're looking at the winner of the Wic Can Fest Bardic 2008 (one of the winners, actually. It was a tie between myself and a talented guitarist named Jen). I was pleased as punch to accept the honors, although I was also too stunned to speak for several hours (a major problem for a storyteller, let me tell you).
So what has this experience taught me? It has confirmed that performance really is more important than winning and that storytelling can indeed carry the day in a competition. It has also taught me that the thrill of telling a good story to an appreciative crowd is much more intense than winning a competition. Winning is fun, but doing a good job is much more satisfying.
And I'm still not bribing the judges.
