Terry Pratchett in 2011
In 2020, Marc penned the first ever biography of Sir Terry. The book received critical acclaim, won a Locus Award and was embraced by fans. This live multimedia show, based on the book, was then created with the full endorsement and support of Narrativia, the company founded to protect and promote the late author’s work in association with his estate. Over the past 12 months, it has sold over 10,000 tickets across the UK.
Marc Burrows said: “Although we’ve got some more shows to do next year, Salisbury is, in my head, the headline show of the tour. It’s difficult to undervalue how important the area was to Sir Terry. Since the mid 90s he lived in what he referred to as a “Manorette” in the village of Broad Chalke, just a few miles down the road and Salisbury was a huge part of his life. One of the last photos of him was taken outside Salisbury Cathedral (which served as a location in a scene in his Long Earth books), and the landscape surrounding his home became the inspiration for “The Chalk”, the home of the teenage witch Tiffany Aching in Terry’s landmark Discworld series. When he was knighted, he decided to forge his own sword from iron ore dug from his own land — the landscape of the Wiltshire countryside was hugely important to him. Bringing the show to Salisbury does, for me at least, feel like bringing it back home. It’s a huge honour and a perfect way to cap off an unbelievable year of touring The Magic of Terry Pratchett.”
The Magic of Terry Pratchett is a comic lecture in which Burrows explores Pratchett’s influences, his rise to fame, impact, and unique life, becoming one of the most beloved storytellers of all time. From the national treasure’s days as a school librarian, to his time as a trainee journalist, to his untimely death in 2015 and in keeping with Pratchett’s own style, the show is a gently comic celebration and exploration of his work. It also seriously examines his death, and the activism he was involved with toward the end of his life surrounding dementia treatment and the right- to-die; an important part of his story and legacy.
In addition to using the framework of the ‘The Magic of Terry Pratchett’ book, the show incorporates additional elements of Rob Wilkins’ official biography, ‘Terry Pratchett: A Life in Footnotes’, (A Sunday Times Bestseller) as well as licensed media.
Sir Terry Pratchett OBE is one of the world’s most widely read authors. Conventions dedicated to his work are held globally every year. His works have been translated into 40 different languages, sold 100 million copies and have been performed on stage on seven continents. John Lloyd was right when he said, “of all of the dead authors in the world, Terry Pratchett is the most alive”. Pratchett’s short story ‘The Abominable Snow Baby’ was adapted by Channel 4 as a Christmas Day animation in 2021. Sky released a feature film adaptation of his Carnegie Award winning book ‘The Amazing Maurice’ in cinemas in 2022, and ‘Good Omens’, a TV series based on the book Pratchett wrote with Neil Gaiman, had a second Amazon Prime season last autumn.
Marc Burrows often writes on culture and social issues for The Guardian, New Statesman, Big Issue and Independent and his Edinburgh Fringe shows include ‘The Ten Best Songs of All Time’ and ‘Mind Your Head’. Marc’s second book, The London Boys: David Bowie, Marc Bolan and the 60s Teenage Dream was published to considerable acclaim in 2022 and is in the early stages of adaptation into a feature-length documentary. Outside of writing and comedy, Marc plays in the cult punk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, regularly performing at the Download, Glastonbury, Bestival and Latitude festivals and touring the UK and US.
More dates to be announced throughout 2025.
