Taffy Thomas has a repertoire of more than 350 stories, tales and elaborate lies, collected mainly from traditional oral sources, which he is happy to tell in almost any situation. He is in national and international demand, having appeared at festivals in the USA, Norway, Israel and Japan among others. The most recent was Tellabration in Tokyo, in November 2011.
Taffy founded and directed the legendary folk theatre company, Magic Lantern, travelling Europe illustrating folk songs & stories with shadow puppets and much more, and then founded and directed the rural community arts company, Charivari, with their popular touring unit, the Fabulous Salami Brothers.
He is currently artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling, in Grasmere, the Lake District. In the 2001 New Year Honours List he was awarded the MBE for services to storytelling and charity. He tours extensively, working in both entertainment and education and is also a patron of the Society for Storytelling. In 2010 and 2011 he held the first ever honorary Laureate for Storytelling position in theUK.
Taffy will be performing Take these Chains from my Heart an auto-biographical piece co-written with Jim Woodland, exploring Taffy’s recovery from a stroke aged 36 by immersing himself in storytelling. The music for the piece will be performed by Tony Farren (vocals and guitar). Taffy and Tony will also be taking part in the Festival’s Stories for Health Outreach Programme.
