Sex and Death: The Folktale Edition - Laura Packer, storyteller

When her show began, Laura Packer had a warning: the folk tales contained within the next hour were not the kind meant for children at bedtime. In fact, many of the five stories could be better described as a dirty joke told by your favorite aunt or uncle (which was, in fact, the way Packer learned her first story). Collecting stories from all over the world, Packer proudly continues the oral tradition of humorous storytelling with her show “Sex and Death: The Folktale Edition”. A seasoned performer, this marks Packer’s sixth return to the KC Fringe, and her experience shows.

Like any good dirty joke, these tales often start with an intriguing setup or premise: magic rings, cases of mistaken infidelity, potential necrophilia, fireflies, several attempts to trick death, and teeth found in some unexpected places. Through many mishaps and misunderstandings, the payoff eventually occurs through either a comeuppance due to pride or arrogance, or someone finding a new way of looking at the world and appreciating its wonders. These odd objects and circumstances are just nuggets of intrigue that Packer digs out from less familiar but entertaining tales from Russian, Jewish, Bulgarian, Italian, and Indian traditions.

The setting was a simple bare stage and microphone, but Laura is such a naturally gifted storyteller that she did not need the mic to project. For tales of love and lust, an amorous red light tinted the stage; for tales of death, the light shifted to morbidly cold blue. Barefoot, in a back dress adorned with embroidered red roses still draping on vines, Laura also did not use elaborate costumes or wild voices to portray the numerous characters in each story. Each gesture was lively, effective and purposeful and the humor was derived from the story itself, or from entertaining context provided by Packer. One tale had a Monty Python-esque reference by using tracts of land to compare people’s natural assets, while during another anecdote she addressed the cultural erasure of relevant Jewish themes from a popular Tim Burton adaptation of the same tale.

The stories were equally balanced with two tales of sex and two tales of death, with the final story serving more as a summation of the ways folk tales save our lives everyday, both literally and figuratively. Sharing a good joke or a good story is how we keep the history of past generations alive, not just by focusing on the facts, but by the things that made them laugh and love. Laura Packer is knowledgeable and enthusiastic on each subject, and it is clearly shown in her performance. If you have a love for a funny anecdote or a good story, please see this show.