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Listen to Storytelling Tip No 6 or read it below:

Mr. Seemore Spots, the Principal of the Big Deer Elementary School, announced that the Spring Talent Show would take place March 10th. And that every kid in grades K-5 would have to sign up by March first. Since Mr. Spots firmly believed that all children have talent, there were no exceptions.
Kids who could sing, play an instrument or, like Gina Lachandani, perform a spectacular gymnastics routine all signed up the first day. And since Mr. Spots defined talent pretty loosely, even kids who just liked to show off were happy to volunteer.

For example, Caitlin, Zoe and Miranda – none of whom could carry a tune – got the okay to dress in purple leotards and lip-synch a Cheetah Girls routine. And Mr. Spots even said it was OK for Brian and Rashid to do their wacky air guitar act.

The talent show seemed to be shaping up nicely until the morning of March 5th, when Mr. Seemore Spots checked the list and noticed that one fourth-grader hadn’t signed up. This wasn’t really a big surprise, since Martin Zisky hadn’t signed up for the talent show in grades 1, 2 or 3, either.

So now, just like all those other years, Mr. Spots called Martin to his office and said. “Martin, it’s well known, that every kid has talent. You’ll just have to use your creativity to come up with an act.”

When Martin replied that this was hopeless, since he had absolutely no talent, Mr. Spots said, “Nonsense, Martin. This evening, I want you to make a list of all the things you are good at, no matter how odd they might seem.
“If you’re terrific at high-jumping or Frisbee throwing or even eating bagels, write it down. Then tomorrow, bring in your list and we’ll go over it.”

That evening Martin took out a notebook and pencil. Across the top of the first page he wrote, “Things I’m good at.” Then, after sitting and looking at the page for at least an hour, he wrote just one thing – Making Animal Noises.
“Great,” said Mr. Seemore Spots the next morning when Martin showed him the notebook. “I’ll put you in the talent show for making animal sounds. But tell me, Martin, can you make any other noises, like maybe a rocket ship taking off or a train going fast?”

“Sorry. I can’t do anything very cool. But I can make a noise that sounds kind of like a chicken. You know, ‘pock – pock – pock.’ Like that. And I can also imitate a duck a little and a cow.”
 “Good luck, Martin. “I’ll look forward to your performance.”

Now Martin knew he could quack and moo a little, but lots of kids can do that. If he didn’t want everyone to laugh at him, he needed to improve his act. So Martin got on the Internet and listened to loads of animal sounds, which he then repeated over and over.

In fact, he practiced so many times his mom made him go to the basement. Then Martin got a great idea. He would try to walk like the animal whose sound he was making. For example, when Martin made a rooster sound, he stuck out his chest and strutted about as if he was boss of the barnyard.

And, of course, he worked on his “Cock-a-doodle-do” sound. Martin also practiced his duck and cow acts. Then, because he thought maybe his performance wasn’t long enough, he also rehearsed barking like a dog.

When the day of the talent show finally arrived, Martin came out on stage and started to make his chicken noises, “Pock, pock, pock.” Just as he had feared, all the kids started laughing. And, they weren’t laughing with Martin, they were laughing at him.

Martin didn’t give up. In fact, he tried harder when he got to the duck. Not only did he do a pretty good “quack, quack, quack,” but he pressed his elbows to his sides and flapped his hands back and forth like duck wings. At the same time that he stuck out his bum, extended his neck and began waddling around the stage.

He was really pretty funny in a stupid way, and even though some kids still laughed at him, a few began to clap.
But it was Martin’s impersonation of a cud-chewing cow that really got the audience on his side. He started by dropping to all fours and sticking five pieces of gum in his mouth. Then he pulled a black and white tail out of his pocket and tucked it into the back of his jeans.

Next he allowed his head to rock back and forth, as if he was looking for a way tasty hunk of grass. Finally, he began to moo, “Mooooo.” What can I say? That boy sounded exactly like he had four legs and spots and was out standing in his field.

The audience clapped and clapped. Martin, who had really believed that he had no talent, had successfully acted out a chicken, a duck and a cow. But instead of bowing and walking off, Martin couldn’t resist doing one more animal.
And so he crawled to the very front of the stage and began to bark. First Martin made himself as small as possible and imitated a yappy little dog, like a schnauzer or a corgi. Next he unscrunched himself as he pretended to be a middle-sized dog like a cocker spaniel.

Finally, Martin took a deep breath, puffed out his chest and made the deep, loud bark of a Saint Bernard. Then, as the kids clapped Martin crawled around so his behind faced the audience. Finally he wiggled his bum from one side to the other and let out a Saint Bernard-sized F-A-R-T.

The audience was absolutely, completely, 100% shocked. In fact, for at least three seconds there was absolute silence. Then all at once everyone began clapping and cheering, cheering and clapping so loud that Martin knew his dog F-A-R-T had been his biggest hit.

When the talent show was over, Mr. Seemore Spots, along with the assistant principal, Mrs. Stripes, and the music teacher, Miss Stars, got together to award the prizes.

First place went to Amy Byrd on her piccolo. Gina Lachandani, the gymnast came in second. And third prize was awarded to Lincoln Sweetwater for his lovely performance on the saxophone.

That was when a kid in the back row of the audience yelled, “What about Martin? We want Martin.”

Before long everyone took up the chant, which somehow turned into “We want Fartin’ Martin. We want Fartin’ Martin.”

Mr. Seemore Spots waved his hand for silence as he conferred with Miss Stars and Mrs. Stripes. Then he announced, “Because Martin Zisky showed so much talent with his imitations of the chicken, cow and duck, we have decided to award him a special Audience Appreciation Award.

“But Martin, just because you’re talented doesn’t mean you can break school rules. So over the next weekend I’ll expect you to write a 500-word essay on why it’s impolite to make rude sounds in public.”

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