Elaine Ambrose

Bestselling Author, Ventriloquist, & Humorist

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U of I Hosts Ambrose Storytelling Workshop

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Elaine Ambrose speaks at the U of I Storytelling Workshop

MOSCOW, Idaho — April 24, 2019 — Storytelling through film is the focus of the University of Idaho’s second annual Ambrose Storytelling Workshop, to be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, in the Idaho Commons Whitewater Room.

The free community workshop will introduce participants to visual storytelling and demonstrate how filmmakers can use tools at their disposal to make high-quality films.

“This year’s Ambrose Storytelling Workshop will be a fun event highlighting the power of story through film. Participants will learn directly from award-winning filmmakers and go home with usable skills,” said Benjamin James, a clinical assistant professor who teaches screenwriting in U of I’s Department of English. James is the recipient of the inaugural Ambrose Storytelling Endowment faculty research award.

James will be joined at the workshop by Palouse filmmakers Martin McGreevy and Jace Wrigley.

Following the workshop, participants will have 48 hours to submit their own short film utilizing the skills and techniques taught in the workshop. U of I seniors taking part in the workshop will compete for the Ambrose Senior Award and $1,500 prize.

The Ambrose Storytelling Workshop was started in 2018 thanks to a donation by bestselling author and U of I College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences alumna Elaine Ambrose. She created the Ambrose Storytelling Endowment to share her gift of storytelling and to honor her late brother George, a U of I alumnus.

“My entire career has been writing and telling stories,” Ambrose said. “I wanted to give back to the university to encourage more storytelling. We live in an age of sentences through Twitter and instant messaging that don’t quite communicate a story the same way a rich paragraph or dialogue does.”

More information on the workshop, including registration information, is available at uidaho.edu/ambrose.

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Media Contact
Benjamin James
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of English
[email protected]

The Good Brother

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george art

My brother George Ambrose died yesterday. His health had been declining, so my husband Ken and I drove 130 miles to Twin Falls, Idaho, to meet him at a restaurant overlooking the Snake River Canyon; a fixture from our childhood. He told funny stories, we drank wine, and we helped him to his pickup. He drove home and died a few hours later.

My usual response to pain is to crack jokes. After I learned of his passing, I asked, “But he ordered the house wine!”

He could have ordered top shelf anything, but he wasn’t like that. As much as we were similar in our ability to tell stories, sing, laugh, and savor good food, we were different because he was a humble, quiet man. My obnoxious public antics often embarrassed him, but we remained close in spirit if not in proximity.

george elaine

Because he can’t stop me now, I’m going to write about him so others can appreciate his goodness. He was a talented artist. The drawing above was done when my older brother left home and shows my mother sobbing as she holds Little George’s hand while he’s grinning. My father plays a fiddle on top of one of his 18-wheel trucks. At the time, my father also owned about 6,000 hogs, hence the use of pigs in the artwork. (I’m not in the picture, but that’s for the memoir.)

george ui robe

George wasn’t encouraged to pursue his love of art because he was needed to help run the trucking company after he graduated from college. George also loved to sing; another passion that was discounted in the family work ethic requirements. He and I both were members of the Vandaleer Concert Choir at the University of Idaho. The Vandaleers only traveled on two tours outside the United States. I went with the choir to Europe, and five years later he traveled with the choir when it toured South America. I have a favorite photo that shows him adjusting my academic chords before graduation. He threatened to strangle me if I didn’t hold still.

george portrait

Another memory is when were performed in the talent show at school. I was in high school and he was in junior high. I performed an original poem titled, “My Mommy Spanked My Bottom.” He did a reading of “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service. We won First and Second Place, which caused criticism from the town folk who thought we hogged the awards. The Robert Service poem continues to be popular in folklore and poetry. My poem, not so much.

One fun adventure with George and Marti, his wife of 30 years, was when they took Ken and me to Jackpot, Nevada to see the comedy show performed by “Larry, the Cable Guy.” I laughed and snorted for two hours.  I recommend that to anyone.

My father’s health deteriorated when George was in his mid-twenties, and George took over most of the daily duties of the trucking company and the farms. After my dad died in 1989, George became the owner of Montana Express. For relaxation, he loved to fly his small plane, and continued flying until he could no longer pass the physical test. On the day he died, a friend took George and Marti flying one last time. The altitude change was bad for his health, but he went anyway. Then he drove to Twin to meet us at the restaurant.

I had no idea that was the last time I would see him. We talked about arranging a family get-together at a restaurant in Hagerman. He nodded. But, there was something in his eyes. I couldn’t stop staring at them. There was a glow that saw something beyond me that I couldn’t see. Now I believe he was making the transition to another realm, and to be included in that moment, I am honored and humbled. (Ha! He would love that!) At his request, there won’t be a funeral.

george dad me

My father died at age 60. George was 61. I’ve outlived both and am getting nervous. I’m motivated to enjoy every day and will try to avoid crabby people, create some laughter, and hug my family. I treasure the memories of George, and I promise to live better. I probably won’t become as humble as he was, but I’ll try. God speed, Little Brother. Follow the light.

george with family

 

How to Speak in Public without Puking on the Podium

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I’m often asked to give keynote speeches to various groups because I have a gift for bullshit and I can use silly finger puppets and a bag of cheap props to make even the crabbiest audience laugh for a few minutes. Every public speaker has inevitable worries: Will they laugh at my jokes? Do they understand three-syllable words? Am I going to have explosive diarrhea?

Counting the live and televised audience, more than 10,000 people heard my commencement address at the University of Idaho. I’d like to think that I encouraged and motivated them to use their talents to achieve greatness, take risks, and live with an attitude of gratitude. In reality, the graduates were taking notes about how to hook up after the ceremonies, and the parents were planning where to get the best gin and tonics.

My most difficult speech occurred several years ago with a group of serious engineers at the corporate headquarters of Tectronix in Portland, Oregon. I could tell by their body language that they resented attending the workshop so I distributed finger puppets and within 20 minutes they were laughing and singing rounds with their puppets. For a brief moment in time, I helped them lighten up, reduce stress, and transfer their anxieties, and I suspect many of them haven’t laughed out loud since then.

The podium can be seductive. Here are some tips for speaking in public without puking:

  1.  Have a mighty message. Your audience is giving up 30 minutes of their lives to hear you speak, so don’t waste their time. Know your message and believe it will make a powerful impact on them. If you don’t like or endorse your talk, why should they?
  2.  Speak with authority. Repeat your speech out loud in front of a mirror until you’re sick of it. Then revise the bullet points as you’re driving to the event. Then make note of the audience and adapt as necessary. Extemporaneous adlibs create memorable moments that can either destroy your credibility or propel you to greatness. What could go wrong?
  3. Arrive early and stay sober. Try the podium and microphone, double-check any equipment you will be using, casually meet other attendees, and find some characters and stories you can use or exploit in your speech.
  4. Go to the bathroom. Trust me.
  5. Anticipate problems. Electric power could go out, the Master of Ceremonies may not have your biography, some obnoxious drunks could heckle you, there’s always a jerk who doesn’t turn off a cellphone, babies will cry, a waiter will drop a tray of dessert, your brain could freeze, and a chubby salesman from Toledo will be winking at you from the front row. Ignore all of these distractions.
  6. Connect with your audience. The old method was to scan the room, corner to corner, during a presentation. It’s more effective to make eye contact with and address separate individuals throughout the group and speak directly to them. This creates an intimate bond with the entire audience.
  7.  Open and close like a preacher at a tent revival meeting. Hook the audience with humorous anecdotes at the start of your talk and then close with bigger, better, and funnier stories at the end. Make them want to jump up and yell “Hallelujah! You changed my life!” That may be a stretch, but it’s a good goal to visualize.
  8. Volunteer to give speeches. Civic organizations and clubs need guest speakers. They may not pay anything, but you’ll gain experience and name recognition. Each completed presentation boosts your self-confidence and leads to additional opportunities. The local garden club is non-threatening, unless you insult their salad. Don’t do that.

Over the decades, I’ve given hundreds of speeches. Some were brilliant, some sucked. But never has anyone thrown rotten vegetables at me, or walked out, or hissed that my words were straight from the devil. My intent is to deliver words that enlighten, humor, and inform. I’m just a woman with a microphone and they’re regular people who had to pay for a babysitter or take time off work so I better add some value for their efforts. If I do it right, the added value will be mine, also.