Some people have inner-kids. Andy Offutt Irwin has an outer-kid. With a manic Silly Putty voice, astonishing mouth noises, and hilarious stories, he is equal parts mischievous schoolboy and the Marx Brothers, peppered with a touch of the Southern balladeer. People are drawn to him like magnets to a refrigerator. And inside, it’s all Mountain Dew and Jolt Cola. A native of Covington, GA, Andy is a storyteller, humorist, singer, songwriter, musician, whistler, walking menagerie of sound effects and dialects, and so much more; some of his talents are hard to categorize. In storytelling circles, he is especially known for relating the adventures of his eighty-five-year-old-widowed-newly-minted-physician-aunt, Dr. Marguerite Van Camp, a woman who avoids curmudgeonship by keeping her finger on the pulse of . . . well herself, but also the changing world around her. She steps lively through it, loving as many people as she can.

Irwin was awarded the 2013 National Storytelling Network Circle of Excellence Award, and all five of his storytelling CDs have won Storytelling Word Awards. He has appeared five times at the National Storytelling Festival, and July of 2103 will mark his seventh year as a Teller in Residence at International Storytelling Center; he has been a Guest Artist at La Guardia High School of Art, Music, and Performing Arts in New York (The “FAME!” School); and he has been a Keynote Speaker/Performer at the Library of Congress-Virburnum Foundation Conference on Family Literacy. Andy also does occasional theatrical projects for Oxford College of Emory University where he was Artist in Residence, 1991-2007. (He is now an Artist-in-Just-Passing-Through).

Early in his career, Andy performed with the comedic troupe, SAK Theatre at Walt Disney World, 1984-1989. He performs at many different educational programs and camps for children, too, where he focuses on literacy, storytelling, music, and taking care of the environment … among other things. Andy proudly holds a BA in Sociology from Georgia College &/or State University. They handed it to him in 1983. “Andy’s animated performances delight and entertain in the best sense of the word, surpassing any zany teller you’ve heard before..” ~ The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival