This month’s featured teller and History Project spotlight is Mike Micham who joined MO-TELL in 2014, he thinks. His introduction to Storytelling was listening to storytellers and authors Richard and Judy Dockery Young way back in 1987 when they visited and entertained at Rawhide, a western themed tourist attraction in Scottsdale, AZ. where he first met his wife, board member Nancee Walker-Micham. But wait, what is he doing in Arizona? Long story short this native Michigander left Michigan shortly after high school. After doing some traveling through Alaska, Southern California and Arizonahe “settled” In Arizona to work for a friend’s roofing company, got married (not with Nancee yet), had a child and jammed with his friends on the weekends. He took up guitar when he was 14 and always loved playing.
A clandestine visit to Rawhide with his friends led him there. While everyone was watching the antics of the characters of this western town and comedy skits in the street, they all looked at him and said you know you’d be really good at this! So that led to him auditioning for a weekend gig as the dumb deputy and how Deputy Buckshot Buchanon was born. In between skits and “atmosphering” on the streets of Rawhide he would pull out his guitar. Once Nancee finally came around to talking to him (another story for another time) she would join him and sing old folk songs and they began courting.
Mike and Nancee decided to leave Arizona and head to Branson, MO. to audition for Silver Dollar City where they were hired to be characters at McHaffie’s Homestead. Mike became the lead guitar player for The Homestead Pickers and picked up other instruments along the way and as fate would have it also shared the porch stage with Judy Dockery Young who was the resident storyteller.
In 2005 Steve Otto was walking by the homestead and saw Nancee telling stories, she was storytelling on Judy’s days off. They struck up a conversation and that led to Steve inviting Mike and Nancee to the Chicken Festival RAPS had every year which led to meeting Joyce Slater and being invited to tell at The Kansas City Storytelling Celebration for more than 15 years which of course led to joining MO-TELL.
Mike really doesn’t tell folk or fairy tales, he pulls from stories of real life from childhood, living in the Ozarks on an 80-acre farm and his love of Irish music and legends. Telling stories through old folk songs with Nancee as they tour and perform at libraries, schools, festivals, State Parks (through MO-TELL) and Renaissance Faires.
He really enjoys telling and entertaining children since he is a big child himself. If you have met Mike and have been gifted with a bad Dad joke you know that he is young at heart as the saying goes and always tries to bring others joy.
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