Hardy Garrison, Storyteller

Art in the cafe...

Laurel Statz


"The Spectator"


December 2025



Laurel Statz is a painter and Madison area native. Her work, while figurative, is influenced by abstraction and minimalism. The paintings often have a quick and instinctual nature, capturing just what’s needed. While she often times herself to eliminate extra details and over-precision, she has ventured into more detailed works as well. Laurel does not attach narrative to her pieces. Rather, she thinks of them like a journaling process for her scatter-brained psyche. The figures in the pieces are meant to be processing tools for the artist and the viewer. She hopes that seeing these figures helps the...
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Thursday, July 15, 2004

\"CAUTION! This storyteller is known to have sent his audiences into frequent episodes of full convulsive laughter. Listeners have complained (or bragged) about sore muscles for several days.\" -- Karl Hallsten, Producer/Director, Door County Storytelling Festival

Madison\'s Hardy Garrison -- a popular family entertainer and an award-winning storyteller known to many simply as \"The Story Guy\" -- has been weaving stories for audiences of young and old alike since 1983, presenting programs for camps, libraries and schools, as well as for other groups and events. Listeners of all ages delight year-round in his rollicking retellings of folktales from around the globe -- stories told with a lively energy, Hardy\'s unique and colorful chorus of character voices, and often a healthy dose of humor and audience participation.

For this special FREE show at Mother Fool\'s, Hardy will present \"Conundrums and Comeuppances\" ... a program of some of his favorite stories. Think you\'re too old to enjoy storytelling? Think again! Join us for this magical evening as Hardy shares tales of fortunate fools, some fairytale fractures, and a few other fun surprises thrown in for good measure. And, while this particular performance is designed for an adult audience, \"The Story Guy\" is a performer everyone in the family will enjoy.

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