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Randall

@createdbyrcw.bsky.social

190 followers 120 following 2.2K posts

Storyteller, photographer, science nerd, Marlies fan Story analyst, coach & mentor @ So, What's Your Story?

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Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · Sep 4

You have a superpower.

Simply put, you are you. Only you have lived your life.

And that you-niqueness means you can tell stories no one else can. So, tap into that superpower & tell your stories.

Please subscribe to, like & share this video, & comment a you-niqueness below.

youtu.be/1ax3QAjJB38

Tap Your Superpower

YouTube video by Randall Willis

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 3h

Thank you so much for sharing that. It is magnificent.

Wishing you the best.

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 3h

The greatest lesson of aging has been a better awareness of the scale of my ignorance.

That ignorance is not a failing, however, so much as an invitation to broader & deeper understanding.

I welcome your thoughts, my friends.

Opening folio of one volume of The World’s Great Classics, published by The Colonial Press

CAPTION
Despite being a voracious reader and being very well-educated, I did not realize how much those lessons did nothing to inform my understanding of life until I had lived several decades.
It has only been with lengthy and diverse experiences that any of those lessons of my youth have become truly meaningful.
And the process of my growing understanding continues.

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 4h

A major challenge in #writing a #character who is emotionally or intellectually disconnected is making sure we never lose sight of the human soul locked inside

If you want your audience to care, the person must always be more than a #caricature of their condition

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 23h

Still tickled by this hand-painted nesting doll from my multi-faceted artist friend Gary Pearson aka @captainpearson.bsky.social

For those unfamiliar, the characters are from The Beatles’ animated feature Yellow Submarine

#thebeatles #yellowsubmarine #cartoon #animation #improv #handicraft

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

Happy to spend part of Thanksgiving weekend with my Velouté family.

The warm embrace of friendship, some liquid love & joy, & cheerful conversation over delicious food.

I have so much for which to be thankful, not the least of whom are Chef Fawzi, Alise & the rest of the Velouté clan.

velouté.ca

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

Using the same evidence as for vaccines, acetaminophen and circumcision, RFK Jr. uncovers the true cause of autism.

#parody #satire #notreal #getserious #stopfuckingaround #areyouanidiot #thesearekidslivesyouasshole

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

Don’t miss out on EARLY-BIRD PRICING for the next THE STUPID GOOD COMEDY SHOW on Oct 24!

The Coincidence Men welcome Peterborough’s mavens of mayhem RICO & ROSTRUP

Get your tix TODAY at: stoopidgood.eventbrite.ca

#improv #comedy #stoopidfun #ShowUp
@gioardio.bsky.social @shortweird.bsky.social

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

Ready for a little pre-Hallowe’en body #horror #comedy?

LISTEN TO THIS hosts me & several stellar #storytellers & #standup #comedians to share our true-life tales of WHOA!

Tickets at:
www.eventbrite.ca/e/listen-to-...

#storytelling #truelife #monologues #spokenword #Halloween #ShowUp

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

#Documentary #filmmaking is #narrative filmmaking.

Every interview question asked, every #direction on a shot list, every edit in the #editing bay, every piece of #dialogue or selected #music tells the #filmmaker’s #story, not the subject’s.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #writing

Posters for The Beatles documentaries Let it be and Get Back.

FULL CAPTION:
#Documentary #filmmaking is #narrative filmmaking.

Every interview question asked, every #direction on a shot list, every edit in the #editing bay, every piece of #dialogue or selected #music tells the #filmmaker’s #story, not the subject’s.

Proof? These tonally distinct #docs used the same footage.

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

As you consider attending the TORONTO CHINESE CANADIAN FILM FESTIVAL (tccff.ca) in late October, revisit my recent feature about its golden-age founder Tery (Wong) Imamura & her cinematic dreams

raindance.org/from-a-visio...

#TCCFF2025 #tccff25 #filmfest #shortfilms #shortdoc #ChineseCanadian

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 1d

Fail with confidence. Fail spectacularly.

Learn from mistakes & from successes. Don’t just achieve but also grow.

Then… fail again. This is evolution.

#failure #success #experiment #learn #evolve

Through blades of grass, a frog stares at you. (Photo by @createdbyrcw)

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 2d

Not every seed germinates. Not every plant produces fruit. And some plants grow too wildly to harvest.

Creative seeds take time & care & work, but there are no guarantees. There can be moments of beauty & success.

Tend your creative gardens well & reap the rewards.

youtu.be/z3wHOhz5dmU

Seeds of creative gardening

YouTube video by Randall Willis

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 2d

To hell with the slow readers, my friend!

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 2d

Silent & foreign #language films show that what is done is at least as important as what is said.

Dialogue is simply a tool for #communicating (or hiding) thoughts & feelings.

A #story is intelligible even when the #dialogue isn’t.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#storytelling #screenwriting #writing

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 2d

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Lots of Leafs-fan-oriented humour on his IG: @penjellyink

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 2d

LISTEN TO THIS has a killer line-up for its Hallowe’en show on Thurs, October 30!

Break A Leg sacrifices endless tales of body horror & personal injury.

And damned, do I have a bloody good gory… er, story to tell!

Tickets available at: www.nowlistentothis.ca

#storytelling #truetales #ShowUp

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 3d

An incredible opportunity to strengthen & expand your #storytelling #craft with the freewheeling joy of #improv

AND to learn from the uniquely talented & gracefully empowering Christel Bartelse

DO NOT miss this online opportunity! Details at: storytellingtoronto.org/Courses

#improvisation #ShowUp

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 3d

Blessed are the few who cross the First Draft finish line…

…only to find that a #marathon of #rewrites lay ahead, interspersed with hurdles & high jumps, javelins & sprints, hammers & long jumps.

#Storytelling, at its finest, is an #endurance contest.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

#rewriting #writing

Runner Jesse Owens (Stephan James) braces to cross the finish line in this scene from the film Race.

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 3d

I am sorry, my plans are cancelled for a couple of days as I have some reading to do.

Thanks @pulmyears.bsky.social & @houseofanansi.bsky.social

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 4d

I have a handful of friends in ABQ who routinely post photos of the skies filled with balloons...

so incredible to witness and such diversity of designs!

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 4d

When there's coffee in a scene, I assume someone will drink it. You don’t need to tell me.

But might the character use his coffee mug to avoid answering awkward questions or to hide his face?

Rather than describe minutiae, focus on what augments our understanding of the story.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

A hockey fan drinks coffee from a PWHL mug while staring blankly. (Photo by & of @createdbyrcw)

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 4d

TALES TORONTO takes us HOME on Oct 14 with stories of belonging & conflict, family & alienation.

Come hear what home means to Dena Jackson, Nicholas Rice, Lynne Torrie, Narges Kushki & co-host Briane Nasimok.

Seating is limited. Details at talestoronto.com

#storytelling #spokenword #ShowUp

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 5d

Oh, apparently I became confused as well... it is spreading!

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 5d

KEN HALL PRESENTS THE COMEDY BAR ADVANCED STORYTELLING SHOWCASE

Mon, Oct 27 @ 8:30pm, Comedy Bar Danforth, Main Stage

Get your tickets at: comedybar.ca/shows/SHOWCA...

#storytelling #spokenword #monologues #truetales #ShowUp

Randall @createdbyrcw.bsky.social · 5d

For audiences, what happens to a character is less important than how the #character feels about & responds to what happened.

We connect with the character through their #emotional response as we have likely felt those feelings despite rarely having experienced what they have.

sowhatsyourstory.ca

The climactic moment of a story I told onstage at Toronto’s Burdock Music Hall for Replay Storytelling.