Harlynne Geisler telling a spooky tale on a TV show.
Fairy tales, holiday stories, and world tales with lots of participation for children's shows. "Encounters with Truth" and "Ghost Stories" for adults. Stories for every occasion. See her website for more information.
2 reviews
Wendy B.
September 21, 2018We had Harlynne at our school. She was very animated and the kids really enjoyed her stories!
Hired as: Storyteller
Kathleen B.
August 28, 2018Harlynne has come to our school for 3 years in a row now and we are extremely pleased. Her enthusiasm keeps the kids attention and we always have a great time! We will continue to use her services for as long as she will continue to return! There is nothing as fun as a children's story read dramatically well!!
Hired as: Storyteller
Storyteller Harlynne Geiser
You are so kind! I'll be happy to keep coming back. Your children are delightful. Harlynne
Price range: Contact for rates
Languages: English
Gig length: 20 - 60 minutes
Insurance: $3,000,000 - Each Occurrence: $3,000,000 (bodily injury & property damage to others) Damage to Rental Premises: $300,000 to rented premises Personal & Advertising Injury: $3,000,000 hurting someone's feelings General Aggregate: $5,000,000 (the most the policy will pay out during the policy year) Products - Completed Op. Agg.: $5,000,000 (the most the policy will pay out during the policy year) Medical Expenses: $5,000 (emergency medical to others injured by you)
WHAT I MEAN BY THE WORD "STORYTELLING":
The word "storytelling" is used to mean many things, from novel-writing to lying to reading out loud to acting to filmmaking to dancing.
My form of storytelling can be summed up by the term "a one-woman show with a cast of thousands." It is not quite acting, in that I do not change costumes or use a stage set, nor do I often use props.
Instead I am the narrator of a (generally) fictional narrative, speaking directly to the listeners. Sometimes I take on slightly different voices for the characters within the tale. Gesture, facial expression, and dramatic pauses create images in my listeners' minds. My listeners and I work together as a team. I say the words, but it is they who create the tale: feeling, imagining, and guessing what will happen next.
Perhaps the best image of what I do is people gathered around a campfire listening while one person speaks and gestures.
If there are more than 150 listeners, I need a mike on a skinny metal stand.
Thursday
Festival
2:30pm - 3:30pm
•
Del Mar, CA
Thursday
School Assembly
1:00pm - 2:00pm
•
San Diego, CA
Tuesday
School Assembly
10:00am - 11:30am
•
Costa Mesa, CA
Thursday
School Assembly
10:00am - 11:00am
•
Lake Forest, CA
WITH EVERY BOOKING YOU CAN RECEIVE: fliers, word searches, coloring pages, small posters, bookmarks, and press releases designed for your organization. Just ask!
PICK ONE OF THE SHOWS THAT ARE PERFECT FOR YOUR AUDIENCE:
Hauntingly True Ghost Stories
In her travels as a storyteller around the United States Harlynne has collected eerie tales of pushes, screams, frightened rabbits, and other unusual occurrences from the people who experienced them as well as tales of ghosts in the Governor's Mansion and the Wells College dorms. Enjoy a bit of a shiver as she narrates these tales. These stories are popular year round--not just for Halloween!
A Fiesta of Folktales: Hispanic Stories from New Mexico, Mexico, and Central America
Storyteller Harlynne Geisler was born and raised in Illinois, but in the twenty years that she has been living in San Diego, California, she's learned to appreciate both the spicy food of her Mexican-American grandmother-in-law and the funny, fabulous stories from south of the border. By the end of her show, you will know that to season a Hispanic story just right, all you need to add is a little storyteller's tongue!
Encounters with Truth: Stories for Adults
These tales will reveal the wisdom of the ages and of cultures from around the world as we laugh and sigh along with the characters that Harlynne creates with the magic of gesture, facial expression, and a finely tuned vocal range. She is truly a one-woman show with a cast of thousands.
Highland Hauntings: Tales of Scotland
Harlynne Geisler is a member of the Highland clan MacLachlan. She has discovered stories that will truly haunt you with their beauty, power, humor, and sadness. They can be told alone or along with her Irish tales in a program of Celtic Tales.
The Speaking of the Green: Irish Tales
You can tell by Storyteller Harlynne Geisler's silver tongue that she has a wee bit of the Irish in her. Her grandfather Ralph McLaughlin passed on to her the gift of blarney which she will share in tales of princesses, ghosts, and beggars and in jokes, sayings, and riddles from the Emerald Isle.
The Light Within: Stories of the Season
Harlynne Geisler grew up in a family that lit the lights on the Christmas tree and kindled the candles on the Hanukkah menorah. She will surround you with the glow of the spirit of both traditions as she relates Christmas legends and Hanukkah tales.
Meeting Elijah: Jewish Tales of the Environment
You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate and understand these folktales and legends that explain how we should care for the land and the animals.
Multicultural Tales from Around the World
These tales from as far away as Korea, East Africa and the Philippines and as close as right here in America celebrate the oral tradition that has kept literature alive and lively. If you have particular countries or cultures that you wish to be included in the show, just ask Harlynne.
Gross and Gory: Stories not for the Squeamish
If the thought of chopped off hands and eating blood and oatmeal makes you gag, this is not the show for you. Storyteller Harlynne Geisler has a strong stomach and a head for tales once told around flickering fires at a time when it was believed that not all dead bodies were really dead. For ages 10 and up.
Create a Story Workshop for Elementary Children.
This is a funshop, not a workshop. Everyone will leave with stories to tell, perform, or draw.
Harlynne Geisler will begin by explaining the simple "story rules" that are the secret to anyone creating a brand new story with confidence. As a group, with partners, and in clusters of four we will spend the time playing with how-and-why titles, story cards, action-frozen pictures, and our brains to make up brand new plots with interesting characters and astounding twists to old problems.
The applications are endless: books, plays, writing exercises for any age class from kindergarten to college, clown skits, party games, stage performances, or workshop activities to create a sense of community with any group. This workshop can be conducted for children or adults ages 6 to 96.
Wise, Witty, or Wacky: Folktales about Seniors
May is National Older Americans Month, but every day is one in which we should celebrate what we all will do - grow older! Folktales from around the world have always done so in funny and fabulous ways. Storyteller Harlynne Geisler has researched and shaped tales suitable for either an adult audience or an all-age audience. Let her help your library celebrate!
Show can be tailored for adults or for all ages.
Jack and His Super Hero Friends
How cool would it be to have super hero friends who could eat entire cows (hair, bones, and all), drink up the ocean, or rescue you from being burned up by an evil king? Storyteller Harlynne Geisler knows an old tale told around the world in such places as Russia, Germany, and Appalachia where a boy was just that lucky. She'll happily tell you her amazing and amusing version. For families and children.
Wizards and Spells
Long before Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, wizards have enchanted our imagination. Harlynne Geisler will weave a spell of words to bewitch your audience and make them actively participate in the telling. Her magical tales of wizards and spells are all from books. She'll also teach A School for Well-Written Wizards with silly spells and funny potions. For families and children.
A Funny Fiesta of Fantasy
No one get sillier than storyteller Harlynne Geisler. Whether she's wiggling her tail in a dragon's dance or proudly holding out an imaginary cockroach or singing in a squirrel's voice, she cracks her audience up. She celebrates her 27th year as a practically perfect performer in 2007, and she invites you to the party of your imagination and her tales of wacky wonder. Put on a comical hat. Then join the festivities by hiring her for your audience. [Versions of this show are for families and children or for adults. Great for April, when it's called "April Fools: Tales of Funny Fellows."]
Many years ago I went to a storytelling show just to kill time. Most of the tellers talked in a “precious” storytelling voice as if they were talking down to their listeners. Then Carol Birch began to perform. I perked up and thought, “I can’t do that, and I want to.”
I attended a class that she taught, and it truly began the road for me that lead to more than 30 years as a professional storyteller.
If there are more than 150 listeners, I need a mike on a skinny metal stand.
small table
Storyteller