Storyteller Spotlight

Storyteller

Willy Claflin is a master at telling stories, and his stuffed sidekick, Maynard Moose, is quite unique. As the only authentic Native American Moose currently on the festival circuit, Maynard is the last known teller of ancient Mother Moose Tales.

A favorite duo at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Willy and Maynard have been traveling and working together since 1977. They turn familiar classics upside down and keep their audiences wondering where they’re headed as they attempt to catch a breath between laughs.

As you spend time with Willy and Maynard, you’ll discover stories you’ve never heard before (although the titles might sound a bit familiar). In The Wolf Who Cried “Sheep!, the wolf tricks his friends by continuing to fool them until they stop believing his cries and coming to his aid.

Truck Crash Christmas, a different kind of Christmas story, is the tale of a goat afflicted with Random Hostility Syndrome that drives his truck through a family’s farmhouse on Christmas morning.

In The Bully Goat Grim, competing troll heads Bertha, Gladys, and Louise do their best to knock each other out. Click on the video below for a glimpse into this hilarious story.

Willy’s original stories introduce ideas we’re not likely to have thought of—like a national sugar-eating contest—but they always end with a moral such as, “If you talk with your mouth full, the cheese could fall right out of your mouth and somebody else might get it!”

Claflin, a favorite at festivals throughout the country, has been described as a one-man festival who covers the full spectrum of spoken word entertainment. He is an accomplished guitarist and narrative ballad specialist, and his original, traditional, historical, personal, and comedic stories delight audiences of all ages. His latest one-man show is the story of his great-great aunt—the notorious and mesmerizing Victoria Claflin Woodhull. She was the first female stockbroker, as well as the first woman to make (and lose) a bid for President on the free-love ticket.

Entertaining audiences with fractured fairy tales and nonsense comes naturally for Willy and Maynard and they’ve earned numerous awards including the Storytelling World Award, NAPPA Award, Mom’s Choice Award, Parents’ Choice Gold Award, and the American Library Association’s Notable Children’s Recording Award—to name just a few.

Click below to get your ticket and join us as we experience Willy and Maynard at the 2022 Timpanogos Storytelling Festival next week (September 8-10) at Ashton Gardens in Lehi, Utah.

“Storytellers listed herein have been featured tellers at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. We endorse them as professionals and recommend their skill as performers. However, opinions expressed in individual programs offered by tellers are not necessarily those of Timpanogos Storytelling Institute. Our purpose is to solely offer awareness of storytelling opportunities available.”

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