UNIQUE STORIES, EVOLVED TELLING: The Campfireball returns to Wilmington
- Shannon Rae Gentry
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Season 2017 of Cucalorus was a big year for fun interviews and hilarious conversations, and I can’t believe it’s been almost 10 years since I talked to Cory Howard about his feature performance that year—something I realized after he reached out about “The Campfireball” show’s return to Wilmington this Thursday, March 26 at Jengo’s Playhouse.
“It’s a different experience now,” Howard writes, “since then I have taken [‘The Campfireball’] to a graduate school program in storytelling and retooled the show to be a lot more centered around how to get the audience specifically to share stories about their lives in a spontaneous and (hopefully) fun way.”
Howard—a former Wilmingtonian, comedian and improvisor—says he’s spent these past years traveling the country to develop “The Campfireball” experience—a storytelling show about the audience. Think: Mr. Rogers hosts “Double Dare,” and you’ve got the energy behind Howard’s show centered on the audience and spontaneous real-life storytelling.
“I think the description of the show ‘Stories collected from the audience in unique ways’ freaks some people out,” Howard admits, “but I always try to say it’s a very introvert-friendly show, participation is always voluntary, and it’s just as much fun (and just as important) to listen to a story as it is to share one. So don’t be afraid to come on out!”
Joining Howard on Thursday to open is the two-person improv group Tex & The City, Jeremy Griffin and Brian Prince—also former Wilmingtonians performing together for the first time in 15 years. “Brian and Jeremy are two of the best improvisers I’ve ever seen,” Howard says, “and when you get them together it is deep belly laughs, tremendously imaginative storytelling, and real magic.
“They were the first people to teach me improv as members of the improv troupe The Other Side (which I eventually became a part of as well) when I was here in college at UNCW,” Howard continues, “and they remain two of my favorite performers. They went on big life adventures and are back living in Wilmington now with their families. It’s an incredible honor to have them performing as part of this show.”
While readers can also enjoy a flashback to our 2017 article previewing “The Campfireball” show for Cucalorus, you can also catch up with Howard in our Q&A here:
encore (e): Let’s catch up a bit. What can you tell readers about where we left off in 2017, as a human, as a performer, artist, etc., what was the headspace like leading into that “Campfireball" show at Cucalorus?
Cory Howard (CH): At that time (2017), my dear sweet cat had died, and I just quit my job as an assistant for a TV producer in Los Angeles. I had nothing tying me down to anything, so I loaded up my 2002 Subaru Forester and drove around the country hosting “The Campfireball” in theatres and people’s backyards for about three months. Cucalorus was one of the (best) stops on that trip...
e: You also had this show since 2011, and have continued to refine it. Tell us what those growing pains (for lack of better phrasing) have looked like. Tell us more about the graduate program and how this work changed as a result?
CH: There is a much, much longer version of this story, but at that time I would say “The Campfireball” was “a weird show where Cory gets the audience to do things he thinks is fun or funny.” It was a very confusing sales pitch… [laughs] I had been wrestling with the core identity of this thing for years. When the pandemic hit, my grandmother also got sick; I was out of work so I traveled back home and basically bubbled up with my grandmother and my parents for about 10 weeks.
I kept trying to get her to share stories from her life, but she was very buttoned up and tightlipped, however, I noticed that during “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” she would share pieces of her life story as long is it was parallel to something happening on the show—so, indirectly. At some point a lightbulb went off and I thought, THAT'S WHAT THE CAMPFIREBALL IS—a way for people to share their stories, without it feeling like that’s what we’re doing. Along the way, hopefully, [we’re] opening up avenues of connection, revealing the depth of each person's character and modeling a tiny little micro-community that can pop up when we share with each other.
I went back to my apartment in Los Angeles and started looking up places to practice storytelling, found out there was a master's program in Johnson City, TN at East Tennessee State University—the only storytelling program in the country—and I went! And this is what I do now. The program allowed me to just put reps in, do it again, and again and again. And what changed was having peers and mentors challenging me about how to create an environment where people would want to share, how to make it feel safe, but still edgy, fun and inviting.
e: Are there notable differences you can describe or name in “The Campfireball” of 2011, 2017 and 2026? Wilmington hasn’t seen this show since 2017, right?
CH: There are big time differences, but the DNA is still the same. Before, I think I was essentially “putting the audience through something,” like “read from this script” or “play this game,” and now we’re collaborating. I am more of a facilitator than a ringleader, finding ways to take their (the audience’s) contributions and connect them to the larger story of the group we’re collectively telling. But it’s still fun, and [the show] tries to use absurdity to get to authenticity.
And yes! First full-length “Campfireball” since 2017. I have tried out some “Campfireball” segments with the DareDevil Improv troupe here in town, but this is the first time hosting the entire show.
e: Let’s talk about the audience, as that’s a constant state of flux and change with demographics (age, race, gender) and what makes them laugh and engage—what’s your perspective here?
CH: To me, because the show is a collection of real-life audience stories told spontaneously (so no preparation, the show is all about finding ways of evoking those stories), and because a story is personal (something that happened to you and not an opinion, or inherently political), there’s a lot more runway for humor, compassion, and even identification, or seeing yourself in someone else’s story.
In fact, I think that’s probably the secret weapon of storytelling: Either I relate to your story even though we’re completely different people, and therefore I like you more or feel less alone in the world; or I’m privileged enough to get to hear a brand new story, and learn that the world is vast and deep and there’s still more to see and be exposed to even after all these years. Win win!
e: How has the audience changed, in your opinion, over the course of two decades?
CH: Hmm … great question! I do so many different types of shows, since “The Campfireball” is a bit amorphous and adapts to the audience themselves. So, kids shows in libraries, comedy theatre shows for adults, community centers, senior centers, colleges, etc … the audience is constantly changing anyway, but I feel like it's a little more challenging to get people out of their houses than it was 20 years ago. And I’m not sure if that’s a factor of me being older and therefore audiences interested in my show are older and have kids and families and full-time jobs and just aren’t able to attend as much performance and weird little shows as before; or if people are in general going out less … but I have a feeling that could flip soon as people fatigue of too much screen time and one-dimensional types of connection that in-home entertainment and socials tend to facilitate.
e: How have you changed?
CH: Wow, what a time in my life to answer this question. I think I am more risk-averse, and probably less willing to do, um, just anything on stage to get a reaction out of people. I am more interested in genuine connection now, and creating something ephemeral with a group of people that could only be created by us in that space at that time.
Details
The Campfireball with Tex & The City
Jengo’s Playhouse | 815 Princess St.
March 26 at 8 p.m.
