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Five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars Contest Bil Lepp will be the teller of choice for the student storytelling concert on January 27 at the Trojan Center Theater.

The annual student storytelling concert kicks off the weekend Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival at the We Piddle Around Theater in Brundidge and the Troy University Trojan Center.

Anne Register, a member of the sponsoring Brundidge Historical Society’s storytelling festival, said Lepp is one of four nationally acclaimed storytellers that will be featured at the 16th storytelling festival. He will join Donald Davis, Tim Lowry and Barbara McBride-Smith for the weekend of storytelling.

“Bil Lepp is an award-winning storyteller and is extremely popular with all ages,” Register said. “Young people enjoy him because his tales are about things of interest to them — hunting, fishing, dating, dancing, fast cars, fast food and things you never imagined.”

Lepp’s stories often contain morsels of truth that present universal themes in clever and witty ways.

“Listeners will often look at each other, puzzled and amazed, and then they will start laughing and can’t stop,” Register said.

The BHS has been hosting school storytelling concerts since the first Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival in 2007.

“Storytelling has been a form of preserving family and community histories since the beginning of time,” said Lawrence Bowden, BHS president. “Radio, television and, now, the internet has kind of pushed storytelling aside but, storytelling is a personal form of entertainment. Hundreds of people can be listening to the same story and envision it in their own way. So, the BHS invites students from around Pike County, to come, hear and enjoy the tall tales of Bil Lepp.

Tickets for the 2023 Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival are available by calling 334-685-5524 or 808-4237. Times are 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. ($10) and 2:30 p.m. ($15) at the Trojan Center Theater on January 28.