Andy Offutt Irwin

By KIM O’CONNOR
For the Press
?
The International Storytelling Center’s pop- ular Storytelling Live! series is rolling out the red carpet for its next performer, Andy Offutt Irwin, a beloved humorist from rural Georgia.
Irwin is the latest in a series of prestigious storytelling residents who will offer a week’s worth of matinee concerts in Jonesborough through early fall.
The storyteller specializes in creating out- rageous characters that blur the line between real life and tall tales. His most popular char- acter, Dr. Marguerite Van Camp, is so richly imagined that Irwin’s audience often asks after her health — not stopping to think that an 85-year-old woman who works at a place called Southern White Old Lady Hospital just might be invented.
“My favorite thing is for someone to ask if Marguerite is still alive,” Irwin said. “They absolutely believe that she’s real, which means that somehow I’m able to bring her to life. I’ve come to terms with the fact that they like her, but they don’t like me so much.
“I think most people actually do know she’s fictional, but they have affection for her. Your characters aren’t working unless your audi- ence has affection for them.”
Irwin himself cares a lot about his charac- ters, a trait that he considers essential to good writing. Often, he finds himself taking in the world through Marguerite’s eyes. Even in his hours off the stage, he thinks about how Marguerite would react to situations he encounters day to day. “The characters have to be developed before I can develop a plot,” he said. “Creating material is always asking questions of the characters about what they’re
Contributed
Recently Irwin has been developing a new slew of stories about Marguerite. While she’s as outlandish as ever, there’s a new subtlety that Irwin has found himself exploring.
“My new stuff is kind of introspective,” he said. “The way I’m telling these stories — they’re quieter. But the goofiness always emerges.”
In addition to new material and old favor- ites about Marguerite, Irwin plans to share a wide variety of personal stories and songs. Throughout his residency, July 2-6, Irwin will accompany himself on guitar during a series of afternoon concerts. Performances are daily at 2 p.m. in the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, an intimate theater in the heart of down- town Jonesborough. Tickets are expected to sell out, so reservations are strongly recom- mended.
Tickets for Irwin’s performances are $12 for adults and $11 for seniors, students and children under 18. (Season passes that offer savings of nearly 50 percent are also available while supplies last.) Ticket holders for all matinee and evening performances will save 10 percent on same-day dining at The Olde Courthouse Diner, The Dining Room, Jonesborough General Store and Eatery, or Main Street Café.
Information about all TIR performers, as well as a detailed schedule for 2013, is avail- able at www.storytellingcenter.net.
The center is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Storytelling Live! is spon- sored in part by Eastman Credit Union. Media sponsors are News 5-WCYB, FOX Tri-Cities, Tri-Cities CW, Johnson City Press, Kingsport Times-News, Herald & Tribune and Cumulus Media.
For more information about Storytelling Live! or to make a group reservation, call 800- 952-8392 ext. 222 or 913-1276
Storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin
up to.
“If you create a character that is solid and
believable, eventually that character takes over. It’s almost like multi-personality dis- order.”
Sometimes details from his routines bleed into his stories about Marguerite, who — like her creator — likes to go on long walks with her dog. - Johnson City Press

By KIM O’CONNOR
For the Press
?
The International Storytelling Center’s pop- ular Storytelling Live! series is rolling out the red carpet for its next performer, Andy Offutt Irwin, a beloved humorist from rural Georgia.
Irwin is the latest in a series of prestigious storytelling residents who will offer a week’s worth of matinee concerts in Jonesborough through early fall.
The storyteller specializes in creating out- rageous characters that blur the line between real life and tall tales. His most popular char- acter, Dr. Marguerite Van Camp, is so richly imagined that Irwin’s audience often asks after her health — not stopping to think that an 85-year-old woman who works at a place called Southern White Old Lady Hospital just might be invented.
“My favorite thing is for someone to ask if Marguerite is still alive,” Irwin said. “They absolutely believe that she’s real, which means that somehow I’m able to bring her to life. I’ve come to terms with the fact that they like her, but they don’t like me so much.
“I think most people actually do know she’s fictional, but they have affection for her. Your characters aren’t working unless your audi- ence has affection for them.”
Irwin himself cares a lot about his charac- ters, a trait that he considers essential to good writing. Often, he finds himself taking in the world through Marguerite’s eyes. Even in his hours off the stage, he thinks about how Marguerite would react to situations he encounters day to day. “The characters have to be developed before I can develop a plot,” he said. “Creating material is always asking questions of the characters about what they’re
Contributed
Recently Irwin has been developing a new slew of stories about Marguerite. While she’s as outlandish as ever, there’s a new subtlety that Irwin has found himself exploring.
“My new stuff is kind of introspective,” he said. “The way I’m telling these stories — they’re quieter. But the goofiness always emerges.”
In addition to new material and old favor- ites about Marguerite, Irwin plans to share a wide variety of personal stories and songs. Throughout his residency, July 2-6, Irwin will accompany himself on guitar during a series of afternoon concerts. Performances are daily at 2 p.m. in the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, an intimate theater in the heart of down- town Jonesborough. Tickets are expected to sell out, so reservations are strongly recom- mended.
Tickets for Irwin’s performances are $12 for adults and $11 for seniors, students and children under 18. (Season passes that offer savings of nearly 50 percent are also available while supplies last.) Ticket holders for all matinee and evening performances will save 10 percent on same-day dining at The Olde Courthouse Diner, The Dining Room, Jonesborough General Store and Eatery, or Main Street Café.
Information about all TIR performers, as well as a detailed schedule for 2013, is avail- able at www.storytellingcenter.net.
The center is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Storytelling Live! is spon- sored in part by Eastman Credit Union. Media sponsors are News 5-WCYB, FOX Tri-Cities, Tri-Cities CW, Johnson City Press, Kingsport Times-News, Herald & Tribune and Cumulus Media.
For more information about Storytelling Live! or to make a group reservation, call 800- 952-8392 ext. 222 or 913-1276
Storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin
up to.
“If you create a character that is solid and
believable, eventually that character takes over. It’s almost like multi-personality dis- order.”
Sometimes details from his routines bleed into his stories about Marguerite, who — like her creator — likes to go on long walks with her dog. - Johnson City Press

Tonic's Greg Davis interviews Andy Offutt Irwin, an American storyteller, arts educator and singer-songwriter. - WUKY – Public Radio in Kentucky

Say what you will about Covington-based Andy Offutt Irwin’s aptly?titled latest album, but there’s nobody else like him. Irwin is best?known as a storyteller on the national festival circuit, crafting?larger-than-life characters with a heavy dose of wacky Southern charm. But he’s also an accomplished singer-songwriter with several albums under his belt. On his latest CD/DVD set he focuses on his world class whistling skills, proving a pair of well-pursed lips can deserve a place in concert halls. From a peppy jazz version of “Over The Rainbow” and an Indian raga twist on “Old Joe Clark” to a killer take on the Romanian folk tune “Doina & Hora” (with the Kandinsky Trio), Irwin tackles genres like a veteran defensive lineman tackles quarterbacks. Sure, whistling “Low Rider” and “She Blinded Me With Science” sounds a bit silly (and silly, after all, is his storytelling stock-in-trade). But when he gets serious? The man’s a master musician with some VERY talented lips.
by Bret Love
- Georgia Music Magazine, Issue 23