Tim Lowry to perform at International Storytelling Center
KIM O'CONNOR• SEP 17, 2016 AT 5:51 PM
A little-known fact about storyteller Tim Lowry, who is now known for his zippy historical tales and laugh-out-loud personal stories, is that he almost went to clown college. But when he finally performed in a big-top tent, it was in Jonesborough, for the National Storytelling Festival, not for the Greatest Show on Earth.
Still, the circus remains a huge source of inspiration for the South Carolina-based storyteller.
“I really thought seriously about going to Ringling Brothers clown college and pursuing a career in circus,” Lowry says. “I practiced circus skills. I learned to ride a unicycle, and I tried to incorporate fire into most everything. I did a long stint in puppetry. But my life took me in a different direction.”
Eventually, Lowry moved on to theater, and from there storytelling was a natural leap.
“When I was a theater major, I always got in trouble for playing directly to the audience,” he says. “The director would say stop playing directly to the front row. You’re supposed to pretend they’re not there. But they are there! I think that’s what I like most about storytelling: the direct connection to the audience.”
He thinks of his calling as show business, a phrase you won’t often hear storytellers use to describe their work. “For a long time, I’ve been pondering my life in show business,” Lowry says. “Most parents try to talk their children out of show business, but my mom prayed me into it.”
Soon to perform in Jonesborough as the International Storytelling Center’s next teller in residence, Lowry will spend nearly a week sharing new tales and old favorites with an intimate audience. One new story is about his fascination with the circus, and another set was inspired by a recent trip out West.
During his time in Jonesborough, Lowry will perform daily Sept. 20–24, Tuesday through Saturday, in ISC’s Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall, a state-of-the-art theater. All matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are just $12 for adults and $11 for seniors, students, and children under 18.
Ticketholders for all performances can present their ticket stubs for a 10 percent discount on same-day dining at JJ’s Eatery and Ice Cream or Main Street Café, two popular eateries in Jonesborough. Advance purchase is recommended.
On Saturday, Sept. 24, at 9:30 a.m., Lowry, a former educator, will lead a one-time-only workshop, “Imagination and Education.” Designed for teachers, the session is geared towards elementary school instructors of any and all subjects. The workshop is free to educators due to the generosity of the Niswonger Foundation and the East Tennessee Foundation. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.
The International Storytelling Center’s Storytelling Live! series is renowned for bringing live storytelling to Tennessee’s oldest town for six months of every year. Lowry will be followed by another storyteller each week through the month of October. Information about all performers, as well as a detailed schedule for 2016, is available at
The website also features information about the upcoming National Storytelling Festival, which will be Oct. 7–9. Ticket options include one-day passes, weekend passes, and special reservations for nighttime ghost stories, Midnight Cabaret, and other exclusive events.
The premier sponsor of Storytelling Live! is the Mountain States’ Heart & Soul program. Media sponsors include News 5-WCYB, FOX Tri-Cities, Tri-Cities CW, Johnson City Press, Kingsport Times-News, Herald & Tribune, Cumulus Media, The Laurel of Asheville, Plough to Pantry and Foster Signs. Additional funding comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, the East Tennessee Foundation, Eastman Credit Union, the Mooneyhan Family Foundation, the Niswonger Foundation, and Massengill-DeFriece Foundation, Inc.
The International Storytelling Center is open 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. For more information about Storytelling Live! or to make a group reservation, call 800-952-8392, ext. 222, or 423-913-1276.
What the Dickens? Tim Lowry to perform 'A Christmas Carol' in Jonesborough
NATHAN BAKER• DEC 9, 2016 AT 8:45 PM
Lowry is lively: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.
Anyone who performs all five staves of Charles Dickens’“A Christmas Carol,” alone, while dressed in Victorian garb and acting out the central characters, must have more than a Tiny Tim-sized fire inside him.
Professional storyteller Tim Lowry will put on his one-man holiday show this weekend at Jonesborough’s International Storytelling Center, bringing the story to life for audiences at two shows.
His Christmas performance is a multi-year repeat, and Storytelling Center Director of Programs Susan O’Connor said many families have made the event a holiday tradition.
“He’s very well known for this piece,” O’Connor said.“He dresses in Victorian costume and plays all the parts, from Scrooge to Tiny Tim to the Ghost of Christmas Past. It’s a delightful show, and it’s been very popular in the area.”
Lowry’s Dickensian act is one of his mainstays, along with dinner shows and “seersucker shows” for trolley tours in Charleston.
He’s a regular in the center’s Storytelling Live! series, and a favorite among Jonesborough audiences, O’Connor said.
Last year, aside from “A Christmas Carol,” he brought his“Southern Fried Tent Revival,” a concert of stories from America’s more hospitable region, to the Mary B. Martin Storytelling Hall.
Tim grew up in southeastern Kentucky where helearned the art of storytelling from Appalachian folkwho spun yarns and told tales to entertain, teachmorals, and pass along local history. He studieddrama in high school and toured the East Coast in1987 with a drama school from Greenville, South Carolina. Afterearning a degree in Theater, Tim taught Englishlanguage arts for five years. He left the classroom in2000 to become a full-time professional performer.
Two shows are set for the performance of“A Christmas Carol,” one at 2 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, but O’Connor said the afternoon show is already sold out. Tickets remain for the 7:30 show at $20 each. The admission price includes refreshments following the show.
For tickets, call (800) 952-8392 or 913-1276 or visit
Artist profile: Storyteller Tim Lowry, August 27, 2015
Tim Lowry is the resident storyteller at Timrod Library at 217 Central Ave. in Summerville, where he will perform eight concerts over the next year featuring stories from local history, Southern folklore, holiday favorites and literary classics.
The next show is at 3 p.m. Sept. 18 and admission is $18. Lowry also performs at festivals across the country and schools around South Carolina.
Q: What made you want to plant your roots in the Lowcountry?
A: I came to Charleston to drive carriages for a summer job and loved the city so much that I moved here permanently after college.
Q: Have you been working on a project that you’re excited about?
A: I am currently working on a collection of stories called “Southern Fried Tent Revival.” These are stories that aren’t in the Bible, but they should be. It includes stories of a Sunday school teaching chicken, Methodist funeral food, an equine venereal disease and other curiosities of Christianity. I’ll be recording the show in October at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Q: What’s your signature style?
A: I would call my style “seersucker.” It is a Southerner’s perspective on life in these United States. I have always admired the wicked wit of Mark Twain and the first professional storyteller that I followed was Jerry Clower.
Q: What encourages you to keep doing what you do?
A: People. I love people. I meet interesting folks, I tell about them. The story conjures a memory from an audience member. They tell me about more interesting folks. I learn, I tell, I learn.
Q: If you could choose anybody — living, dead or fictional — to be your mentor for a day, who would it be and why?
A: Because I got my start as a carriage driver, I would love to spend the day with Francis the talking mule. I realize that he is dead, but any one of a number of political candidates could serve as an adequate substitute.
Q: What’s your favorite hidden gem in Charleston?
A: I love the Timrod Library in Summerville. (It’s) a perfect gem of Southern culture: 100 years old, filled with stories, interesting characters coming and going, and they serve wine at every event.
Storyteller Tim Lowry offers the 'seersucker perspective'
Mary E. Regan for the Journal Scene, Nov 21, 2017
Acclaimed storyteller Tim Lowry will be performing "A Christmas Carol" at the Timrod Library on Dec. 21. He can be found at the library every third Thursday of the month at 3 p.m. For more information, go to
REGAN:How did you get to be a storyteller?
LOWRY: My mother helped me learn “pieces” to perform at church, etc. I told a story in the basement of a friend’s home during a tornado scare at 6 years old! I often entertained company in the living room as they enjoyed their after-dinner coffee. When in high school, I entered the storytelling division of the speech league tournaments and ran my own puppet show business. I charged $20 for a children’s birthday party. ($5 discount if you picked me up as I wasn’t old enough to have a driver’s license!) In college, I was a theater major. In storytelling class, I realized this was a perfect fit. After teaching English and drama for five years, I left that to become a storyteller. Wow! That was nearly 18 years ago!
R:Can you give some good anecdotal stories to illustrate what you convey to the public in your talks?
L:I love stories from the American South. I deliver a “seersucker perspective” when doing U.S. festivals. I’m working on a story about Southern wedding traditions. It may become part of a trilogy of tales. All high-born Southern ladies know a girl’s name should only appear in the papers three times: when she’s born, when she marries, and when she dies. At least one of these articles should give gossips plenty to talk about – the object being to inspire jealousy, not ridicule. Social triumph or tragedy will provide ample opportunity for a sensational tale. I just added up all the stories I tell and I found I can talk for 24 hours without ever having to repeat myself. Southerners are conversationalists par excellence! When I’m not “carrying on” about life in the South, I share folk and fairy tales with children, stories from American history with students, and literary classics for those who have not completely ruined their ability to think through too much time on Facebook and other forms of godless social media.
R:I'm from Maine where humorist Tim Sample is so popular. Who influenced you? Do you consider yourself a humorist?
L:The South is so full of raconteurs, I really can’t identify a single person. However, the patron saint of all American humorists is Mark Twain. I like what he said about humor and the temptation to be funny. He said, “I have always preached…If the humor came of its own accord and uninvited, I have allowed it a place in my sermon.” He understood what my experience has verified. If you want people to think, let them laugh, which is a respite from their labor. Otherwise, they will die from sheer exhaustion.
R:What do you feel is the state of "storytelling"? Are you concerned our society may be losing some of our "stories" in this era we live in?
L:Studs Terkel lamented the loss of the human voice, the personal touch in communication. I have just recently been thinking about this sad state of affairs. Consequently, I often respond to an email with “Call me, let’s talk.” Note – As I am answering your questions via email, this means one of two things: 1) I am a hypocrite or 2) You are a Yankee. We should get together and figure this out over a glass of sweet tea.
R:Can you give an example of the impact of your storytelling on the audience?
L:The thing most striking is how often people come back again to hear stories. The Christmas season is fast approaching and my one-man version of Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol" is a good example. I’ve performed this piece for 15 years at a local restaurant (Circa 1886, Charleston) and much of the audience returns every year. I think the story gives us a sense of community and tradition that’s much needed in our society. I recently stopped by a local school for an after-school meeting and when I got out of my car, all the children on the playground stopped their games and ran to greet me. They’re students of American history. We’ve been through the war together—take your pick, Revolution, Civil War, WWI, WWII. These stories give us a common experience that creates an emotional bond, a community. I love that. I feel like I have a million friends.
R:What is your favorite and moving tale? What would you like to instill in others?
L:Well, it’s the one I am telling at the moment. Most moving? I hope I haven’t told it yet. To tell a story so well, so appropriate for the need of the moment, that you never have to speak again; now that would be perfect. Like Harper Lee’s "To Kill A Mockingbird," it’s not that she couldn’t say anything else, it was that she didn’t have to. (Make sure you’ve read this most sacred of Southern novels before we sit down for that glass of sweet tea. Otherwise, the answer of whether I be a hypocrite or you be a Yankee will be a foregone conclusion.) – Instill in others? Peace. I’d like to make people so comfortable with their own story (birth, etc.) that they’re at peace. I think that’s often evidenced by laughter. I know, that’s a lofty goal; but I try.
R:Given the recent news on the Confederate flag and era statues, has your storytelling ever been controversial?
L:Unlike so many with a mic, I just try to tell the truth. That’s inflammatory enough. Case in point. You mentioned there are Confederate era flags and statues. Without making a judgment call, you acknowledged their existence, which is a statement of fact. You told the truth. Already, many people’s heads have begun to explode.