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Andy Offutt Irwin (born 1957) is an American storyteller, arts educator and singer-songwriter. Irwin began his career in 1984 in an improvisational comedy troupe but after five years he shifted to performing as a singer-songwriter, touring the Southeast for about six years. In the mid-1990s, he 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 (for adults) 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. He quickly achieved national prominence and now appears regularly in storytelling festivals across the United States. Irwin has released four albums; the first features ten songs and one story, the other three are exclusively storytelling albums. His second album was named the best storytelling album of 2006 by an industry group. Currently, Irwin divides his time between storytelling festivals and children’s performances. Irwin is also featured on a weekly public radio music program as storyteller and host.
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