The Art of Storytelling

Posted by Stacks (Follow Me)- Stacks was born in DC and raised in VA. That's about all you need to know about him. - To see more posts by this author click here

So, the other day I had just finished up at Border’s and was making my weekly trip to the neighborhood newsstand (I admit it, I’m a bit of a book junkie) seeking something a little bit lighter. Whether it’s a Mad Magazine or a copy of The New Yorker, something about reading periodicals to me is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I enjoy them, but I almost feel like I’m ‘cheating at reading’ or something to that affect (look, I never claimed to not be a nerd).

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you don’t have to pay as much attention to the characters and their motivations, maybe it’s that you can flip through them and skip the boring sections without risk of missing an important plot development but regardless; to me, finding a new and original magazine that is also good is like a little nugget of gold and by definition, Centreville Newsstand is like a goldmine (okay, that was a terribly bad analogy but I promise it’ll be the only one so please bear with me). It has magazines (old & new) of just about any genre (including business, music, porn, tattoos, cartoons, wrestling, weapons, and others that I would be hard-pressed to be able to classify) and I love the fact that the owner does not try to price gouge you if you happen across a rare find.

Anyway, a couple of months earlier I thought I had found one such nugget (it’s still the same analogy so I didn’t break my promise)…an independent hip hop magazine (Elemental) who’s cover promised an interview with one of my favorite groups (Blackalicious). I quickly purchased that issue (it was from ’07), went home and got online only to find out that the issue I bought was the 2nd to last one published prior to their Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Happy with my issue but bummed that it would be my only one, I sat down and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting.

Flash forward back to ‘the other day’ and I’m in there leisurely looking through the racks to see if anything has been added since my last visit and behind another magazine I think I’ve come across another issue of Elemental as it has a look that tends to stand out; over-sized when compared to traditional magazine measurements and they forgo the soft glossy cover in favor of a more firm, matted finish (which tends to give it the appearance of a short graphic novel). Only it isn’t a new issue, its a brand new magazine called TAOST which I learn from the cover stands for ‘The Art of Storytelling‘ and immediately invokes a Slick Rick image in my mind. This is looking good, please, please, please make it not suck…what is this magazine about? I flip it open and read the letter from the editor:

Over the years street cultures have found common ground in the creative processes they use to help their respective cultures progress. Graffiti artists, skateboarders, BMX riders, hardcore bands, rappers, street wear companies and everyone in betwen have come together, borrowed from each other, helped each other grow and above all knocked down the barriers that once divided them. The idea of a “collective” was taken to new levels by our generation. The Art of Storytelling is a publication about the creative process behind street culture and the celebration of that collective relationship – period.

Now that’s something I can definitely get behind. You can find the website at www.storytellingmag.com but I’d suggest finding a newsstand and getting the issues because the website looks to still be a work in progress and doesn’t yet do the magazine justice.

udothedishes…

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The Art of Storytelling