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WOSAS : F1062	WOSAS/CD347/track2 R1125.wav
a Companion story; Grateful Dead story
Sound recording, story; The Companion, from the Grateful Dead story group, a European wonder tale of Scandinavian origin, told by Abbi Patrix, at The Crick Crack Club at The Old Farm House Pub, Kentsh Town, London, 28th February 1991.
A story told by Abbi Patrix accompanying himself with drum percussion. The story is about a young man who embarks on a journey to find a women he has dreamt of. He is joined by a companion who helps him overcome difficulties with three troll hags and gain possession of three magical items - a sword, a ball of string and a hat, which they use to free the women who becomes the young man's wife.
Programme note reads - The Magnificent French storyteller, Abbi Patrix, presents an informal evening of Norwegian Folk and Wonder Tales. Unmissable.
R210 is a recording of The Companion told by Abbi Patrix at the Beyond the Border international storytelling festival in Wales, in 2000.
audience:-	adult
language:-	English; French
recording quality
condition:-	good
completeness:-	complete
duration:-	0 hours, 31 minutes, 39 seconds
This is one of a series of recordings made by Marc Jobst to create a pilot of a series of radio programmes entitled Cracking Tales for broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Pilots were made, but the programme was never broadcast.
The Crick Crack Club was founded by Ben Haggarty in 1987 and was the first regular performance storytelling club to be established in the UK. From the outset, the club operated with a programme of storytellers put in place by an artistic director, Ben Haggarty. It had no 'floor spots' whereby anyone had the opportunity to tell stories. The club was created in response to a recognised need for there to be sufficient UK storytellers to perform competent, formal evening shows for adult audiences in the proposed 1989, 15 day long, Third International Storytelling Festival at London's South Bank Centre. In the autumn of 1987 the first season of 26 weekly Crick Crack Club events was launched in a pub theatre (The Chair) in Ladbrook Grove, with the expressed aim of trying out new artists and providing an opportunity for established artists to develop their skills and repertoire for adults. Jenny Pearson of the Kew Storytellers helped Ben Haggarty with the organisation of this first season.The Crick Crack Club promoted weekly events in various venues in London between 1987 and 1995, and then monthly events at the Spitz from 1995 to 2001. During this time it also organised numerous monthly events and mini-festivals in regional arts venues throughout England. In 1991/92 wth £10,000 from the Arts Council Literature department it tried to establish a touring circuit promoting 120 events in a year. Daniel Morden gave invaluable administrative support during this period. In 1993, in partnership with David Ambrose of St. Donats Arts Centre in Wales, the Crick Crack Club Club created the Beyond the Border International Festival of Storytelling and Epic Singing. Ben Haggarty co-directed Beyond the Border from 1993 to 2005. Since 2001 the Crick Crack Club has worked on a peripatetic basis, programming in various venues and in partnership with various organisations, and in 2003 began a long-term partnership with Barbican Education in London, to promote 9 events a year in the Barbican Pit Theatre
storytelling:-	storyteller: Abbi Patrix male / French / Norwegian
origin:-	Scandinavia Europe
	Crick Crack Club season flyer and event listing
	Click to enlarge images
use:-	BBC Radio 4 Marc Jobst radio broadcast pilot
administration & programming:-	administrator; programmer: The Crick Crack Club administrator; programmer; Artistic Director: Ben Haggarty
storytelling:-	Kentish Town, London, England: The Old Farm House Pub 28 Feb 1991 storytelling club: The Crick Crack Club public performance radio production
gift from:-	Marc Jobst

©  The London Centre for International Storytelling: 2007
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