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TellBetter
19
tours
1143
ratings
4.8
avg. rating
A TellBetter tours, we tell better stories.
New York City’s best stories.
About
Tours in:
The United States

Instead of merely guiding you through a neighborhood, what if an audio tour could transport you though time, and make you feel as if you were actually there at some of history’s most memorable events, hearing from fascinating characters in their own words? TellBetter tours are written and produced by Tom Darbyshire, a published author and Emmy-nominated storyteller, who uses actors, sound effects, music, and dramatic dialogue to create powerful “theater of the mind.” True tales of love, loss, laughter, treachery, tears and triumph.

Tom spent decades working in New York City as Executive Creative director of BBDO, the world’s most award-winning advertising agency. His work – including Super Bowl commercials and TV spots with celebrities like Muhammad Ali, Cindy Crawford, Alec Baldwin, Shaq, and Mikhail Gorbachev – scored trophies in all the major creative competitions: Cannes Lion, Clio, Addy, Art Director’s Club, One Show, D&AD, London International Festival Obie, Webby and more. Tom learned to craft captivating stories in short time frames; now he brings those storytelling and broadcast production skills to the world of audio tours.

Maybe that’s why his tours rank in VoiceMap’s Top 10 for downloads, sales and followers.

At TellBetter tours, we tell better stories.

Credentials
Awards
  • Dozens of gold, silver and bronze awards for creative excellence from the major national and international advertising awards: Emmy Awards, Effies, Clio Awards, One Show, Addy Awards, Art Directors Club, Cannes Lions, London International Festival, Obie Awards, Webby Awards, D&AD.

Publications and Shows
  • Expert commentary on Super Bowl advertising for KPCW's Mountain Money (2023, 2024, 2025)

  • Creative director and copywriter for the internationally acclaimed 1998 Pizza Hut commercial with Mikhail Gorbachev, featured in BBC and Financial Times

  • If Wishes Were Porsches, and Other Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times, book co-authored with Stefan Underhill, Cassel, 1988

  • If Wishes Were Saabs, and Other Nursery Rhymes for Modern Times, book co-authored with Stefan Underhill, Little, Brown, 1986

  • Who Grew My Soup, book illustrated by C. F. Payne, Publications International, 2010

Education
  • Bachelor of Science Architecture; University of Virginia; 1982

Top Sights
Public Art
Maritime Heritage
Take in views of Lady Liberty and drink in history at a legendary tavern

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Business And Commerce
Architecture
Public Art
Parade up Broadway into NYC’s Financial District, the center of American power

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Architecture
Transportation Heritage
Parks And Gardens
Walk the park that elevated an industrial ruin into an icon of urban renewal

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Modern History
Literature
Neighbourhoods
Take in everything from Sex and the City to Sex Pistols on this TellBetter tour

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
LGBTQ+
Quirky
Neighbourhoods
See where riots and peace songs changed the world on this TellBetter tour

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Modern History
Transportation Heritage
Top Sights
Learn how one married couple built a bridge, and another rebuilt a neighborhood

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Public Art
Architecture
Industrial Revolution
Find out how SoHo’s art saved the city’s architecture in the Cast Iron Capital

Walking Tour

|
75 mins
Food And Drink
Quirky
Crime And Mystery
Get the inside scoop on Gilded Age slums, saloons, brothels, and opium dens

Walking Tour

|
120 mins
Quirky
Modern History
Local Legends
Discover Bohemia and Beats in the heart of the Village on this TellBetter tour

Walking Tour

|
90 mins
Local Legends
Literature
Modern History
Follow the story of a philanderer-philanthropist reverend in NYC’s leafy enclave

Walking Tour

|
120 mins
Architecture
Neighbourhoods
Social Movements
Trace the gritty path from pushcarts, pickles, and pogroms to punchlines

Walking Tour

|
120 mins
Top Sights
Pop Culture
Music And Performance
Discover the back alleys and backstories of NYC’s musical theater district

Walking Tour

|
120 mins
Pop Culture
Crime And Mystery
Top Sights
Be illuminated by Times Square’s dazzling sights, scandals, secrets and stories

Walking Tour

|
75 mins
Local Legends
Literature
Architecture
Hear “the greatest public space on earth” come alive and learn its origin story

Walking Tour

|
75 mins
Architecture
Public Art
Top Sights
Unlock the Rockefeller’s secrets, from angry Irishmen to a shocking art scandal

Walking Tour

|
90 mins