Video gallery
These folk tales are posted here to share them with a wider audience.
They also show the range of my storytelling and give a flavour of a live performance.
The recordings were made in various theatres on non-professional equipment.
New tales are added about once a month, as recording conditions in performances permit.
The videos listed below are in chronological order, so the top links are the most recently added.
All tales: an alphabetical list of all the tales on the website – audio, text and video
Lesson plans: which tales have teaching activities
Tales to watch
- Mr Fox
A folk tale of horror – speaking across the centuries to #MeToo teenagers
(with teaching activity) - Silent Princess
An Oriental fairytale - Death in the Nut
A powerful tale in which Jack learns that death is essential to life - Jack and the Shitting Donkey
How Jack tricked the landlord – and for three years running - Shipwright and the Witches
An English tale of mathematics and how Jack escaped the gallows while building a ship for the king - Birbal and Akbar’s Missing Thumb
The enforced proximity of the coronavirus lockdown makes this old tale strangely appropriate - Old Woman and her Pig
Will the old woman get home before midnight? - Sack of Truth
An Italian tale of herding rabbits, and of three different kisses - Travelling Man and the Bed
A tale of temptation - The Pleiades (told for World Storytelling Day, 20.03.20)
A Swedish fairytale telling of the voyage of seven young people, and where it took them - Old Rinkrank
A Grimms’ fairytale in which a young girl becomes a woman - Jack goes Hunting
Can a man really make his wife happy? - Strongest of Them All
Jack finds he is not the strongest after all - Nasruddin Saves a Man
The hodja finds that what works once, may not work twice - Bee, the Harp, the Mouse and the Bum-clock
An Irish Jack tale to lift your heart - Pomegranates and Patience
A Sufi tale of what a patient needs from a doctor - Jimmy No-Story
A Scottish tale showing how important it is to have a story to tell - Free Melons
A storyteller’s problem - The Carpenter
A tale of anger overcome - Missing a Moral
A great encore for an adult audience - Land Where No One Ever Dies
An Italian folk tale dealing with one of our last taboos - King who was a Gentleman
What does it mean to be a gentleman? An Irish tale of a king who thought he was the greatest gentleman in the world - Calf with the Fattened Ear
An Ethiopian tale of foolish greed - The Box under the Bed
Ever thought of the difference between a joke and a story? - Foolish Jack
What happens when you have the right smile - Drop of Honey
A highly-topical Burmese folk tale about political responsibility - The Widow of Ephesus
From ancient Rome, one of the great satires on marital fidelity - The Stolen Bairn
A Scottish fairy tale of a mother’s courage re-uniting her with her child - Pig with the Wooden Leg
A tale which explains why I am the cold-hearted man I have become - Girl from Heaven
A tale where a man fails to recognise what his wife has to offer. Sounds very contemporary? - Nasruddin’s Three Sermons
Nasruddin’s answer to the problems of public speaking - Prince Hat under the Ground
A magic-filled Swedish fairytale, drawing on the myth of Amor and Psyche - Giant and the Squirrel
A Swedish folk tale - Greatest Pickpocket
A great tale – and one of the best punchlines - Small Bird’s Wisdom
A Polish tale of how soon wisdom is forgotten - Nasruddin looking for a Wife
Many men wish to find the perfect wife, but Nasruddin found there was always a problem - Why Cats live with Women
An African tale: the title says it all - Boys who wouldn’t listen
From the classic Indian collection, The Panchatantra - Merry Wives
Three wives compete to find whose husband is the most foolish - Quick-tongued Princess
A princess who always had to have the last word, and how she met her match - Three Ugly Aunts
If you want to marry a prince, this Norwegian fairy tale shows what you really need - Why Stones do not Die
A creation myth from the Nupe people, Nigeria - King Olaf’s Master Builder
Building a church with demonic help - Three Sillies
An English folk tale about silliness and marriage - Terrified Suitors
A Danish folk tale of how a young widow managed unwanted attentions - Woman who was Angry with the Gods
A Persian tale in which a woman makes sure the gods arrange the world the way she wants - Three Suitors
A tale in which the woman has the right to choose - King Midas and the Touch of Gold
The classic tale of unintended consequences - Boy with a Beer Keg
A battle of wits between a boy and Death - Cow, the Pig and the Politician
In Nov. 2016, with politics in the air, I chose this story as an encore for a recent performance - Tops or Bottoms
How a clever farmer tricked a giant (and how the blue-black potato Vitelotte first came to earth) - Sonnet 18
Not a traditional tale, but Shakespeare’s gift of immortality is one of my favourite poems – so here it is - Boys and God
A tale all parents will understand - What brings Happiness
Is it fate, or do we decide ourselves? - Man who had No Luck
A storyteller’s response to the UK referendum decision to leave the EU - Merry Miller
How a happy man without a care in the world is rescued from the greatest care of all - Giant without a Heart
A Norwegian wonder tale in which the youngest son kills the giant and wins the bride - Lost Necklace
A rich and powerful king learns from the wisdom of a woman - Headache
Showing why every man needs a good tailor - King’s Three Delicate Wives
An Indian folk tale showing the dangers of when a man has foolish ideas of what a woman should be - Crystal Heart
Learning the true meaning of beauty, love, life - Blood-Covered Vampire
An ever-popular tale, and not just for Hallowe’en - What are the People Like?
An old folk tale of tolerance for today’s world - The Devil’s Three Golden Hairs
A great Grimms’ story, told for adults and ending with an all-important moral - Der Schiffsbauer und die Hexen
The Shipwright and the Witches – how Jack escapes the gallows while building a ship for the king of England (erzählt auf Deutsch) - Lindworm
A powerful adult fairy tale of redemption - Cat and the Dog
An Irish version of Aesop’s Tortoise and the Hare, showing why it is that cats sleep by the fire - Well of the World’s End
A powerful folk tale of initiation - Wounded Selkie
A beautiful Orcadian tale of hate, revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation and understanding - Mr Fox
A favourite tale of horror from England - Jack the Master Thief
One of the ultimate trickster tales - Rabbit and the Moon
A powerful African tale of death and new birth - Three Useless Sons
A tale from the Brothers Grimm which all fathers of sons will understand - Master of All Masters
An English folk tale of a man who thought he had to teach everyone the language - First Strawberries
A Cherokee creation myth of the eternal problems between man and woman – and a solution - The Candle in the Barn
A tale in which a father learns wisdom from his daughter - Nasruddin’s Daughter
A tale which shows the dangers of having only one story to tell - Tailor and his Wife
A favourite comic tale from Scotland – for adults - Pedlar of Swaffham
How a man became rich through a dream – a popular Norfolk legend - Thieves’ Competition
A tale of trickery as three thieves compete to prove which one is the cleverest - Gandharva Sen is Dead
A delightful Bengali tale of too much sympathy - Sesame Seed
An Egyptian folktale which teaches a king wisdom - Wishgiver
What should a man wish for when offered the chance? - Blue Rose
A beautiful wedding story - Golden Apples with Silver Leaves
A Swedish wondertale - Nasruddin’s Cat
Another wonderful Hodja story - The Magic Pisspot
A comic Swedish folk tale - Mill that ground out Silver Coins
A comic Swedish folk tale - Leopard-Eating Dog (video in English plus an audio recording in German)
A comic tale from the ancient Sanskrit collection, The Panchatantra - Louse and the Flea
Another comic tale from The Panchatantra - Woman’s Work
A comic Norwegian tale of a man who, at last, manages to learn - Cruel Sister (including harp music)
A blind harper brings justice - King Midas and his Donkey Ears
Ovid’s tale of censorship and state secrets - Butcher’s Tears
A tale of suffering and compassion - Magic Pear Tree
A tale of greed punished - Khan’s Riddles
A wedding story - First Smile
A tale which shows why women smile more than men - Milk and Sugar
A powerful tale of immigration - Blacksmith and the Devil
A tale which shows how a blacksmith won against the devil, and also explains those flickering flames of marsh gas known as Jack o’Lantern. A socio-linguistic analysis of this performance is here. - Squire’s Bride
A Norwegian folk tale which shows what happens when a man of a certain age begins to think of marrying a pretty young girl (9 min of the story) - Three Heads
The difference between a fool, a wise man and a storyteller - Deaf Mary
My telling of a story I first heard from Billy Teare - Wife’s Letter
A Surinam folk tale showing the power of the written word - King Erysichthon
A short clip from Ovid’s dark tale of punishment by the gods - Reason to Beat your Wife
A tale in which one person really does know the secret of how to have a happy marriage - What Women Most Desire
Chaucer included this folk tale in The Canterbury Tales (a short clip from a much longer tale)
Go here for tales to watch
Go here for a list of all tales included on this site
Go here to receive an e-mail notification when new tales are added
Permission to tell outlines my views on copyright
For those who are teachers: Telling stories in the classroom: basing language teaching on storytelling