He’s funny, talented, funny, entertaining, funny, smart and, oh yes, funny.

Native American violinist, storyteller and poet Swil Kanim will be a part of two events in one day on Whidbey Island.

First, he will give a free poetry workshop for teens from 2:30 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 20 at South Whidbey Commons Coffeehouse Bookstore in Langley.

Second, he will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. the same day at Rob Schouten Gallery at Greenbank Farm. Both events are free.

For those who have never seen him perform, Kanim is an act that nobody — kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins — will want to miss.

This Lummi tribal member from Mount Vernon is a world-class virtuoso violinist who intertwines music with storytelling, poetry and audience interaction.

Kanim advocates self-expression to create stronger community within the world and he’s an artist who practices what he preaches. His original compositions are mesmerizing and inspiring to all ages, and are thoroughly entertaining, so even teenagers think he’s cool. He’s funny, he’s wise, he’s interesting and he’s had a whole bunch of life experiences that make great stories.

Kanim’s talents know no boundaries and he is able to relate to a small island audience, as easily as he does a television or movie audience.

Having made a name for himself as a popular Native American violinist, Kanim has expanded his career to include not only storytelling and poetry readings, along with regular keynote speaking, but as an accomplished actor, too. He starred as “Mouse” in Sherman Alexie’s highly acclaimed film “The Business of FancyDancing,” and also appeared in 24 episodes of CBS’s hit television series, “Northern Exposure.”

Kanim is a sought-after performer, and his credits are as diverse as his talents.

He was selected to perform as part of the Bellingham’s Sister City Program in Teteyama, Japan where he continued on to Seoul, Korea for a memorial/reunion concert for orphans of the Korean conflict.

The music duo the Indigo Girls asked him to be their opening act in Seattle to kick off the “Honor the Earth Concert Tour of North America.” He also performed for five years with the Growth and Prevention Theater Company (GAP Theater), based in Seattle, which presented professional plays about racism and varying forms of bigotry for institutions across the Northwest. He has performed at school assemblies for elementary and secondary education in Washington, British Columbia and in Alaska. He has also performed for the staff and participants of re-habilitation centers across Washington.

And every year since 2003, Kanim has been a featured performer at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Recently he was featured on the soundtrack of one of those honored films — a documentary about Indian boarding schools, which won the “Best Documentary” award.

“Swil Kanim performed as a featured artist at our 2008 Brave New Words poetry festival,” said Victory Lee Schouten, co-director of Brave New Words, “and he was absolutely amazing. The audience loved him.

“He is a true virtuoso on the violin, and he is also inspiring, funny and delightful. We are thrilled to have him back,” she added.

The two events featuring Kanim on Saturday, are presented by Brave New Words Productions which seeks to provide a platform for the culture and concerns of the island community. It is dedicated to inspiring and creating poetry, spoken word and performance-art events as an integral part of the youth experience on Whidbey Island.

For more information on the workshop for teens, call Faith Wilder at 321-2556 or e-mail her at faithwilder2004@yahoo.com.

For more information on the free evening performance, call Schouten at 331-7099 or e-mail info@bravenewwords.org.