Andy Offutt Irwin

Andy Offutt Irwin (born 1957) is an American storyteller, arts educator, singer-songwriter and humorist. Born and raised in Covington, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta, Irwin began his career in 1984 with an improvisational comedy troupe at Walt Disney World. After five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter, touring the Southeast. In the mid-1990s, Irwin branched into performances for children and since then has appeared in hundreds of schools (from preschools to colleges) and countless public libraries.

Irwin continued to perform as a singer-songwriter and added storytelling to these performances, usually telling one story (about ten to twenty-five minutes in length) during a show. In the fall of 2004 he decided to pursue storytelling as a career and quickly achieved national prominence. Irwin now appears regularly in storytelling festivals across the United States. He has released several albums which feature stories, songs or whistling. Irwin has received three Storytelling World awards and two Storytelling Album of the Year awards.

In addition to performing, Irwin worked as an artist-in-residence at Oxford College of Emory University and Georgia College for a total of fifteen years. During that time he directed several plays, conducted acting workshops and served as an acting coach. Irwin was also featured as storyteller and host of the program Evening Star on public radio. Currently, Irwin divides his time between storytelling festivals and children’s performances. Irwin also performs as a whistler with the Kandinsky Trio, a chamber music group.