Tell me a story." Whether you be five or 50, everyone likes a well-told tale. Two of this town's better storytellers will be spinning, singing and surprising their audiences this weekend with their audacious interplay and improvisational tomfoolery. Dynamic duo
By Gary C. W. Chun
dish out edgy fare
Star-BulletinBoth Jeff Gere and James McCarthy are recognizable talents: Gere for the two decades of work that showcase his inventive, barely in-control voice and mug on stage, on television and at the annual Talk Story festival held in October; McCarthy for his artist-in-residency school work through the Department of Education and Honolulu Theatre for Youth, leading moonlight tours at the Honolulu Zoo and doing his monthly folksinging gig at the Irish Rose Saloon, as well as also being a regular at the Talk Story festival.
This weekend's pair of performances will demonstrate their talents for two audiences. For children, there will be afternoon shows named "Shave Ice & Stories," where shave ice will be served at each show's end.
But the two storytellers have been fine-tuning the "Tales on the Edge" show especially, to prove that storytelling can be just as engaging to those long past their childhood years.
Already billed as a show for "hopped-up somnambulists, hip insomniacs and out-late cultural adventurers," McCarthy said in a duo interview Monday that these tales are "slightly more adult, more complex.
"The show will be connected by common emotional, symbolic and character threads, and we hope it'll feel like a seamless show," he said.
"It's the through line that will hold all these elements together," Gere added, "with big asides that will loop back on themselves, like telling a story of a guy whose character was introduced previously in an earlier story."
While psychologically and esthetically an adult show, Gere stressed that this is not "sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. We're taking several traditional ballads, folk songs and tales and reinventing them as vignettes."
McCarthy added: "When telling and weaving these stories together, we want the audience to respond on multiple levels."
There are magical tales of the dead coming back to life, jealousy, madness -- riveting stories that follow the same narrative history of American and European storytellers and troubadours throughout the centuries.
"The stories, while of a variety, add up to a pretty heavy, emotional trip," Gere said. "At their core, they're often troubling."
But things should be leavened a bit with their comedic improvisations and "a fair amount of vaudeville," Gere said.
With the show clocking in at little more than an hour, the two of them agree "Tales on the Edge" is probably the most ambitious thing they've ever attempted, coordinating as many brainstorming sessions and rehearsals as their conflicting work schedules allow.
"It's hard in Honolulu to continually work on a show like this, where usually something has a run of two to three weeks on the weekends, and then it's dead," Gere said. "There's so much material we want to do with these two shows." (These shows will repeat, with some variation, next month.)
Gere and McCarthy met in the winter of '96. "We were both at a party of musicians, having a great time improvising, and then Jeff started telling stories, and the musicians would add sound effects to them," McCarthy said.
"Nobody is as prolific as I am," Gere stated. "As much fun as it is to play with someone as James, I'm always surprised and challenged by his talent -- James is a walking encyclopedia!" (Which is no surprise, considering McCarthy has a master's in education from Harvard.)
"While Jeff has been developing this show," McCarthy said, "he's always cutting up these old folders, recycling them into these shadow puppets -- mad, unbalanced characters with these strange lines and different color gels stuck on them," their projected images an integral part of Gere's storytelling process.
"Even though, as actors, we bring a broad, comedic sense, we're different in other ways, and we try to choreograph a balance between us," he said.
"Instead of the show being separated with duo and solo spots, we're trying to pull it closer together, integrating the narrative more," Gere said.
"We've learned to play to each other's strengths," McCarthy said. "With improv, sometimes it's hard to get the other to play the dunce, but with us, that's no problem, since we're both dunces!"
Joking aside, Gere is confident their shows will be engaging to audiences, both old and young. "We're fortunate that we two are always performing. We get to hone our craft in front of a live audience."
On stage: 10 p.m. today and tomorrow, 3 p.m. tomorrow Tales on the Edge
Shave Ice & Stories
Place: Mark's Garage, corner of Nu'uanu & Pauahi
Call: 521-2903
Cost: $10 and $7 general; $5 kids
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