Victoria Fringe Artists 2015

Actor, storyteller, playwright and lyric tenor, Mark Lyon, has been enchanting audiences from Orlando, Florida to Victoria, British Columbia and across the Atlantic in stately castles in Ireland with his unique blend of songs and stories as well as conducting “ghostly”walking tours for over ten years in his hometown of Nevada City, California and in the nearby town of Grass Valley in which he relates the true tales behind wraiths said to haunt the towns’ historic buildings and byways. Most recently he performed an original one-man play at Ireland’s most prestigious literary event of the year, the Listowel Writers Week Festival.

Lyon, who was called “a master storyteller” by the Times Colonist of Victoria, Canada, has toured for several years with his original one-man musical plays, On Yonder Hill: An Irish-American Love Story, The Bard of Erin (based upon the life and songs of the Irish poet, Thomas Moore) Phil the Fluter’s Ball (based upon the life and songs of the Irish music hall entertainer, Percy French;) his one-man play, Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long-Legged Beasties and Things that Go Bump in the Night and Only Our Rivers Run Free, a solo concert of traditional Irish songs as well as having been featured on numerous television and radio programs.

A member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and holding a master’s degree in theatre, Lyon studied at length in a master class with the late Lynn Redgrave and was honored to have been chosen by Ms. Redgrave to perform alongside her and other notable actors in a special presentation of memorable moments from Shakespeare produced at the Louis B. Mayer Theater for the benefit of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

He has been published regarding his original research in parapsychology and formally taught a university survey course on the subject of parapsychological phenomena.

His book, San Francisco Ghosts, relates not only the details of over one hundred true tales of ghostly manifestations but also the fascinating historical background behind the myriad of phantoms said to haunt a city which has, for so long, enchanted so many with its color, history and unique charm.