Whatever it takes to tell a good scary story, Bobby Norfolk has perfected it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the night becomes darker, the voice slows down,\u201d said the St. Louis native and three-time Emmy Award winner. \u201cThe voice gets deeper, you go into the dramatic use of the pause, and then all of a sudden \u2014 boom!\u201d<\/p>\n
Norfolk has spent five decades telling stories, from the locally produced television show \u201cGator Tales\u201d to storytelling festivals throughout the country. In this episode of “St. Louis on the Air,” he previews the upcoming \u201cSpooky Stories\u201d Halloween showcase on Oct. 29 at Power Creative.<\/p>\n
For Norfolk, a successful story is one that grabs an audience\u2019s attention and emotion. Whether he\u2019s performing for children or senior citizens, he said his goal is to approach a hypnosis-like state.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a matter of the imagination,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat I found out very early in life is that the human brain is hardwired for story. So, everything we see, hear, taste, touch and smell comes through a story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even after decades in the profession, he still finds challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have so many distractions and diversions because of technology. Children have lost the power of imagination for the most part,\u201d he said. \u201cThey have lost the power of active listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norfolk credited his long career keeping audiences entertained to the skills he learned in the beginning of his storytelling journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked for eight plays with the Black Repertory Company [founder] Ron Himes, so I learned about those elements of theater and the understanding of comedy,\u201d he said. \u201cI bring all those elements together and it captures the imagination. \u2026 People are just subjected to storytelling hypnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Spooky Stories Halloween Storytelling Showcase features Norfolk, alongside guests Greg Carr, Beverly Brennan, Sherry Norfolk and Ken Haller. Norfolk said the show is intended for anyone age 12 and up.<\/p>\n
“The lighter material starts early, and then as the night progresses, the stories become darker,” he said. “You come at your own peril when you bring [young] children.”<\/p>\n
Related Event To hear the full conversation with Bobby Norfolk, including his reflections on how he overcame a childhood stutter, his early days as a ranger for the National Park Service and his journey to become a professional storyteller, listen to \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, YouTube<\/a> or click the play button below.<\/p>\n After 50 years of storytelling, Bobby Norfolk still has spooky tales to tell<\/p>\n \u201cSt. Louis on the Air<\/a>\u201d brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet<\/a>, Emily Woodbury<\/a>, Danny Wicentowski<\/a>, Elaine Cha<\/a>, Darrious Varner<\/a> and Alex Heuer<\/a>. Our production intern is Danny Osborn. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whatever it takes to tell a good scary story, Bobby Norfolk has perfected it. \u201cAs the night becomes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-936930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What: Spooky Stories Halloween Storytelling Showcase<\/a>
When: 7 p.m. Oct. 29
Where: Power Creative, 3221 Oak Hill Ave., St. Louis, MO 63116<\/p>\n