Author, actor and playwright Kevin Kling visited classes to demonstrate the power of humor as a storytelling tool.
All eyes were on Kevin Kling, waiting for the next gut-buster, and he definitely didn’t disappoint during his Writers Reading appearance Feb. 20. Kling performed a variety of essays and anecdotes on family life, softball, Christmas and prayer, all threaded together through his master storytelling.
Sophomore Courtney Nelson attended the performance. “I found his humor to be something that appealed to a wide audience because it was generation-less,” Nelson says. “I also loved how he used humor to evoke meaning.”
Kling, a storyteller, actor, playwright, author and essayist, spent Feb. 17-22 in residence at Central visiting classes, teaching workshops and performing in Central’s Writers Reading series and his one man show “Breakin’ Hearts and Taking Names.” Kling’s production “The Ice Fishing Play” was also performed by Theatre Central from Feb. 26-March 1.
Kling visited Joshua Doležal’s Personal Essay class while in residency. To prepare for Kling’s visit, the class read three of his essays from his book “The Dog Says How.” Doležal says, “Kling is a master of pacing. He’s not purely an entertainer. He’s also a thinker. And the magic of his performance is that he makes us think while we’re laughing.” Kling’s performance ability brought his stories to life, allowing the listener to enter into the narrative.
“I’m forever trying to explain to classes what it means to cast a spell on a reader, to make a reader yearn for nothing more than the next word, the next sentence, the next page,” Doležal says. “Kling exemplifies this talent more than any performer I’ve seen.”
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