Cap'n,
I am told, and am prepared to believe that Eddie Lenihan is an excellent childrens' entertainer, but for me he represents everything that has gone wrong with the storytelling revival, tweeness, bad-acting, lack of confidence in the story (displayed in facial contortions and his over-mobile performances). His inability to sit still while telling a story and his extremely eccentric delivery is managing to project a totally distorted image of the storytelling tradition. His idiosyncratic delivery has earned him the nick-name 'Eddie the Lepper' (note the double p, a reference to his leaping about).
We have an excellent, now quite elderly traditional storyteller here in Miltown, Francie Kennelly, probably the last in the area, but whenever an event is organised that requires storytelling, Eddie is the one they go for - a great shame.
My favourite story about Eddie came from an encounter he had with an elderly lady, the wife of one of our best local old-style fiddle players and storytellers.
He had been nauseatingly patronising to her, and as he walked away she was heard to whisper loudly (referring to his odd appearance), "He looks like a ferret peeping out of a hedgehog's arse".
Jim Carroll