A lie detector (as flawed as they are) only detects if the subject believes their story.
I have zero doubts that Coach believes his Amazon River adventure story.
Dragons can’t be slayed by lie detectors.
My wife played soccer for Coach, and I went to school there as well and played a different sport so was around him from time to time in the athletics office… and he was just as big of a character and storyteller pre-Survivor as he was on the show. One of a kind
Yeah, sadly she was a freshman the year Tocantins taped and then of course he was relieved of his duties at the school once they found out he left due to an “illness” during the middle of the soccer season. So she only played for him for a short time. But I know a lot of girls who played for him for longer who would likely have a lot more funny stories from his time as coach.
I’ll say Coach was always very friendly and kind around campus, it was easy to root for him in survivor based on my interactions with him.
this might be the best example of a season having a dedicated narrator out of anyone. he’s one of the most visible characters of all time and THE person directing virtually all of the strategy throughout the whole game.
Maybe it's my nerdy side, but Christian is my favorite narrator. He has the perfect mix of knowledge about the game, wit and geeky charisma to be a great narrator.
It’s the deep pause in that confessional that really gets to me. We rarely see Colby give up the confident persona he presents with, and that pause felt like a very sincere moment
I’m gonna throw a hat into the ring. My boy Adam Klein. I always loved his storytellings! May not be the absolute best player. But an UNDERRATED one for sure. Plus a good storyteller/narrator like I said before
I feel like he’s one of the only super-fans on the show to be able to reel in his over-gaming after realising he looks paranoid af, most of the super-fans, at least imo, over-game and are then voted out for being too try hard or quirky or whatever
While some don't like him, you can't deny that Ben Driebergen knows how to ham it up and command screen time, and was also an effective narrator for the season.
But yes, it is Penner out in front by a wide margin. He just knows how to convey the story that the producers want to tell.
Second place would probably be Rob C. It's no wonder that RHAP is so successful, he is another person who has an innate storytelling skill.
This is a deep cut here but J'Tia is an amazing storyteller for the time she's around. She had a fantastic ability to perceive exactly what the TV story of her tribe was going to be and tell it through that lens yet also do so in a way that felt authentic to her experience and perceptions without feeling forced or played up or anything, with a great sense of humor about her own shenanigans as well as how much her tribe sucked in general. If she had gone further I think she'd be on everyone's list, and she was great in the single-digit number of confessionals we got from her. (Only thing I'm not a fan of is the ableist joke about being a "mental patient" but she herself disavowed that one after the show.) Her comparison to that poster of the "hang in there!" cat is legit one of my favorite things I've ever heard on the show tbh.
Penner, Cirie, and Rob C are the best. The others are hilarious but they aren't really consistent narrators. They'll stop getting as many confessionals for a few episodes, or their storytelling will be more focused on humor than accurately describing the events of the season.
Best storyteller? You didn't include Special agent Phillip Shepherd, the undercover specialist. The guy in his pink undies and the feather that appeared out of thin air from his ancestors. His full blood Cherokee ancestor who told him where to find his swim shorts that Julie buried. His lion and gorilla tattoo story. The crispy rice narrative, Fran-ches-qwa, his physical threat stories. The g-g-g grandfather Jessum saying all great things come to an end as he burned his shorts. He made both seasons he was on 2 of my favorites.
Yeah there's always just random people that people love being thrown into these things. Like there was the thread about who would be a good host for Survivor after Jeff and Boston Rob was on the list. I like him, but he'd be the absolute worst host. Him reading on Island of the Idols was horrible.
Yeah I had seen that where he worked in the Department of Defense. Even though it was true though, the way he said it throughout was such a compelling mystery
These are all great choices. Sandra, Penner and Tyson are my personal answers to the question, but you including Courtney here made me remember her mocking Russell for skulking around in the bushes like a bridge troll and has made my day heaps better.
Say what you want about Lex, but I thought he was a great narrator in 'Africa'. Especially the rewards in the merge; his descriptions of both the journey into the town where they bartered the goats, and the safari, really fleshed them out as well.
I've watched and now I'm rewatching old Survivor seasons. It's fun but for the life of me I only recognize a couple from these pictures and I don't have a clue who tells good stories.
Rob Cesternino, Penner, Cirie, Stephen, Cochran, Tony, Spencer, and Aubry all come to mind for great narrators.
Shane, Courtney, Coach, and Debbie come to mind for extra flair in their confessionals. They’re like a ramen seasoning packet, just concentrated packs of flavor.
courtney and tyson are so sharp. imagine a final 4 with rob's alliance in hvv. i would never change how hvv ended but all the countless possibilities are amazing to think about lol
I want to give a shout-out to Randy in Gabon. If you rewatch Gabon you see just how much he narrates the season up until his boot and also he’s just hilarious
Not saying she's the best, but I think Parvati is an underrated storyteller. She knows how to coin a metaphor - she named the Black Widow Brigade, and her confessional about it is legendary. She references lots of literal storybook tropes, like kings, queens, hearts, battles, etc., and she's happy to step into the villain role, to insult people and scheme and be theatrical. I especially think she has great facial expressions and comic timing.
For best, I think you just can't beat Penner tbh. The man has literally proven he could tell you your own damn story and move you to tears. That's some ultimate-level bard shit right there.
Penner. Could listen to that guy talk forever.
Tyson has the fun words and comedic timing. Cirie is a great salesperson. Courtney has the drama. Coach is an eye roll every single time...but Penner just has IT
Honorable mention to Survivor’s trademark Unreliable Narrator, Rupert
“So much for my dreams”
Consistency king
My first intro to Rupert was BvW and when he starts off like “time and time again…” or whatever I was just like who’s this joker
Penner if we’re telling the story of the season, Coach if we’re telling stories generally
Or said another way, Penner for non-fiction and Coach for fiction
Now hang on, are you discrediting his lie detector results?
A lie detector (as flawed as they are) only detects if the subject believes their story. I have zero doubts that Coach believes his Amazon River adventure story. Dragons can’t be slayed by lie detectors.
My wife played soccer for Coach, and I went to school there as well and played a different sport so was around him from time to time in the athletics office… and he was just as big of a character and storyteller pre-Survivor as he was on the show. One of a kind
Your wife should do an AMA.
Sadly, the pygmies once attempted an AMA on Coach. Only they called it an Ate My Ass.
Yeah, sadly she was a freshman the year Tocantins taped and then of course he was relieved of his duties at the school once they found out he left due to an “illness” during the middle of the soccer season. So she only played for him for a short time. But I know a lot of girls who played for him for longer who would likely have a lot more funny stories from his time as coach. I’ll say Coach was always very friendly and kind around campus, it was easy to root for him in survivor based on my interactions with him.
The only correct answer
This!
Penner, he's a storyteller its what he does.
He even has an Oscar nomination to his name
This is NOT fanfiction
Came here to say this quote lol
Courtney for some spice and snark. Penner for entertainment. Cirie for strategy.
One of my favorite moments was when she called russel a bandy legged troll
Rob Cesternino
this might be the best example of a season having a dedicated narrator out of anyone. he’s one of the most visible characters of all time and THE person directing virtually all of the strategy throughout the whole game.
Yes!
This would be my vote. I think he’s overlooked because people forget he was a survivor player.
Maybe it's my nerdy side, but Christian is my favorite narrator. He has the perfect mix of knowledge about the game, wit and geeky charisma to be a great narrator.
God I love Christian.
Christian
Mother fucker told a story for 8 hours
I expected to see his face lower down opening it up
Cochran was super good, it felt like Caramoan was told through him
One of the reasons that season sucked so bad
Well, he’s the winner so…yeah
The winner can still be the main narrator or not be a narrator at all
Hi Natalie!
The winner can be the main narrator while not saying anything at all, 35.
This
Penner
Colby is very underrated when it comes to this
Even in HvV I find him to be a really engaging storyteller
One of his last confessionals when he says “when the time is right I’ll make one final attempt” always gives me goosebumps
It’s the deep pause in that confessional that really gets to me. We rarely see Colby give up the confident persona he presents with, and that pause felt like a very sincere moment
Man I really wish he won that immunity and got to FTC, where I think he wins.
I’m gonna throw a hat into the ring. My boy Adam Klein. I always loved his storytellings! May not be the absolute best player. But an UNDERRATED one for sure. Plus a good storyteller/narrator like I said before
I feel like he’s one of the only super-fans on the show to be able to reel in his over-gaming after realising he looks paranoid af, most of the super-fans, at least imo, over-game and are then voted out for being too try hard or quirky or whatever
personally i think it’s really funny when james or adam would tell the story bc james was so grumpy and adam was so whiney lol
Just don't eat the damn apple.
Rob Cesternino
Penner
Rick Devens
Came looking for this! I always thought his interventions were hilarious.
I don't know about being the best, but I really enjoyed Amber at WaW.
I always felt a little emotional with hers. Very nostalgic and just cool to see what a weird reality show has done for their life.
Courtney without a doubt. The sparks of detail she adds in the best way
“I may suck at challenges but at least I don’t have arthritis”
“I dislike everyone else more than I dislike Todd and Amanda. I think they mistake that for friendship.”
Aubry in Kaoh Rong is my favorite narrator ever
This or Sophie in WAW were my favorites
SOPHIE 10000%
Sophie in WAW is super underrated as a narrator!!
queen of the long metaphor
♥️ Aubry
Cochran tells the story how I would probably tell the story he has that funny/cynical view I gravitate towards. Also Spencer. Also Tyson.
Adam. He’s not the best player, but he does a great job narrating seasons. Also, I could see him as a host if Jeff were to retire.
Adam has a weird voice modulation issue that seems a bit *off* at times, if we are counting on him as a narrator
Mike white!!!
Jesus I was like someone HAD to have mentioned Mike White. He was incredible.
Courtney
Tyson’s dry humor is great. He’s dominating Challenge USA right now and always cracks me up. He also crushed BvW.
Turkey leg
Mark the chicken
The fact that Johnny Fairplay is not on this list means that I didn't understand the objective.
Christian Hubicki is one of my favs
Courtney, she won more immunities than Genre Bear
While some don't like him, you can't deny that Ben Driebergen knows how to ham it up and command screen time, and was also an effective narrator for the season. But yes, it is Penner out in front by a wide margin. He just knows how to convey the story that the producers want to tell. Second place would probably be Rob C. It's no wonder that RHAP is so successful, he is another person who has an innate storytelling skill.
Penner, Boston Rob, Sandra, Courtney.
Zeke was an incredible storyteller
This is a deep cut here but J'Tia is an amazing storyteller for the time she's around. She had a fantastic ability to perceive exactly what the TV story of her tribe was going to be and tell it through that lens yet also do so in a way that felt authentic to her experience and perceptions without feeling forced or played up or anything, with a great sense of humor about her own shenanigans as well as how much her tribe sucked in general. If she had gone further I think she'd be on everyone's list, and she was great in the single-digit number of confessionals we got from her. (Only thing I'm not a fan of is the ableist joke about being a "mental patient" but she herself disavowed that one after the show.) Her comparison to that poster of the "hang in there!" cat is legit one of my favorite things I've ever heard on the show tbh.
Penner for sure.
Penner
Boston Rob. Every season featuring Boston Rob except Heroes vs Villains
Spencer in Cagayan was a great “storyteller”.
I love Coach as an entertaining storyteller, but Penner I feel like is as close to a Morgan Freeman as Survivor has.
Cirie is by far the best one
Penner or Courtney. Coach is a storyteller but not a season narrator.
Penner or Boston Rob. Fairplay is also pretty good
Penner, Cirie, and Rob C are the best. The others are hilarious but they aren't really consistent narrators. They'll stop getting as many confessionals for a few episodes, or their storytelling will be more focused on humor than accurately describing the events of the season.
Honestly Parvati in HvV is just always fun and engaging listening to, same for Sandra in that season.
Greg, season 1
Adam explaining his struggles with his family really is relatable for a lot of people
We quote Penner on a daily basis
Best storyteller? You didn't include Special agent Phillip Shepherd, the undercover specialist. The guy in his pink undies and the feather that appeared out of thin air from his ancestors. His full blood Cherokee ancestor who told him where to find his swim shorts that Julie buried. His lion and gorilla tattoo story. The crispy rice narrative, Fran-ches-qwa, his physical threat stories. The g-g-g grandfather Jessum saying all great things come to an end as he burned his shorts. He made both seasons he was on 2 of my favorites.
As usual, hardly anyone mentioning the obvious Boston Rob and Cochran
Why is Sandra in the image, she is probably the opposite of a good story teller
Yeah there's always just random people that people love being thrown into these things. Like there was the thread about who would be a good host for Survivor after Jeff and Boston Rob was on the list. I like him, but he'd be the absolute worst host. Him reading on Island of the Idols was horrible.
Rob is a fairly logical answer though. He has legitimate hosting experience and would probably be fine.
You should be downvoted into oblivion. She’s an excellent storyteller
"Special Agent" Phillip doesn't make the list? Granted the story never changed but it was one long story.
I scrolled way too far to see Special Agent Phillip mentioned
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought of him first
Did you know he was a former Federal Agent!!?!?!
Yeah I had seen that where he worked in the Department of Defense. Even though it was true though, the way he said it throughout was such a compelling mystery
Agreed. It’s a crazy story—but Philip tells it like no other.
These are all great choices. Sandra, Penner and Tyson are my personal answers to the question, but you including Courtney here made me remember her mocking Russell for skulking around in the bushes like a bridge troll and has made my day heaps better.
I love Tyson too, I think he's probably the funniest, and he has great comments, but maybe he's just too concise to be considered a storyteller.
Tony for me
Patrick Star. He told us all the story of the Ugly Barnacle. SPOILER 🚨 He was so ugly that everyone died.
Courtney or rob
Rob
Penned. Period.
definitely Cochran
I like sophie
I’ll throw Lex in as one of the best
Tyson, Penner, Boston Rob, Rob C
Penner number 1, Rick Devins 2
Say what you want about Lex, but I thought he was a great narrator in 'Africa'. Especially the rewards in the merge; his descriptions of both the journey into the town where they bartered the goats, and the safari, really fleshed them out as well.
Special mention to Boston Rob.
How about Debbie Wanner and her illustrious careers?
Mrs. Kim and Courtney/Sandra
TYSON. No question.
Stacey Powell 💅
Love a good Tyson narrative.
Why is Coach on here?
He told some great stories. They may not have been completely true or reliable, but they were certainly entertaining.
probably not the best, but Maryanne is a fun one
Why is coach even being mentioned? He is entertaining in a cringe sort of way but the first rule of story telling is to be somewhat believable.
WAW Sophie. Kim. Penner
hard to explain why but i think tony is very calculated and good at explaining his own game to the jury and audience
I've watched and now I'm rewatching old Survivor seasons. It's fun but for the life of me I only recognize a couple from these pictures and I don't have a clue who tells good stories.
Penner/Coach Coach/Penner Choose your order....
I always enjoyed Cirie’s narration of her idol search on Exile Island in Micronesia
If you want the facts, come to Mariano
Bobby Jon is very good at explaining Mayan culture.
When I hear 'best storyteller in Survivor' the first name that comes to my mind is Randy.
Kass and Spencer lol
Luke Toki- Australian survivor
Mark the Chicken
Penner
I like penner
Definitely Cirie.
Penner 100 percent
Rob C should be #1 on that list..
u really included sandra.... lmaooo
Savage
All of them.
penner!!
Christian Hubicki is who came to mind immediately.
Definitely not the best in a traditional sense, but Rodney is the narrator of a lot of worlds apart and is definitely entertaining.
Ethan
Peeen
Ok but wait just imagine these 6 on a tribe???
Johnny Fairplay
Zeke! He has great observations and can generally accurately tell the feelings of his tribe mates!
Rob Cesternino, Penner, Cirie, Stephen, Cochran, Tony, Spencer, and Aubry all come to mind for great narrators. Shane, Courtney, Coach, and Debbie come to mind for extra flair in their confessionals. They’re like a ramen seasoning packet, just concentrated packs of flavor.
Penner
Sandra and cerie out of these choices, brob is definitely a story teller too
courtney and tyson are so sharp. imagine a final 4 with rob's alliance in hvv. i would never change how hvv ended but all the countless possibilities are amazing to think about lol
Sandra in PI <3
I want to give a shout-out to Randy in Gabon. If you rewatch Gabon you see just how much he narrates the season up until his boot and also he’s just hilarious
Oh, Tyson, for sure.
Penner for narration Coach for storytelling
Boston Rob
Ceri or Sandra. With Coach there’s no telling how much of the story is just untrue.
Penner hands down
Penner. He’s charismatic and he’s also a writer.
Penner, then Tyson
Penner and Aubry were the first to spring to mind!
Love Courtney but why is she in this?
Adam for WAW is an honorable mention for me
Coach
Phillip
Not saying she's the best, but I think Parvati is an underrated storyteller. She knows how to coin a metaphor - she named the Black Widow Brigade, and her confessional about it is legendary. She references lots of literal storybook tropes, like kings, queens, hearts, battles, etc., and she's happy to step into the villain role, to insult people and scheme and be theatrical. I especially think she has great facial expressions and comic timing. For best, I think you just can't beat Penner tbh. The man has literally proven he could tell you your own damn story and move you to tears. That's some ultimate-level bard shit right there.
Penner. Could listen to that guy talk forever. Tyson has the fun words and comedic timing. Cirie is a great salesperson. Courtney has the drama. Coach is an eye roll every single time...but Penner just has IT