The course of Tim’s life was pretty much set at six years of age when his parents took him to see Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Ever since that glittering introduction to show business, Tim’s life has been a series of colorful acts, featuring a wide variety of stories that include personal narratives, historical stories, folk tales, poems, literary classics, the occasional ghost legend, and a few Bible stories.

When he was eight years old, Tim was cast as Ebenezer Scrooge in a second-grade production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This classic has proven to be the most enduring of all the stories in Tim’s repertoire. To date, he has performed his one-man version of A Christmas Carol nearly 200 times in venues from South Carolina to Alaska. In 2023 he published a book, Haunted By Dickens, about his love for the world’s most popular ghost story. Audiences consistently return year after year to see the show and happily participate in Tim’s annual holiday fundraisers, donating more than $30,000 to orphan relief, hurricane help, cancer treatment, food banks, grief support, prisoner’s children, military families, literacy programs, and several other worthy causes.

As a young teenager Tim produced puppet shows for children’s birthday parties. His fee was $20 per show, but he offered a $5 discount if you could give him a ride because he was not yet old enough to drive. The puppets have long since retired, but Tim continues to travel across the country performing in over fifty storytelling festivals and special events. His work is regularly featured at the International Storytelling Center and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. Due to inflation his current fee is considerably more than $20, but he will still offer a discount if you can give him a ride.

As an award-winning high school drama student Tim toured the East Coast, traveling to a dozen states with a musical show celebrating the 200th anniversary of the United States Constitution. This experience gave him a great appreciation for American history and culture. He continues to tell stories of America’s past to America’s future in elementary schools across the country. He is currently working on a children’s book about a gentleman who got his pants blown off during the Revolutionary War. Tim hopes that a well-placed cannon shot and children’s fascination with underwear will combine to produce a bestseller just in time for the 250th anniversary of American Independence. 

After earning a degree in Speech Education with an emphasis in Theater, Tim taught in both elementary and secondary classrooms. He also volunteered as a teacher of English to Russian immigrants. His teaching methods were described as “unorthodox and disruptive.” After refereeing a wrestling match that may or may not have involved fifth graders and a former resident of the Soviet Union, Tim left the classroom in 2000 to pursue a career as a professional storyteller.

He recently published a book about his first 25 years as a traveling raconteur. The title of his memoir came from an audience member who described his storytelling style by saying, “Tim Lowry might share a personal story, a historical anecdote, maybe something about a rabbit, or he might play the kazoo. You never know what’s going to pop out of that clown car next. He is a Southern Fried Circus!”

Between storytelling gigs and writing, Tim enjoys spending time in his hometown of Summerville, South Carolina with his wife and two daughters, tending to his porch plants, and reading from the Old Farmer’s Almanac while sipping from an ice cold glass of sweet tea.

Tim Lowry Artist Statement

As a storyteller, I am very much aware that I serve as a voice representing my community, my state, my region, my country, and my world. The voice is foundational to human expression. A baby’s cry will grow to babbling and laughter, and then to words, and then to sentences, and then to fluent speech. It is my goal as a teaching artist to identify where an individual or group is resting on this continuum and then to offer a helping hand to the next level. 

This work requires deep listening, cultural sensitivity, and unfailing commitment to technique and discipline. The ultimate goal is for me to step away and see strong and capable individuals and communities speaking in their own distinctive voices as they eloquently express their hopes, dreams, values, and philosophies. 

Oral storytelling is sometimes described by folklorists as “building a ladder to the moon.” As a spoken-word artist I strive to both model and teach oral communication skills that will help communities celebrate their cultural identities through the preservation and presentation of personal narratives, histories, folklore, legends, and myths. 

The longer I work in the field of oral communication the more I am convinced that this “ladder to the moon” concept is integral to the building and maintenance of healthy communities and more vital than ever as we navigate the challenges of a global Information Age that relies more and more on digital, visual, and artificial experiences.