Guess who’s coming for Christmas?

Published 10:54 pm Friday, October 29, 2010

Imagine spending Christmas with nationally acclaimed storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin and his Aunt Marguerite at Southern White Old Lady Hospital. What a hilarious Christmas that would be!

And, that’s what will happen when the Brundidge Historical Society presents “A Chili Country Christmas,” with Andy Offutt Irwin on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4 at the We Piddle Around Theater in Brundidge.

Tickets for “A Chili Country Christmas” are $20 each and will go on sale Wednesday, Nov. 3 at Rue’s Antiques in Brundidge or by calling 334-735-3125 Wednesday through Saturday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

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Tickets include the pre-show, which features traditional Christmas music played on traditional instruments and the chili supper and dessert.

“We are extremely excited to have Andy Offutt Irwin back at the We Piddle Around Theater,” said Dinah Kelsey, a member of the storytelling committee.

“Andy was a teller at the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival in 2006 and 2007 and was an audience favorite.

“We try to do something different with our Christmas storytelling concerts and having Andy will mean that this year’s ‘Chili Country Christmas’ will put “merry’ in Christmas for even the most hard-hearted ol Scrooge.”

Irwin’s Christmas stories will revolved around his fictional, 85-year-old aunt. Dr. Marguerite Van Camp, who is loosely based on his mother, “unabashed and delightfully inappropriate,” and his maternal grandmother, “a genteel, bun-haired lady of means.”

“I was raised by Southern women so I imitate a lot of them,” Irwin said.

“Marguerite is the voice of my grandmother, who was born in 1894, and the attitude of my mother.”

The character of Marguerite is one that evolved from a nurse character Irwin created to entertain his mother while she was hospitalized with cancer.

“Christmas at Southern White Old Lady Hospital” was awarded the 2006 Storyteller Album of the Year by “Just Plain Folks,” a community of more than 40,000 industry professionals.