Audience Comments from Birmingham Storyelling Cafe

The fine folks at Birmingham Storytelling Cafe had me along to tell stories from my show How to Spin Enchantment. Here’s some of the audience feedback, I’m particularly impressed by the poetry:

9/10 a very good night,
laughter, wit and the occasional fright,
We’ll come see you again,
every now and then,
unless there’s a defined schedule or something.

The night was splendid
It was a shame it ended
But I guess it must

What a feat of endurance! Brilliant 25 stories in one!

What a joyful gallop through a gaggle of lovely Italian stories.

Someone pay this man more money! Not only is he a brilliant storyteller, but he needs money for SHOES! Bare feet? How? My feet are frozen!!!

Enthralling

What a brilliant storyteller Tim is. Most enjoyable evening once again. Love your stories.

Fantastical stories within stories. A most enjoyable young man.

First time here. Great stories tonight. Thank you for a great night.

My first experience of storytelling. I enjoyed the twist and adventures in each story. Quite humorous and very charismatic.

Tales of wit and great imagery—a joyful performance!

Absolutely brilliant.

Brilliantly told, a masterful performance. Very entertaining.

Wonderful story, shame your hair wasn’t RED! (Tim says: This is a reference to the posters, which showed me as having the most magnificent shade of auburn hair.)

Absolutely fabulous! Great stories!

Wonderful evening, our best evening yet and we’ve been to a few…

A very enjoyable evening. The stories were enchanting and entertaining. Thank you for sharing.

Reviews and comments for recent gigs

My performance of Can the Mountains Love the Sea? got a review by A Small Mind.

“An excellent night.” * * * *

Read the full review here.

I also got these kind words from some Viking reinactors who came along:

“What a great experience this was! My friend J~ and I were completely enthralled by your enchantment and sheer professionalism. This was storytelling at its best and we were truly privileged to have witnessed it.

Not one single word was wasted. The pacing was spot-on. The characterisation was vivid and varied. You were totally absorbed ‘in the moment’ of the story, as was your audience. You made mythology live and breath…”

– the wannabe Vikings!

~ ~ ~

And some great audience comments from my performance of Jonathan and David at Night of the Storyteller. (All comments used with permission.)

“A few centuries ago listeners might have found the intimacy between David and Jonathon unsettling, but not have baulked at the violent massacre of the Amalekites. Now our sensitivities are reversed, but it is a credit to Tim Ralphs’ telling that he does not flinch at nor soft-pedal the difficult parts of this story. The show that results is touching and tender, rich and many-layered. A paean to love, friendship, and promise-keeping.”

Sarah Rundle, Storyteller

“I thought your performance at The Miller was beautiful! I loved the multiple narratives, juxtaposition and how many layers there were. Deftly, discretely & generously done (because you never demanded we think any particular thing). Congratulations!”

Giles Abbott, Storyteller

“Thank you for last night’s performance which I found profoundly moving. There are scenes which, although understated in your telling, remain vividly etched in my consciousness – the deeply human interaction between Saul and the Witch of Endor, for instance, to name just one.

Your subtle and deeply respectful crafting of links between Bible story and Life story created a rich tapestry which brought the spinning of story, and the fabric of life to life, a subtle veil through which you facilitated the potential to get a glimpse of the ineffable.

The formal musical framing device you used was masterful.

You are truly breaking new ground in the form.”

Leon Conrad, Voice Specialist

Listener reward schemes

The Devil is a great believer in rewarding the faithful.

Got this wee sticker from @TimRalphs – @RedRidingBorg stop giggling. Serious business! pic.twitter.com/1HMvIVAhdy

— Rachel Gallagher MUA (@rachel__mua) August 6, 2014

Tim Ralphs is a storyteller and his show of urban devilry Rebranding Beelzebub is on every night from 2 August 2014 to 24 August 2014 at 9:50pm in The Banshee Labyrinth. A PBH free fringe performance – you only have to pay what you think the Devil is due.

The Story Forge featured on Sheffield Live!

Way back in October we had one of the most crowded Story Forge open floor sessions yet. In part, this was because the Off the Shelf festival was ramping up and the city was buzzing with excitement about spoken word events.

Sheffield Live sent Laurence Peacock who listened, made some recordings, interviewed me, some tellers and some listeners. He’s created this really good introduction to the club experience.

You can read more about The Story Forge here, not much has changed since that post was written all those years ago! Perhaps it’s worth saying that the club has just celebrated it’s fourth birthday and that if you come along in July you’ll hear Simon Heywood telling you the story of Vortigern along with all the usual frolics.

Audience comments from Larmer Tree Festival

I’ve just had a particularly moving e-mail from someone who saw my Queen of Claywood Flats show around the fire at Larmer Tree Festival. It was a wonderful environment to tell in and I’m pleased they found the story to be fitting for the space.

“I really wanted to let you know how much me and my entire party enjoyed your fireside storytelling at the Larmer tree. It was a brilliant and surprising piece of truly gifted and skilful entertainment. I’ve never had the privilege to have seen your storytelling before nor very much of the art-form at all, to be honest, but we were all totally blown away. Not one stumble, not one hesitation, always on the move around the fire so that everyone was able to hear and a brilliant physicality that really brought the geography and the characters to life. And that’s before one even contemplates the intricate Russian doll architecture of your story within a story within a story, a magnificent timeless mythic epic tale. It was totally absorbing. You made that Saturday night a really special occasion and I am sure that the rest of your fireside listeners felt the same. It was abundantly clear that they were all clearly as captivated as we were.”

Audience comments from Dreamfired Storynights

I’ve just had back the audience feedback from the telling I gave at Dreamfired Storynights. I told From the Odd, which I’m quite proud of as a collection. (One day I’ll tell you the story of how that show came to be written.) Anyway, I don’t have an easy way of thanking the listeners for all their kind words, so I’ll do it here. Thank you, it means a lot!

Here are the kind words in question:

“Really enjoyed Tim Ralphs. Funniest stories yet! Liked the audience involvement”

“Fantastic night, thought Tim was brilliant – loved how the stories interweaved, I was transfixed!”

“Brilliant – so glad we made the effort to get here”

“Excellent – really enjoyed Tim’s surreal, quirky, funny and moving performance”

“Brilliantly weaved and enthralling stories. Very entertaining indeed!”