Wearing a wide brimmed hat in a sun dappled forest, the Talesman leans in closely
The Talesman recieves a round of applause at Romsey Beggars Fair
In a wooded clearing a bodhran, lyre and djembe stand around a chair covered with the Talesman's frock coat

About The Travelling Talesman

I am a spoken word narrative performer of myths, legends, folktales and the occasional poem, a storyteller! My energetic and engaging performance is adapted on a per gig basis for a wide variety of adult and family audiences. I have over twenty years professional experience, am a member of Equity and can provide risk assessments on request.

I have toured the country from Penzance to York, for feasts, festivals and fun since the early nineties with tales of Norse Gods, Celtic mysteries, clever girls and dragon Slayers, medieval mayhem, giants, goblins and halloween horrors. I originally specialised in Northern European tales but stories are now drawn from all over the world. I am constantly expanding my repertoir, reading myths from various cultures, chasing down unusual variations on folk tales and researching, learning or creating new adventures for special theme or site specific events. I write a column for the local magazine which provides a good chance for reflection and examination of my material and practice, the results are published as a blog at Folk Tales Corner .

Storytelling performances can be and have been tailored for 50th birthday parties to 6th birthdays, weddings to funerals and delivered in gardens, tents, castles, living rooms, basements, pubs, restaurants, museums and a river. Knee deep.

High spots over the years include: telling 'The Death of Baldur' to two thousand people for the Jorvik Viking Festival boat burning; a three and a half hour continuous rolling performance on top of a hill for Devon Hospice Dreamwalk and being told by a child on a the story walk of Billy and The Witch of Nidd "This is great! It's like we're really in the story, it's like... I'm Billy... It's like we're all Billy!"

 

What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?

When not in the land of myth I am called Cliff Eastabrook and am or have been a bassist with extensive international touring experience; a live sound engineer also with international tours under my belt and a video sound recordist with credits for the BBC; I have been a member of theatre companies as everything from King Rat to lighting designer and casual help to production manager.

I enjoy collaboration and new challenges, perform equally well to audiences of ten thousand or just ten and have led workshops for all age groups and abilities in subjects as diverse as storytelling with percussion to sound recording for screen actors.