If Andy Offutt Irwin can’t make your Christmas merry, then “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.”

The nationally acclaimed storyteller will be at the We Piddle Around Theater Friday and Saturday nights for the Brundidge Historical Society’s sold-out Chili Country Christmas storytelling event.

Irwin will present his hilarious storytellling performance, “Christmas at Southern White Old Lady Hospital.”

“Just in case some people are offended by that, I also call it “Christmas with Dr. Marguerite Van Camp,” Irwin said, laughing. “Marguerite is my ‘aunt’ and the story is about Aunt Marguerite’s Christmas adventures as she visits the Cracker Barrel, hears from her passed away husband, plays havoc with the neighbor’s decorations, shoots mistletoe out of a tree and finds heartbreak in church. I also mix in some stuff about my mom, Tootsie. It’s a fun story and I’m looking forward to being back in Brundidge. The We Piddle Around Theater is one of my favorite places.”

“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.

“We are proud to bring Andy Offutt Irwin back to the stage of the We Piddle Around Theater,” said Henry Hudley, a member of the BHS storytelling committee. “He has been here a couple of times before and has been very popular with our audiences. He can put merry in anybody’s Christmas.”

The Chili Country Christmas has become a tradition at the We Piddle Around Theater. The first Christmas event was in 2005 when WTBF broadcast Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” live from the We Piddle Around Theater. The cast of “Come Home, It’s Suppertime” has presented, “A Hometown Christmas” and “How Come Christmas.”

In 2008 Appalachian storyteller Sheila Kay Adams was featured in “Christmas on the Mountain” and, in 2009, Alabama’s favorite storyteller, Kathryn Tucker Windham, tickled funny bones and tugged at heartstrings with “Christmas Memories.”

“We’ve had a variety of Christmas programs at the We Piddle Around Theater and Andy Offutt Irwin will certainly be different. He’ll bring fun and laughter to the Christmas season,” said Annette Bryan.

“And as we say about our folk life play, ‘Some [of what he tells] may be true, some of it may not be true and some of it may be downright lies,’ but we can guarantee it will be merry.”

The Brundidge Historical Society’s next event is the Pike Piddlers Storytelling Festival the last weekend in January.