Our Team

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  Jess Thom (she/her)

  That’s me! I’m the co-artistic director of Touretteshero and may or may not lead a secret double life as a superhero. I’m an artist, writer, and activist, and I co-founded Touretteshero in 2010. I’ve had tics since I was a child, but I wasn’t diagnosed with Tourettes until I was in my twenties. With some encouragement from my friends, I turned my tics into a source of imaginative creativity and Touretteshero was born.
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  Matthew Pountney (he/him)

  Matthew is co-founder and co-artistic director of Touretteshero. We’ve been friends with for over twenty years and we’ve worked together on many creative projects for children, young people, and adults during that time. Matthew writes, directs and looks after a lot of the day-to-day activity at Touretteshero, particularly our busy calendar!
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  Will Renel (he/him)

  Will “The Cartoon Lion” Renel adds a calm, quietly mischievous, presence to our team. A sound artist and playworker in his own right, Will, who identifies as neurodivergent is our director of research and brings a wealth of experience to his role. He’s particularly interested in sonic inclusion, so you might well find him at one of our events wondering around with an audio recorder. He’s the person to speak to if you have questions about research.
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  Liz Fraser & Michael Pountney (she/her and he/him)

  Committed and hardworking, Liz and Michael are the silent partners of our team. Their editorial skills have been helping shape the style and content of the blog for over a decade. They also had the excellent idea of giving birth to Matthew, many, many years ago.
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  Dan Farrow (he/him)

  Mr WordPress himself, we may not see him often, but he’s close to our hearts. He’s put hours and hours into building the Touretteshero website over the years, so if it’s broken right now, that’s his fault!

Friends & Family

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  Fat Sister (she/her)

  Fat Sister is my actual sister, the nickname began as a tic years ago when she went on a diet, and it stuck. Fat Sister’s younger than me and doesn’t have Tourettes. Nothing fazes her – she’s always matter of fact about my Tourettes and she’s unshakable in general. When we were children, Fat Sister was on the receiving end of lots of my tics, some of which were quite invasive – I’d bite her arm at breakfast for example. She barely seemed to notice most of the time, however odd or painful they could be. She’s now married to King Russell and is Bean’s mum.
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  King Russell (he/him)

  Mild-mannered King Russell works in IT by day, but in his spare time he’s the technical mastermind behind the Touretteshero website. He also happens to be my sister’s husband! “King Russell” is one of the many bespoke tics he’s accumulated over the years. More recently he’s been trying his hand at parenting, which he appears to be very good at.
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  Jess Mabel Jones (she/her)

  Multidisciplinary artist, producer, collaborator and co-creator of the award winning Backstage In Biscuit Land, Jess, AKA Chopin, is an integral part of the Touretteshero family. She’s co-founder of the inclusive punk collective Where’s My Vagina? who create disruptive happenings and digital artworks. She’s also one half of creative partnership Motherhoody, which makes radical public interventions through workshops and film. Jess is neurodivergent and alumni of Rose Bruford and The BRIT School.
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  Laura Wareing

  Witty, feisty and loyal, Laura ‘Wareing-Wolf’ is one of my closest friends. She’s seen my tics change considerably over the twenty plus years we’ve known each other and has, at times, found their presence difficult to deal with. She's now a teacher, an expert festival driver and mother to Leo and Ruby. When I started writing the blog she said, "Make sure you write about the times your friends get it wrong as well as right” - advice I’ve followed closely ever since.
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  Ruth (she/her)

  Apart from people on TV and my own reflection in the mirror, Ruth was the first person with Tourettes I’d ever encountered. We met several years ago, and I was instantly struck by the similarity of our tics. We’ve been friends ever since and often go on mischievous expeditions together - those who tic together stick together!