STORYTELLER: AN ACTOR’S JOURNEY by JON-PAUL KHOURI
“It has been said that next to hunger and thirst, our most basic human need is for storytelling.” — Kahlil Gibran
Jon-Paul Khouri is a Canadian storyteller, creator, writer, and actor. His career as an artist has spanned more than two decades, during which time he has collaborated from coast to coast with other artists on multiple platforms in both mainstream and independent productions.
As an actor, his career flourished across film, television, and theatre. He debuted with his starring roles in the Paul Brandt music videos for “Leavin’” and “Home”; the former was nominated for the 2004 CMT Video of the Year Award, with both songs coming from the 2005 CCMA Album of the Year, This Time Around.
He has guest-starred on acclaimed episodes of The Border (2008), Degrassi: Next Generation (2009), and Little Mosque (2010)—all of which were nominated for Best Series in their program category by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television at the Gemini Awards. With these standout performances, Khouri established himself as an actor adept at both dramatic and comedic roles.
His film projects have been part of major festival circuits, including TIFF, as well as the Calgary International Film Festival and the ImagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival.
Khouri has returned time and again to the theatre, showcasing his ability to tackle complex characters in performances as wide-ranging as his work in The Melville Boys (2005) and Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story (2006).
In 2009, Khouri made his debut as a playwright, with a solo performance of Assalamu ‘Alaykum, curated by the Rhubarb Festival—further showcasing his multifaceted talents as a storyteller. In the years that followed, he continued to write new works for the stage that he performed at theatre festivals in Toronto and Montreal.
With a desire to connect to the wilderness of his birthplace and to experiment with new creative forms, Khouri set about exploring and making adventures in his own backyard—a journey that culminated with the release of his debut novel, HANNAH, in the fall of 2025.
He followed its release with a new work for the stage—and a new expression of his storytelling—in the spring of 2026, with The Making of “Strawberry Fields Forever”: A Story; an intimate and immersive theatre experience that traces the creation of one of the Beatles’ greatest songs.
Inspired by the writing of that piece and by the example of the restless, creative spirit of the group, Khouri began reflecting upon and writing stories about his own artistic journey as an actor. What emerges is Storyteller: An Actor’s Journey; a new work for the stage, and a unique evening with the artist and his very personal stories:
“I wanted to do a show that was as personal and as intimate as possible. Most of it is spoken, some of it reflects back the work I’ve done on screen, in other moments I share passages of the work I’ve created previously for the stage. It loosely follows the arc of a creative journey I went on in my life and the work that was produced during that time. Very often the most compelling stories are born out of that intersection, and what emerges is an emotionally nuanced perspective that is illuminating, and that invigorates the storyteller within. We are, after all, made of stories.”
A solo performance by writer and performer Jon-Paul Khouri.
Connect with the storyteller within through an intimate night of personal stories.
December 10, 2026 | 5:30 p.m.
Calgary, AB