My Tutu Went AWOL! – the talk

Iestyn Edwards is an Olivier Award winning international variety headline and bass-baritone. He won the Millennial Busker of the Year and is the BBC Woman’s Hour ‘Forces’ Sweetheart’.

Drawing on material from his best-selling memoir, My Tutu Went AWOL!, and making full use of a background in vaudeville, Edwards describes his time being the Combined Services Entertainment ‘experimental act’, flown out to entertain British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wearing a tutu…

He initially fell foul of the notorious Commando, Stacks, who thought a bullet with Iestyn’s name on it wouldn’t be big enough so threatened to chew his name into a hand grenade. Stacks later changed his mind after he witnessed Iestyn being, as he put it, ‘Proper kind and mumsy with the younger lads - and some older ones. Then we truly bonded when I taught him to reverse parallel park in a Saracen, chuck grenades properly overarm and milk goats.’

‘Your performance was hugely enjoyed – not least by Her Majesty.’
Lord West of Spithead, following an after dinner set for T200. Onboard HMS Victory in the presence of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth ii.

‘It’s not so much a talk with a difference, more he’s a difference with a talk. Out in theatre – Iraq and Afghanistan - he had barrack room privileges, rare for a civilian...but only after he stopped annoying the hell out of me!’ RMC ‘Stacks’, 2018 42 Commando reunion dinner introduction

‘What a story! So very well received! Very funny and also very moving - the roller-coaster just kept on giving!’
Shaun Hannon, Brandon Rotary Club, 50th Birthday Dinner at the Royal British Legion

‘A hoot, but also very moving. I wanted to hug and hug him!’ Raywen Hackett-Jones, Royal British Legion, Snape

‘Achingly funny!’ Daily Mail

‘A brilliant after dinner performance. Hilarious, but also very moving.’ Robert Suttle, Clacton Rotary Club

‘The audience howled with laughter, stamped and cheered.’ The Times

‘Spreads a bow-wave of happiness….the voice of an angel.’ Dame Joanna Lumley

‘Only the divinely unique Iestyn Edwards could be in a tutu in war-zones and talk about it so perfectly. Fascinating, moving and completely hilarious.’ Miranda Hart

‘You filled the ‘entertainment’ slot perfectly.’ Lynn Tomaney, XL IFA

‘Well, AI couldn’t replicate this man or his work. So well done. The loudest applause we’ve ever had.’ U3a Halstead

‘Extremely funny - and fascinating. An enchanting and unlikely mixture of showbiz memoir, war reportage and bromantic comedy.’ ***** Piers Torday

‘A story unlike any other, from a book unlike any other. Totally mad, very funny and highly recommended. ***** Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt. The Nation’s Favourite Book (Guardian)

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