The heat is like a thick woolen blanket, comforting in the way it seems to gather up the little backyard outside Lawn Gnome Publishing in its warm embrace. The scraggly lawn is lined with four rows of mismatched chairs, most of them spilling out stuffing, and a sofa or two.
A short, stocky, silver-haired man positions himself comfortably in the center of the bare metal stage. Taking a strong, loose stance that demonstrates a casual confidence, he begins to paint a picture with his words and gestures, impassive blue-gray eyes occasionally flashing with a spark of unadulterated glee.
This “man with a plan,” as he is introduced by co-host Rachel Egboro, is Dan Hull — comedian, Buddhist monk and storyteller. Hull co-founded Yarnball Storytelling with Aaron Hopkins-Johnson, the owner of Lawn Gnome Publishing. The storytelling open mic is held every Wednesday behind the bookstore and is hosted by Hull, Egboro or both.
Hull said that he thinks of himself as being composed of three parts: the “Zen part,” the “storytelling part,” and the “comedian part.” The “Zen part” comes from Hull’s spiritual background — he was ordained as a Buddhist monk, and he still practices the religion. How, then, did he enter the world of comedy and storytelling? Hull recounted a moment when he realized he needed an avenue of self-expression beyond the expression of religion.
Hull said he was at a highly televised Buddhist retreat when he made a slightly sardonic comment after his teacher gave an instruction. Hull’s teacher began to antagonize him in front of the live audience.
“(My teacher) says, ‘All right, what you really seem to want is, you want someone to tell you you’re a good Buddhist,’” Hull recalled. “‘I’m telling everyone you’re a great Buddhist. You’re a fantastic Buddhist. Now get off your cushion and do something else. What would you do if you wanted to do anything else?’”
When Hull replied that he might like to try stand-up comedy, everyone at the retreat and watching the broadcast heard him. Hull said that hundreds of people began asking him when he was going to start stand-up. So he began to write and attend stand-up mics, vaulting himself into the world of comedy.
Hull said he got involved in storytelling when he met a man named Adam Wade in New York City, where he had been focusing on stand-up comedy. He described the first time he heard Wade tell a story at a comedy club in Brooklyn.
“(Wade) told this amazing, hilarious story, but instead of ending it with a huge joke, which most comics do, he ended it with … real sincerity, and heart, and beauty,” Hull said. “I thought, ‘Wow. That’s pretty powerful,’ and I thought, ‘I think that’s more what I want to do.’”
From there, Hull became involved in the storytelling scene in New York City, working with Wade and honing his skills.
Hull said that when he came back to Phoenix two summers ago, he was frustrated with the lack of storytelling venues in the city.
“I was complaining to Aaron one day,” Hull said. “There really weren’t any storytelling shows that were doing the type of storytelling that I wanted to do… and he had just opened the bookstore a few months before, and he said, ‘Well, let’s do it here.’”
Yarnball Storytelling has been held at Lawn Gnome Publishing almost every week since.
“Storytelling’s a great way to take a step back and analyze what’s happened to you,” Egboro said. “(Hull) opens it up for people like you and me who don’t have star power or connections to get on the stage and shine — it’s accessible.”
Hull also started “Storyline,” a small collective of storytellers — often recruited from Yarnball — who work together to hone their stories before performing. Rachel Sherman, who worked with Hull to create the show, said storytelling helps people connect with one another on a human level.
“It’s super humanizing,” she said. “It’s something that everyone should … learn to do.”
Hull agreed — he feels a deep connection with his fellow storytellers, he said.
“The people that I do some of my storytelling with, in a way, I know them more intimately than I know some of my friends, because I know their stories more deeply,” he said.
Hull also performed with Sherman in “Bad Buddhist,” a show that evolved from “Storyline” and required Hull to possess the storytelling stamina to colorfully communicate life experiences, especially those dealing with Buddhism and spirituality, for the duration of a full-length show.
Hull jokingly called himself a “bad Buddhist,” labeling himself as fairly cynical. He said that storytelling allowed him to “believe in the beauty of human beings a lot more.”
“It’s inspiring to me. I am constantly surprised by the beauty of people’s stories, and that has an effect on me,” he said. “It’s just this kaleidoscope of human experience that I get to witness, week after week, and I really enjoy it.”
In the same way Hull is more than just a comedian, more than just a Buddhist, more than just a performer, the art of storytelling is more than a rigid art form.
“Storytelling is … like playing a piano,” Hull said. “You can use melody, you can use rhythm, chorus … As long as someone is sincerely being themselves, even if they’re not that talented as a storyteller, even if their story isn’t that compelling, if someone’s just kind of honestly being who they are … we as human beings tend to want to listen.”
Contact the reporter at Faith.Anne.Miller@asu.edu
