The show Simon Farnaby put on at the IW Story Festival at Quay Arts was simply amazing.

The children’s author, screenwriter and star of the TV hits ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Horrible Histories’ was exactly what I thought he was going to be and more.

He was very funny and engaging to all his audience members, young and not so young. He made an effort to keep everybody entertained, whilst showing off his personality and let us as an audience build a relationship with him.

Farnaby claimed “he has not told these stories before” and shared some interesting thoughts about himself, such as when he was younger he thought he looked like James Dean, which is rather hard to imagine!

He gave a range of advice to the audience such as “you can’t be too stupid” and shared some stories from when he was younger. He told us he: “used comedy to make friends” which touched me personally as I have a similar experience.

He was very interactive with the audience as he asked them for ideas for his next book and was very open to answering questions about his life and childhood.

The whole experience was brilliant! When I interviewed Simon it felt as if we had known each other for a long time, as he was very comfortable and easy to talk to and he was very relaxed during the interview.

I discovered that he was a very curious child and “just wanted to find a robot in the woods.” He always wanted dramatic things to happen to him like a plane crash where “we all survive but we have to live on a desert island.”

I am grateful for this opportunity and as a budding writer it has really inspired me, which is the goal of the IW Story Festival! It is an experience I will never forget and will always hold close to my heart.