Errol McLendon
Storyteller, Word Weaver
All journeys lead to inner state stories.
Errol McLendon is a two-time Moth winner. He’s told stories in St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Orlando, and at the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee. He has taught storytelling workshops in Chicago, Berwyn, LaGrange, Skokie, Houston, and Dallas. He is an actor, director, teacher, coach, and former ghost hunter. You can hear his stories streamed on The Moth podcast, KPFT radio, and The Elmhurst Museum website.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/arts/orlando-fringe-2024-review-inner-state-stories-36872558
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Few things induce fear faster than the thought of being forced to watch a friend’s vacation photos — much less a complete stranger’s — but don’t flee when you see “slide #1 of 3240” on monologist Errol McLendon’s PowerPoint projections. If you do, you’ll miss out on the closed museums and dead-fly motels he encountered during the cross-country road trip he took to memorialize his late mother, the queen of roadside attractions whose spirit cheers him on from the passenger seat.
McClendon segments his step-by-step travelogue, which takes him from Chicago to Mississippi by way of Cleveland, with flashbacks to his youth in the segregated South and self-reflection about how he missed the red flags of his mom’s mental decline. Tales of two-headed goats and a one-eyed pig are amusing, but the heart of the show is really about the power of memories and the pain of losing them. Along the way, you’ll learn pearls of his mom’s wisdom (“Drive like you don’t want to die”) and uncover poetic gemstones (“I felt the sickness of the unknown in my stomach”) among his prosaic prose.
ORLANDO SENTINEL–https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2024/05/17/orlando-fringe-fringe-reviews-orlando-sentinel-0517b/
Errol McLendon shares a touching and uplifting story of the 7,000-mile road trip he took as a memorial to his mother in “Inner State Stories”(Blue, 50 minutes).
“Queen of the Road” is a term of endearment McLendon gives his mother, whom he depicts with sweet little details that bring her to life and put her in the show herself. And, boy, oh boy, did I like her. McLendon’s story, like any good road trip, takes some detours along the way and evolves into something that speaks to so much more than simply grieving the loss of his mother.
It shows us how fleeting each moment can be, the importance of cherished memories and the joy that can be found in diverting from the highway to enjoy a roadside attraction.