Local author and storyteller join forces to bring fables to life
Why would a humpback whale teach a hammerhead shark to dance?
Storyteller Nancy Marie Payne will be providing the story behind many such questions at the Bethlehem Public Library when she performs selections from local author Norman Cohen’s Fables by jambbal on Saturday, Jan. 16.
It’s a literary mash-up that is billed as appropriate for the whole family, as Payne takes Cohen’s tales that were woven over the course of five years and adds her improvisational styling to bring them to life.
Cohen wrote the fables under the pseudonym jambbal, which was not only the phonetic spelling of his grandfather-in-law’s nickname, but forms an acronym including figures from every major world religion.
`It was intended to be ecumenical in its base,` Cohen said. `And to put forward the idea we are all part of the world, we are all responsible for taking care of it.`
Rather than promoting the book through traditional book signing or readings, Cohen elected to let Payne tell his works on the suggestion of a colleague. The result, he said, has been more than satisfactory.
`It’s a whole different level of performance, it adds value,` Cohen said.` I’m delighted to work with her.`
Accessing a work through a storyteller rather than just through the words on a page adds another dimension to the story. Payne said that she will often tailor her presentation to her audience, changing elements to suit the listeners while retaining the plot.
`I am the type of person that has to see something, so when I am telling you the story, the story is flashing through my mind like a video, and I’m telling you from scene to scene,` she said. `Because I do it that way, it never comes out the same twice.`
Payne has already performed the fables, including an August appearance at Delmar Place, which Cohen described as a great success.
As a member of the National Storytelling Network, Story Circle of the Capital District and Story Circle of the Tri-City Area, Payne has been storytelling professionally for 13 years. She first discovered her knack for the art while working as a grade school teacher.
`It was an easy way to get children’s attention and to keep their attention during a school lesson,` she said. `Everybody likes a story.`
Her true inaugural performance was before the Bethlehem Historical Association, after doing research at the Bethlehem Library for a history book on orphan trains running out of New York City. She was invited to speak to the group, and figured that rather than talk about her researching techniques to a group of researchers, she would tell the story she had learned.
`I’m very happy to be coming back to Bethlehem with a different type of story’,` she said.
Since then, Payne has performed all over the area, including at Albany’s First Night, Story Sundays at the Glen Sanders Mansion, Word Plays at Proctors and at Underground Railroad conferences. The Berne resident remains involved in the local storytelling community, which she described as vibrant and expanding.
Cohen, who is retired after working as the administrator of the state Social Work licensing board, resides in Delmar, where he now has the opportunity to write full time. A columnist for The Spotlight in the 1980s, Cohen in 2009 also published a book of poetry, `Beyond the Sky-and-Water Line,` under the pseudonym Dahl Quarray. He plans to release a collection of poetry and two short story collections this year under the same name.
`Fables by jambbal` is available in paperback or hardcover. Copies will be available at the presentation, and can be ordered at www.fablesbyjambbal.com. The free storytelling is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Avenue, Delmar.
“