Featured Storyteller -- Brendyn Schneider

From the Page to the Stage: Interview with Brendyn Schneider
by Cheryl Hamilton

Watching President Obama’s lackluster performance at the first election debate last Wednesday, I kept thinking about my conversation with storyteller Brendyn Schneider a few hours earlier and how our Commander-in-chief would have benefited from some of Schneider’s rehearsal discipline.

Perched on a stool at Leo’s, a colorful greasy spoon in Harvard square, the Long Island native shared how he rehearses everyday for upcoming events - something I suspect Obama will be doing between now and October 16th. Having entered the storytelling field in 2008, Brendyn has already delivered 80 performances since Obama took office. His  goal for 2012 is to perform at least 20 gigs, which he will easily reach with several appearances scheduled before the end of the year.

Brendyn doesn’t just practice everyday; he also videos and studies each live performance like a consummate campaign manager and documents what went well and where he can improve on a detailed excel spreadsheet on his computer.  His penchant for organization comes as a bit of a surprise from the thirty-five year old who continually apologized during our conversation for talking in tangents.

“I just can’t help it. I don’t think in a straight line,” the Brookline resident noted as he splashed more ketchup on his fries.

Brendyn performing at "Heartbtreak"

More than his rigid rehearsal schedule, Brendyn’s tendency towards the non-linear is actually what makes him such an entertaining teller and why I suspect his friends encouraged him to transition from the ‘page to the stage’ as he likes to describe it.

Although he likes to joke that the first story he wrote was his direct copy of Clifford the Big Red Dog in elementary school, Brendyn didn’t begin writing original work until he moved to Boston to study communications at Suffolk University.

“Basically, I was in love with my roommate at the time and she brought this guy home and since I couldn’t march in there and say anything, I started writing a story about this guy in love with his roommate.”

The story eventually became a full length coming-of-age piece and for the next decade, Brendyn continued to write and eventually publish several stories before a friend encouraged him to deliver one live at the Regent Theater in Arlington where he will again perform on October 21st at the Arlington International Film Festival (to read some of his ‘page’ work, visit here).

Reflecting on his first performance, Brendyn laughed as he remembered how he read directly off a sheet of paper and seldom looked up at the audience, despite attending an acting school in high school. Interestingly, today he works in the development office at Harvard’s American Repertory Theater. Again, the image of Brendyn’s face buried in a sheet of paper is a surprising juxtaposition from the teller who today grabs microphones off their stands and works a stage like he is at a campaign rally.

Performing at The Big Mouth Off, Apr. 2012

His favorite issues to address are almost always about family.  A middle child, he is fascinated by the ‘strange everyday stuff’ people do and believes that every family is certifiably crazy and consequently perfect material for the storytelling circuit. It is easy to understand why Jean Shepherd, best known for his film The Christmas Story, is one of Brendyn’s favorite writers. Shepherd would have certainly appreciated Brendyn’s recent piece about visiting Toys ‘R’ Us as a child, which he premiered at Heartbreak in August – a storytelling event Brendyn produced with fellow local teller Owen Grey (Watch here).

These days, Brendyn’s wife Kelly is always the first person to review his newest material. Unlike Michelle Obama, who told CNN last Thursday that she doesn’t give her husband advice before a debate, Kelly tells Brendyn exactly what she thinks of his new work.

“I think feedback is really healthy,” Brendyn shared. “Though she and I don’t always agree and sometimes I keep the material she doesn’t like, I really value her help.”

During Obama’s early debates as a candidate in 2008, pundits criticized how the future President clapped his hands too much and pounded them on his podium. Today he keeps his arm movements more measured. Brendyn has also improved. As the right-hand column in his spreadsheet reports, the teller doesn’t turn his from head from side to side so often and Brendyn has finally found a comfortable balance between looking at an audience and starring them down.

Brendyn at "Schooled" in September

This year, the judges at massmouth have already elected to advance Brendyn to the semi-finals following his September performance at Doyle's Café about an unfortunate evening with an endless bowl of Raisin Bran. However, unlike the election in November, when we will learn if Obama gets a second round in the oval office, we will all have to wait until spring to see if Brendyn gets a second appearance at the Big Mouth Off where last year he entertained the audience with his story about finding a little bit of home at the end of the blue line. (To watch his performance from last year, click here).

In addition to his performance at AIFF, you can also see Brendyn at Laura Cannon's "War Virgin" at The Living Room in the North End on Halloween, or as host of Massmouth's slam at the Rosebud Bar and Grill on December 1st. To join his mailing list, go to http://brendynschneider.com/.

All photos courtesy of (the incredible) Paula H. Junn.
http://www.paulajunn.com/
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Cheryl Hamilton recently moved to Arlington from Maine and is a guest blogger for massmouth.com. When she is not performing her one woman show, Cheryl works for the Cambridge-based international non-profit RefugePoint, which provides lasting solutions for the most vulnerable refugees in Africa.

www.cherylhamilton.com