“Refreshing, unpretentious theatre that celebrates its raw ingredients and reinvigorates the link between teller and listener. Warmly recommended” – Time Out Critic’s Choice
Recent Performances
The more I write for TV, the less time I get to perform live - it's a bittersweet but necessary payoff, there simply aren't enough hours in the day for both!
So while you may still catch me in the occasional performance of The Story Game, you're much more likely to find me these days in a shed in my back garden typing away!
So while you may still catch me in the occasional performance of The Story Game, you're much more likely to find me these days in a shed in my back garden typing away!
Performances in 2016
6th APRIL - My first workshop with the rather wonderful Chelsea Young Writers, in a session all about Instant Stories and Other Incredible Inventions. By my calculations, we created the seeds of well over 52,000 stories in one three hour session!
10th APRIL - A barnstorming Story Game in Watford Central Library as part of Watford's first ever literary festival - the madcap maritime misadventure of 'The Sieve and the Shipwreck' followed by a rather lovely workshop with some of the kids. Huge fun!
2nd JUNE - Another Chelsea Young Writers workshop, this time looking at stories set in the same place, but at two different times... because the graveyard on a sunny afternoon is a very different place at 3am on a cold and rainy night... Full info here.
10th APRIL - A barnstorming Story Game in Watford Central Library as part of Watford's first ever literary festival - the madcap maritime misadventure of 'The Sieve and the Shipwreck' followed by a rather lovely workshop with some of the kids. Huge fun!
2nd JUNE - Another Chelsea Young Writers workshop, this time looking at stories set in the same place, but at two different times... because the graveyard on a sunny afternoon is a very different place at 3am on a cold and rainy night... Full info here.
Performances in 2015
6th JANUARY - One of the problems with doing children's shows is that you have to describe other shows as 'adult' shows, which just sounds wrong. Anyway, this was the first 'adult' performance of The Story Game, at the Green Ink Cabaret in Ealing; and to be fair, 'The Colon Code' was chock full of death, entrails and satanic dogs, so probably as well there were no kids there!
17th JANUARY - Sideburns ahoy, as Ciaran and I perform 'Welcome to My Museum' at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum. Two museums, two founders, two websites, two gift shops... but only one roof. A shorter version of the play was filmed and can be found here. And indeed, here...
17th JANUARY - Sideburns ahoy, as Ciaran and I perform 'Welcome to My Museum' at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Pitt Rivers Museum. Two museums, two founders, two websites, two gift shops... but only one roof. A shorter version of the play was filmed and can be found here. And indeed, here...
Welcome to My Museum from Pitt Rivers Museum on Vimeo.
5th MARCH - For World Book Day I told stories to every child in local school Shepherd Primary - two performances of The Story Game for the older year groups, and for the younger kids, a pair of stories leading to an interesting question - if the Tortoise won the race in Aesop's 'The Hare and the Tortoise', and the Hedgehog won the race in the Grimm's 'The Hare and the Hedgehog', who would win the race in a new story, 'The Tortoise and the Hedgehog'?
26th MAY - Back again at the Green Ink Cabaret, this time with The Monster In The Maze. Every time I perform this I kick myself for creating a show that requires learning twice as many stories as the audience actually hear!
25th NOVEMBER - The first ever try-outs of The Panto Game, at Broomfield House in Kew. Three shows in three hours is one way of making sure a show works! I have a particular soft spot for my one-man rendition of 'Robin Hood and His Merry Piglet'...
12th DECEMBER - The official premiere of The Panto Game at the Brighton Dome, featuring the globetrotting epic of 'Snow White and the Seven Continents', featuring the world's most violent dentist, and for which I got this rather nice write-up. "It sounds like an absolute disaster but was an absolute triumph" sums up a lot of my live shows!
26th MAY - Back again at the Green Ink Cabaret, this time with The Monster In The Maze. Every time I perform this I kick myself for creating a show that requires learning twice as many stories as the audience actually hear!
25th NOVEMBER - The first ever try-outs of The Panto Game, at Broomfield House in Kew. Three shows in three hours is one way of making sure a show works! I have a particular soft spot for my one-man rendition of 'Robin Hood and His Merry Piglet'...
12th DECEMBER - The official premiere of The Panto Game at the Brighton Dome, featuring the globetrotting epic of 'Snow White and the Seven Continents', featuring the world's most violent dentist, and for which I got this rather nice write-up. "It sounds like an absolute disaster but was an absolute triumph" sums up a lot of my live shows!
Performances in 2014
7th-8th JANUARY - Back to Salford for two more solitary confinement acts for The Slammer Returns - now with added sloppy ploppy porridge! As the first act to test the new system, we got extra porridge and almost destroyed the stage, but that's another lifelong aim - to get gunged on a TV show - well and truly ticked off.
1st FEBRUARY - Another outing for The Story Game at the Riverhouse Arts Centre, with the sizzling tale of 'The Lava Landscape'
6th FEBRUARY - Back at Story Jam, doing tag-team Hodja tales. Wise fool, or foolish wise man, it's all a matter of perspective... Missed it? No problemo - there's be more Hodja Podja madness by popular request on June 19th!
5th MARCH - On the bill at LATES@Flatplanet with the Ancient Egyptian tale of Isis and Osiris - a tale of consuming love, consuming hatred, and consuming flatbreads.
22nd MAY - The Crick Crack Club's 365th Annual Grand Lying Contest, two years after I lifted the Hodja cup in the previous contest, the 666th. Hmm - talk about untrustworthy! My epic tale of 'The Bells of St Pancras' successfully failed to win the competition, thus ridding me of the accursed cup.
19th JUNE - More Hodja Podja tag-team mini-tales at Story Jam, plus a unique (very) retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk crossed with multiverse theory, 'Offshoots', performed with the irrepressible Stephe Harrop.
21st JUNE - Another Story Game, this time in the Diss Corn Hall. They used to have a tent instead of a hall, but the lord of the manor got tired of living in Diss Corn Tent. 'Strue. We had a hysterical, if slightly itchy, time with the story of 'The High Headlice'.
12th JULY - Telling 'Tales from Around the World' at the Hayes Carnival. I impressed myself writing out my luggage labels to stick on my Story Suitcase when I found I could cover 12 countries without breaking a sweat! And yes, England counts.
20th & 27th SEPTEMBER - Writing for and performing at the Green Ink Sponsored Write 2014 in aid of Macmillan. Having been sponsored to include the words LUGE, SKEDADDLE, CASTANETS, FORMALDEHYDE, POM-POMS, BEAN, SPATULA and POSTPOSITION (don't worry, I had to look that one up too), my story The Long Dark Night is one of the finest, possibly only, examples of North Pole Noir as Father Christmas uncovered a tangled web of deceit, revenge, and elves pickled in giant candy cane jars.
1st NOVEMBER - The Story Game visted Salisbury Arts Centre where I performed two shows in one day - always a mind-mangler when you're improvising! A quick historical trip to visit the Magna Carta between the shows helped keep me on my toes, and the tales of 'The Hovering Hippo' and 'The Pathetic Prawn' are two of my all-time favourites!
1st FEBRUARY - Another outing for The Story Game at the Riverhouse Arts Centre, with the sizzling tale of 'The Lava Landscape'
6th FEBRUARY - Back at Story Jam, doing tag-team Hodja tales. Wise fool, or foolish wise man, it's all a matter of perspective... Missed it? No problemo - there's be more Hodja Podja madness by popular request on June 19th!
5th MARCH - On the bill at LATES@Flatplanet with the Ancient Egyptian tale of Isis and Osiris - a tale of consuming love, consuming hatred, and consuming flatbreads.
22nd MAY - The Crick Crack Club's 365th Annual Grand Lying Contest, two years after I lifted the Hodja cup in the previous contest, the 666th. Hmm - talk about untrustworthy! My epic tale of 'The Bells of St Pancras' successfully failed to win the competition, thus ridding me of the accursed cup.
19th JUNE - More Hodja Podja tag-team mini-tales at Story Jam, plus a unique (very) retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk crossed with multiverse theory, 'Offshoots', performed with the irrepressible Stephe Harrop.
21st JUNE - Another Story Game, this time in the Diss Corn Hall. They used to have a tent instead of a hall, but the lord of the manor got tired of living in Diss Corn Tent. 'Strue. We had a hysterical, if slightly itchy, time with the story of 'The High Headlice'.
12th JULY - Telling 'Tales from Around the World' at the Hayes Carnival. I impressed myself writing out my luggage labels to stick on my Story Suitcase when I found I could cover 12 countries without breaking a sweat! And yes, England counts.
20th & 27th SEPTEMBER - Writing for and performing at the Green Ink Sponsored Write 2014 in aid of Macmillan. Having been sponsored to include the words LUGE, SKEDADDLE, CASTANETS, FORMALDEHYDE, POM-POMS, BEAN, SPATULA and POSTPOSITION (don't worry, I had to look that one up too), my story The Long Dark Night is one of the finest, possibly only, examples of North Pole Noir as Father Christmas uncovered a tangled web of deceit, revenge, and elves pickled in giant candy cane jars.
1st NOVEMBER - The Story Game visted Salisbury Arts Centre where I performed two shows in one day - always a mind-mangler when you're improvising! A quick historical trip to visit the Magna Carta between the shows helped keep me on my toes, and the tales of 'The Hovering Hippo' and 'The Pathetic Prawn' are two of my all-time favourites!
Performances in 2013
28th FEBRUARY - Tailspin's Night of the Storyteller, with the salty yarn of Red Shirt Greaves.
15th -17th MARCH - Back at the Leicester Square Theatre with sketch show The Black Sheep.
4th APRIL - Taking up the 5 Minute Story challenge at Story Jam in Forest Hill, with the traditional Icelandic saga of Kitla Maour. Or, as it translates into English, "Mr Tickle". Well, we were quite close to April Fool's Day...
6-7th AUGUST - Up to Manchester to film two more acts for the triumphant return of The Slammer, now called, erm, The Slammer Returns! Nice to know whatever else happens, my place in history is secure as Pumping Iron, the flatulent strong man.
13-14th SEPTEMBER - Taking part in the Macmillan Sponsored Write 2013 - writing a story from scratch in a day on the Friday, then performing it at a showcase on the Saturday night. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me - especially those who gave me the words SERENDIPITY, MUSHY, SIEVE, SAVOURY, LOGISTICS and RED-SHORT (don't ask), without which I'd never have written The Blacksmith and the Baker.
3rd OCTOBER - Another chance to play The Monster in the Maze, this time back at Story Jam in Forest Hill - let's see how many of the as-yet undiscovered stories this audience uncovers...
26th OCTOBER - My new family storytelling show The Story Game premieres at the Canterbury Festival.
15th -17th MARCH - Back at the Leicester Square Theatre with sketch show The Black Sheep.
4th APRIL - Taking up the 5 Minute Story challenge at Story Jam in Forest Hill, with the traditional Icelandic saga of Kitla Maour. Or, as it translates into English, "Mr Tickle". Well, we were quite close to April Fool's Day...
6-7th AUGUST - Up to Manchester to film two more acts for the triumphant return of The Slammer, now called, erm, The Slammer Returns! Nice to know whatever else happens, my place in history is secure as Pumping Iron, the flatulent strong man.
13-14th SEPTEMBER - Taking part in the Macmillan Sponsored Write 2013 - writing a story from scratch in a day on the Friday, then performing it at a showcase on the Saturday night. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me - especially those who gave me the words SERENDIPITY, MUSHY, SIEVE, SAVOURY, LOGISTICS and RED-SHORT (don't ask), without which I'd never have written The Blacksmith and the Baker.
3rd OCTOBER - Another chance to play The Monster in the Maze, this time back at Story Jam in Forest Hill - let's see how many of the as-yet undiscovered stories this audience uncovers...
26th OCTOBER - My new family storytelling show The Story Game premieres at the Canterbury Festival.
Performances in 2012
19th MARCH - Telling Tales - comedy storytelling at the Soho Theatre with my company 'The Black Sheep'
26th APRIL - The Crick Crack Club's 666th Annual Grand Liar's Contest - held at Rich Mix. My first solo adult storytelling performance, and what a great way to start, carrying off the coveted Hodja Cup with my lie 'I Was Born Yesterday'.
13th JUNE - Story Night at the Torriano - telling a new story of my own, 'The Middle Prince'
24th JUNE - Story Jam - telling 'The Grapes of Dionysus', a story inspired by an old riddle
25th JUNE - Storytelling workshops in Broomfield School, Kew...
...and they liked me so much they booked me straight back in again for 3rd OCTOBER!
14th JULY - Hayes Carnival - spending the day as the great god Apollo, retelling Greek myths to carnival goers
13th OCTOBER - TailSpin's Story Bazaar - the first performance of 'The Monster in the Maze', demonstrating exactly how big a Health and Safety Hazard a simple ball of string can be...
25th OCTOBER - Open Arts Cafe's 'Bibbity Bobbity Boo!' for which I told a true story of magic potions, drinking acid and raising the dead.
22nd - 24th OCTOBER - The Black Sheep at the Leciester Square Theatre - lots of fun combined with two weeks of internal injuries as I inadvertently demonstrate the incorrect way to run into a wall...
14th DECEMBER - Performing in 'A Victorian Christmas' with Entertaining People. What better way to celebrate Christmas than to bring onto the stage the late, the great Mr Charles Dickens? Not the real one, that would be hideous. Actually it's me in a hat.
26th APRIL - The Crick Crack Club's 666th Annual Grand Liar's Contest - held at Rich Mix. My first solo adult storytelling performance, and what a great way to start, carrying off the coveted Hodja Cup with my lie 'I Was Born Yesterday'.
13th JUNE - Story Night at the Torriano - telling a new story of my own, 'The Middle Prince'
24th JUNE - Story Jam - telling 'The Grapes of Dionysus', a story inspired by an old riddle
25th JUNE - Storytelling workshops in Broomfield School, Kew...
...and they liked me so much they booked me straight back in again for 3rd OCTOBER!
14th JULY - Hayes Carnival - spending the day as the great god Apollo, retelling Greek myths to carnival goers
13th OCTOBER - TailSpin's Story Bazaar - the first performance of 'The Monster in the Maze', demonstrating exactly how big a Health and Safety Hazard a simple ball of string can be...
25th OCTOBER - Open Arts Cafe's 'Bibbity Bobbity Boo!' for which I told a true story of magic potions, drinking acid and raising the dead.
22nd - 24th OCTOBER - The Black Sheep at the Leciester Square Theatre - lots of fun combined with two weeks of internal injuries as I inadvertently demonstrate the incorrect way to run into a wall...
14th DECEMBER - Performing in 'A Victorian Christmas' with Entertaining People. What better way to celebrate Christmas than to bring onto the stage the late, the great Mr Charles Dickens? Not the real one, that would be hideous. Actually it's me in a hat.
