By Pat Nease
The first time I entered a Liar’s Contest was at an Ocala Storytelling Festival (thanks, Jessica McCune!) where the featured teller was none other than Bil Lepp. What a way to start!
Having never created a whopper before – at least not for competition – I listened to as many samples as I could, read a book or two, watched performances and then… well, nothing happened. I could see what others had done but had no idea how to get started.
Finally, I decided to start at the end and work backwards.
I made up a silly song for the ending and then went to work setting it up. This story involved my Uncle Shelby who lived on a farm on the side of a Kentucky mountain. I followed Bil’s directions, starting with the believable (I really DID have an Uncle Shelby who really DID live in Kentucky, only not in the mountains and not on a farm) and got creative from there.
The story involved following my daddy’s dying wish and delivering a gnome (family heirloom) to Shelby – and once I knew where I was going, it sort-of wrote itself. The switchbacks on the road, the animals and kids with short legs and long legs so they could run evenly on the mountain side, an antidote causing the chickens to lay flat eggs so the eggs wouldn’t roll off the mountain, Uncle Shelby’s wife, my Aunt Addy, being a conjurer, their house jutting out the side of the mountain with a big dome (wasn’t built in a day…) on top, and their hired man from Thailand who loved Nickelodeon – all this and more to make the ending work.
When I headed for home, Aunt Addy put a song in my mind to keep me company on the trip. It’s sung to the tune of “Oh Give Me A Home.”
They now have a gnome, in their bungalow’s dome,
Where the beer and the antidote stay.
Where seldom is heard, a conjuring word,
And the Thai Nickelodes all day.
And I won! I’ve been at it ever since. Maybe my disasters in life give me fodder for taking the facts and enlarging the story. But here’s how I work it now.
When I get a story idea, I write down everything I can think of related to that subject – idioms, puns, jokes, facts, synonyms, related funnies — until I have a pot of ideas. I’ll look at notes I’ve jotted down, think about what I heard somebody say, and consider fairy tale characters – nothing is exempt.
The story plays around in my head when I’m cooking, showering, driving, sleeping so I’m constantly updating it. And you know the hardest part. The ending. Which is also the most important part. Everything brought up in the story has to be resolved. You can’t just throw an event or joke or person in there and never touch on them again. It all must fit, hopefully creating a conclusion with a surprise or good twist.
I hope this encourages you to give this genre a spin. It can be lots of fun.
Pat Nease has hosted and participated in numerous liars’ contests. She serves as emcee of the Liars’ Contest at the Florida Storytelling Festival. This contest was introduced at the 2023 Festival.
Pete Abdalla, left, won the 2023 and 2024 Liars’ Contest at the Florida Storytelling Festival. Joanna Demarest came in second, and Walt Belcher was third place in this year’s contest.
I don’t believe a word of this!
Fun post, Pat. Thank you!
Great tips… and still giggling at the memories of these bunch of liars!
Pat, Thank you for the insight into your process for creating you very clever and very humorous stories. I loved the bird party story you told at the First Annual Tale Tellers Liars Contest.
This is a fantastic description on how to create a Liar’s tale! It would be great if you and Pete could create a workshop for next year’s festival teaching the basics of how to create a winning lie! It was wonderful seeing you again!
We just watched “It’s a Miracle” from your website.
We were both laughing out loud. We love your work, if you can call it that. You’d think you were just laughing the whole time you’re working on your Tall Tales. But we know better now it takes time and dedication and we so appreciate you and your dedication to Tall Tales, to FSA and to storytelling. Shucks we just appreciate you.
Great advice. Start with the truth… and just keep going… The truth makes the best lies! Or at least starts them off…
I love the idea of a Kernel of truth and starting with the ending !!!!
Thanks for sharing your secrets,
Kay Pricher
Hooray for Pat and your constant search for puns, idioms, and similes. I remember finding you sitting on a couch once, with a dictionary and thesaurus beside you and your laptop. Thanks for working so hard to make us laugh. Thanks for taking tips from Bill. Thanks for sharing all you know about storytelling.
Long live storytelling,
Jessica McCune
PS> It was Holly Denton’s idea to add the Liar’s Contest to the Ocala Storytelling Festival. I must give credit where credit is due.
Hooray for Pat and your constant search for puns, idioms, and similes. I remember finding you sitting on a couch once, with a dictionary and thesaurus beside you and your laptop. Thanks for working so hard to make us laugh. Thanks for taking tips from Bill. Thanks for sharing all you know about storytelling.
Long live storytelling,
Jessica McCune
PS> It was Holly Denton’s idea to add the Liar’s Contest to the Ocala Storytelling Festival. I must give credit where credit is due.
Hooray for Pat and your constant search for puns, idioms, and similes. I remember finding you sitting on a couch once, with a dictionary and thesaurus beside you and your laptop. Thanks for working so hard to make us laugh. Thanks for taking tips from Bill. Thanks for sharing all you know about storytelling.
Long live storytelling,
Jessica McCune
PS: It was Holly Denton’s idea to add the Liar’s Contest to the Ocala Storytelling Festival. I must give credit where credit is due.