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Abandoman

cactus — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:45:48 +0000

Abandoman has previously won Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, Best Comedy Newcomer at the Adelaide Fringe, headlined comedy stages at Glastonbury, Latitude, Reading and Leeds, performed in the house band for Alan Carr’s Happy Hour on Channel 4 alongside Craig David, played the part of Dictionary Corner in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as well as supported and toured with pop behemoth Ed Sheeran.

QUOTES

“Flight of the Conchords meets 8 Mile. Nothing short of genius.” – Chortle

“Truly innovative” – The Guardian

“The most original act we’ve seen in a long time. Go and see them.” – Maxim

“Killer punchlines. Note-perfect, lyrically mind-blowing hip-hop improv. Genius!” – The Stage

“A star of the future!” – Time Out

“A freestyle talent that is unparalleled anywhere in the market. No two shows could ever be the same as they pick out audience members and freestyle about them, with comedic timing and witty rhyming that’s so impressive it could’ve been scripted.” – The Independent

“Abandoman are awesome; the next big thing in Irish comedy.” – Andrew Maxwell, Comedian

“Stole the show…a revelation and a first in live comedy” – Evening Herald, Ireland

“As inspiring in its simplicity as it is mind-blowing in its complexity: a must see.” – Spoonfed.co.uk

“An incredible rap featuring my friend Siobhan and Toby” – Daisy

Big Howard & Little Howard

cactus — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 13:46:02 +0000

Howard Read is an award-winning writer, animator, song-writer and comedy performer. He has written and illustrated two children’s books and toured his unique theatre Big Howard Little Howard shows all over the country and all over the world, effortlessly flitting between adult, family and corporate audiences, and almost never saying the wrong word at any of them.

Howard started out as a stand-up comic after leaving university in 1996. He soon established himself one of the circuit’s most original voices mixing left-field rambling with bombastic comic songs. His epic, and frankly revolting Mrs Grimshaw show-stopper won him a Fringe Choice Award and got a rapturous response on Spanking New (Radio 7).

Once established as a comedy circuit regular Howard’s started dabbling with animation. He created and wrote two series of comic shorts called Bird On A Wire with the production company Ha Ha Bonk, which were bought by UK Play and Paramount Comedy. Then, with his writing partner Chris Chantler he created The Two Posh Old Men which he animated himself, and were bought by UK Play, and later UKG2. In 2001 his comic animated short Polar Bears In A Snowstorm won a BBC New Comedy Award For Animation.

2002 saw the arrival of Howard’s best-known character, Little Howard. Created as an experiment for his debut Edinburgh Fringe show Words and Pictures in 2002 Little Howard was an instant success, selling out, garnering five-star reviews and winning them a development deal with Tiger Aspect Productions.

Their second show, The Big Howard Little Howard Show was the only British nomination for the 2003 Perrier Award and was snapped up by comedy festivals in New York, Aspen and Melbourne. They appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in the US and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala in Australia.

They started creating bespoke interactive animated shows for corporate events, performing for The Association Of Investment Trust Companies, The Police Super Intendants Of England And Wales, Head Teachers conferences, breweries and hosting awards ceremonies for digital media awards and marketeers.

Family entertainment seemed to be beckoning and in 2006 Howard experimented with adapting his The Big Howard Little Howard Show for a family theatre audience, and it was an instant hit on tour. So he created Little Howard And The Magic Pencil Of Life And Death for the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe. By the end of the year Howard was in talks with CBBC about making a series for them, and was asked to perform on The Royal Variety Performance, along side Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Russell Brand, Joan Rivers and Al Murray.

Also in 2007 Big Howard and Little Howard were nominated for Best Children’s Show at the Brighton Fringe, and won the Best Family Show award at the Buxton Fringe. Howard’s hugely popular Unpleasant Lullaby was turned into Little Howard’s Unpleasant Lullaby and published by The Friday Project imprint of Harper Collins, which Howard also illustrated.

2008 saw Big Howard and Little Howard’s first appearance live on the sofa of ITV’s flagship daytime show This Morning. They also toured Magic Pencil, and and took it to The Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the New Zealand International Comedy Festival where they repeated the sofa-appearing trick on New Zealand’s top current affairs show Campbell Live and STV’s flagship magazine program The Hour.

Big Howard and Little Howard then created a brand new theatre piece Little Howard’s Big Show, made a second appearance on This Morning (possibly inducing labour in Holly Willoughby) and with Chris Chantler wrote and illustrated Little Howard’s Big Book (Friday Project/Harper Collins), and released Wait Kate! It’s Not Too Late! a download single trying to convince Kate Middleton to marry him instead of Prince Philip. 2011 also saw Big Howard and Little Howard’s first appearance in Panto and Little Howard became the first fully animated cartoon character ever to appear on a panto stage (we think).

Howard is currently touring Little Howard’s Big Show around the theatres of Britain, gigging as a stand-up, writing comic songs and developing various TV and radio ideas. These include Little Howard projects and a potential animated series with the producers of the CBBC’s smash-hit Horrible Histories. Howard is writing for the new CBBC sketch show Fit.

In 2012 Little Howard will celebrate his 10th, 6th birthday, and to mark this slightly confusing milestone, he has evolved. He can now be voiced and animated in real-time allowing him to lead a sing-along in panto, perform topical and bespoke stand-up sets at corporate events, compere comedy gigs, present live TV programmes, and interview, and be interviewed in real time, reacting audiences and interviewers live. Watch this space.

Eddie Izzard

cactus — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:59:52 +0000

Eddie Izzard has been hailed as one of the foremost Stand-Ups of this generation

The London Sunday Times has called him “the greatest British standup comedian of his generation”, and the entity of Eddie Izzard is worthy of such praise. This comedian, actor, and transvestite has bewitched the world of comedy with a kitschy, campy, and cunning mix while adding a bit of British flair to American humor, and it’s brilliant.

Born in 1962 to an accountant father and a mother who was a nurse, Izzard spent his early childhood in Yemen. Both of his parents worked at the British Petroleum refinery in Aden, but they moved to Bangor, Ireland before Izzard turned five. Time spent in Northern Ireland was the happiest of times for him, but another household upheaval to Skewen, South Wales changed all that. Izzard‘s mom died of cancer when he was just six, and he and his brother were sent to boarding school quickly thereafter. Such experiences would ultimately shape Izzard’s charming, but crass persona.

Izzard participated in various stage plays and skits throughout his early childhood and teenage years. At age seven, he realized that performing on-stage in front of an amazing crowd was what he wanted out of life. In 1980, Izzard landed at Sheffield University for an Accounting and Financial Management with Mathematics degree, but comedy was fueling his fire. He spent the next year-and-a-half writing and acting in various university comedy shows, landing a top gig at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. By early 1984, Izzard left college, moved to London, and performed street-side shows with a friend in Covent Garden and figured himself out. He came out a year later. Eddie Izzard was a transvestite.

In three years time, Izzard was hot on the London Club circuit and by 1993, he was performing shows in the West End. He’d performed his first show in a dress in 1992 and was enjoying his stint in makeup. By the time his one-man shows like Unrepeatable, Definite Article, and Glorious hit the states in the mid-’90s, Izzard was already a bona fide star in his native England. His 1998 HBO comedy special and mini-American tour for Dress to Kill was a critical hit in the U.S., and his 2000 production of Circle landed him sold-out dates across the county. Three Emmy nominations followed, earning Circle two awards for “Outstanding Writing in a Variety, Music or Comedy Program” and “Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Comedy Program.”

With Emmys aside, Izzard’s place on-stage and onscreen was in full effect by the early ’90s. He had the lead spot in the David Mamet drama The Cryptogram in 1994, and starring roles in 900 Oneonta and Edward II. In 1996, Izzard landed his first movie role in The Secret Agent with Robin Williams. Appearances in Velvet Goldmine, Shadow of the Vampire, The Cat’s Meow, and All the Queen’s Men with Friends star Matt LeBlanc earned Izzard a prime spot among the new millennium mainstream.

Dress to Kill was issued on DVD on Anti/Epitaph in October 2002, marking Izzard‘s first video release in the U.S. His previous five performances (including Dress to Kill) were already out on video in the U.K,, but Izzard wanted to give something back to his American fans. His Broadway performance in Peter Nichols‘ A Day in the Death of Joe Egg earned him a Tony nomination for “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play” in May 2003. Stateside dates followed in the fall.

Howard Read

cactus — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 14:24:37 +0000

Howard Read is an award-winning writer, stand-up comic, songwriter, actor and animator. He specialises in writing and performing family and children’s comedy for stage and TV.

Howard is best known for his unique creation Little Howard, an animated interactive six-year-old boy, who performs alongside him on stage and screen. Together they stole the show at the 2007 Royal Variety Performance. They had their own show Little Howard’s Big Question which ran for three series on CBBC, BBC1 & BBC2 and won the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Children’s TV script in 2011. Howard has since been one of the most sought-after writers in family television. He is currently has various comedy projects in development for television, stage and online.

Ian D Montfort – Spirit Medium

cactus — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:13:56 +0000

The creation of Tom Binns – the character comedian behind inept hospital DJ Ivan Brackenbury - Ian D Montfort is a psychic from Sunderland, who made his debut at the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe. Binns combines the ‘cold reading’ trickery of stage mediums with comic patter to debunk their techniques

“Binns has his character absolutely nailed, and mines the comic seam ruthlessly to create top-quality entertainment with practically universal appeal.” – The Guardian

He has been acclaimed by critics and audiences as being ‘unbelievable’. If you want to really wow your guests with something different, then book him today and see for yourself why he’s so popular. He could be suitable for private parties, weddings and corporate events alike.

Ian D Montfort Awards

Chortle Award Nominee 2011

Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee 2007

Best Comedian Nominee Adelaide Fringe 2010 and 2011

Top 50 Most Memorable Gigs of the Decade, Chortle 2000-2010

Top 10 Fosters Comedy God 2010

Men of War

cactus — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:42:04 +0000

Men of War are a sketch comedy troupe made up from actors and comedians, who between them have been nominated for the prestigious Perrier award and the Whatsonstage award.

Individually they have a massive back catalogue of work in some of the UK’s biggest comedy shows: The IT crowd, peep show, Nathan Barley, Call me Graham Norton. As a group, their debut show at the Edinburgh festival was a complete sell-out and they are currently working with various production companies with a view to creating their own TV show.

They have received rave reviews across the board and have just released their first sketch on the BBC comedy website. “What do women really want”

They are currently appearing in venues across London. Shows can be made suitable for any audience and tailored to your requirements!

QUOTES:

“what pedigree of a cast..their timing is excellent..and they have off-kilter sensibilities in performance as well as writing..cracking jokes and blindsiding non-sequiturs in the punchy script” – Chortle

“The members of this troupe are no strangers to success and ample praise..fast-paced and constantly evolving from character to character and sketch to sketch, these seasoned professionals never drop their game and complement each other like ham and mustard. Their dexterity and timing are, in fact, second to none..” – Edinburgh Festivals Magazine

“The pace of the show never flagged, the scenes were slick and the performers were really enjoying themselves. ‘Men of War’ was certainly up towards the very top of the sketch comedy genre.” – One4Review

“Men Of War is a bastion of comedic traditionalism, and the set is one of old-fashioned sketch formats set to modern themes – think the two Ronnies – All are splendid comic performers, able to switch character, accent and demeanour perfectly, and there are moments of biting satire and occasionally sublime absurdity.” – Three Weeks

“A new sketch group with a consistently high hit rate, Men Of War are a late-night treat brimming with ingenious setups, performed by a seasoned cast wringing maximum laughs from their skits” – Fest Magazine

Noel James

cactus — Tue, 18 May 2021 07:59:50 +0000

I have been treading the boards – some would say walking the plank – for twenty-five years. An experienced, very original, comedian from Swansea, Wales, who has played – and often headlined – most comedy clubs in the UK including Glee Clubs, Banana Cabaret, Hyena, The Stand, Up The Creek, Frog and Bucket, Baby Blue, and more.

As well as club gigs I’ve performed at major festivals, and gigs abroad in places like Dubai, Shanghai, Berlin, Cape Town and Canada.

I’ve done sketch shows on BBC Radio Wales, and various TV comedy and acting roles in both English and Welsh.

I am not a gratuitously rude comic. When I’m on stage I come alive and my goal is to literally cheer everyone up, if I can.

My material is highly original, cerebral, with some wordplay; some people think it’s clever but at the same time it has a wide appeal. I can also perform in my mother tongue, the Welsh language.

Pippa Evans

cactus — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:20:07 +0000

“The finest female character comic around” – Time Out

In 2008, Pippa Evans enjoyed an incredibly successful Edinburgh Fringe Festival where her debut solo show, Pippa Evans and Other Lonely People, was nominated for the if.comedy Best Newcomer Award. The show, in which Pippa played a number of different characters who form a self-help group offering their stories and opinions on loneliness, was a hit with audiences and critics alike, with The Scotsman praising her “searing talent as a comic writer, actor and versatile singer” and The Independent citing Pippa as “probably one of the most talented performers at Edinburgh this year.”

Pippa returned to Edinburgh in 2009 with Pippa Evans: Your Evening’s Entertainment! and in 2010 with Loretta Main: I’m Not Drunk I Just Need To Talk To You in which she unleashed her alter-ego Loretta Maine, a sexy and psychotic American country and western singer-songwriter for a full show of her own. Backed by her band and with an arsenal of hilarious yet catchy songs, audiences were once again captivated by Pippa’s perfectly realised character comedy. 2012 sees Pippa bringing her 4th solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as Loretta Maine once again, this time with the show Loretta Maine: Bipolar.

On top of her live work Pippa is becoming increasingly sought after as a TV and radio performer. In early 2011 she appeared as one of the regular cast members on BBC2’s comedy impro series Fast and Loose. She has also recently featured in C4’s Morgana Show and on BBC1’s The Slammer. Pippa has recorded two series of BBC Radio 4Xtra’s topical sketch show Newsjack and, as part of the Showstopper ensemble, she has appeared in the six-part Radio 4 series Showstopper! In addition, Pippa has recorded for The Now Show, Arthur Smith’s Balham Bash, Les Kelly’s Heroes, Bigipedia and Newfangle – all for Radio 4.

In 2006, Pippa was selected to perform as part of the Comedy Reserve produced by the Pleasance Theatre at the Fringe Festival and has since performed both as herself and in character across the country. As a solo performer, Pippa has garnered a number of award nods, securing finalist positions at the Funny Women Awards and the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year. In addition, Pippa has become something of a veteran of the improvisation scene, regularly performing with established groups both on the circuit and at the Fringe.

She regularly guests with Grand Theft Impro and she is a core member of Scratch, the improvisation team behind the smash-hit Fringe favourite The Reduced Edinburgh Impro Show. In 2008, she performed across the UK with the hit impro show

Totally Looped, with a cast of top comedians. She also performs regular London dates in the award winning Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, which enjoyed a critically acclaimed 2009 Edinburgh run and is currently touring the UK

QUOTES:

“Murderously funny” – Evening Standard

“Fabulously talented…Her brilliantly realized comedy shows maturity well beyond her years..Her psychotic yet sexy American singer is a thing of hysterical beauty.” – Time Out

“Beautifully bitter lyrics..Truly impressive one-liners…inspired, quotable pearls of wisdom…Fine comic writing underpins her flawless, perfectly timed performance…She’s a relative newcomer, but has certainly got the talent for a sustained and stellar career in comedy.” – Chortle

“Like Dolly Parton seen through the lens of Mike Leigh….she performs brilliantly observed songs about love, loss and violent revenge.” – Guardian

Television:

• Fast and Loose (BBC2, 2011)

• The Morgana Show (C4, 2010)

• The Slammer (BBC1, 2010)

• The Wrong Door (BBC3, 2008)

Radio:

Newsjack (R4Xtra, 2011-12)

The Now Show (BBC R4, 2011-12)

Les Kelly’s Heroes (R4, 2011)

Showstopper! (R4, 2011)

Bigipedia (R4, 2009)

Arthur Smith’s Balham Bash (R4, 2009)

Newfangle (R4, 2009)

4 Stands Up (R4, 2009)

Awards:

Nominee: Chortle Awards: Sketch Variety or Character Act 2009

Nominee: Chortle Awards: Best Newcomer 2009

Nominee: if.comedy: Best Newcomer 2008

Winner: Funny Women Fringe Awards: Best Newcomer 2008

Runner-Up: Hackney Empire New Act of the Year 2008

Finalist: Nivea Funny Women Awards, 2008

As Part of Showstopper! Ensemble:

Winner: Mervyn Stutter’s Spirit of the Fringe Award 2009

Nominee: MTM Awards: Best Production 2009

Nominee: MTM Awards: Judges’ Discretionary Award 2009

Sammy J

cactus — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:53:19 +0000

Sammy J is an award-winning comedian, writer, and songbird. From Melbourne to Edinburgh, he has earned a reputation as one of the most exciting and inventive performers on the international comedy scene.

As a solo act, Sammy J has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Montreal Just For Laughs, and throughout Australia as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) Roadshow and Gala. He has also appeared in millions of living rooms courtesy of Spicks and Specks, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, and Good News Week. His live albums are occasionally listened to and someone has almost certainly purchased a copy of his DVD, 58 Kilograms of Pure Entertainment (Madman Entertainment).

At the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, Sammy starred alongside Adam Hills, Brendan Burns and Rhys Derby in the Comedian’s Theatre Company production of Breaker Morant, playing the role of Major Thomas in ‘an exceptionally strong and nuanced performance’ (Festmag).

In 2008, a collaboration with puppeteer Heath McIvor led to the dark musical comedy Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams. The show won the Age Critics’ Award in Melbourne, and went on to receive five-star reviews in Edinburgh and London’s West End.

As “Sammy J & Randy”, the duo then created Ricketts Lane, a live sitcom which took out Australia’s most prestigious comedy prize – the Barry Award for Most Outstanding Show at the 2010 MICF. From there they played the Sydney Opera House; headlined a Montreal Gala; sold out in Edinburgh; and gained a national following on the TV sketch show Good News World (Network Ten). At some point they expect people will stop caring for their skinny-man-purple-puppet shenanigans, but until then, they’ll keep writing shows.

When he’s not prancing about on stage, Sammy J regularly co-hosts The Conversation Hour with Jon Faine on ABC radio, and writes for The Age newspaper. He is also currently an Ambassador for Big Brothers Big Sisters, a national organisation that matches volunteer mentors with young people in need of guidance and friendship.

Sammy J has been writing comedy songs since his schooldays, when he appeared shirtless on Hey Hey it’s Saturday singing about life as a nerd. Having directed and appeared in the Melbourne University Law Revue, he finally took the advice of a frustrated lecturer and dropped his law degree in favour of the comedy circuit. He went on to win the Best Newcomer award at the 2006 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

But despite all this, Sammy J’s greatest project remains unfinished. At the 2008 Melbourne Fringe Festival, he created the ridiculously ambitious 50 Year Show, a comedy spectacular that will continue every five years and finish in 2058. Book early to avoid disappointment.

QUOTES:

“One truly spectacular hour of comedy” – Chortle, Edinburgh

“A beautiful show from an endlessly creative talent” – Time Out, London

“Sammy J’s narratives are rich in imagery and wordplay, and his command of language and cadence is superb” – Sydney Morning Herald

“Witty, talented and possessed of incredible timing and memory” – The Age, Melbourne

“Whiplash smart and laugh out loud funny, he is already a Fringe legend” – The Herald, Edinburgh

“Gleefully raucous, meticulously crazy, charmingly revolting, achingly funny” – Beat Magazine, Melbourne

The Axis of Awesome

cactus — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:04:30 +0000

The Axis of Awesome are The World’s Most Awesomest Comedy Band. In the incredible time that they have been together, they have done literally so much stuff. They have blown audiences away across Australia and around the world with their mixture of original comedy songs and pop parodies.

Their Four Chord Song is one of the highest rated comedy video of all time on YouTube, and has received over 20 million hits. They have made TV appearances in Australia, the UK and Sweden and their albums “Scissors, Paper, ROCK!” and “Infinity Rock Explosion” and DVD “The Axis of Awesome Live” are hits with audiences worldwide.

They recently picked up the Time Out Award for Best Australian Act at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and they are also recipients of the prestigious Moosehead Award for their first ever Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, “The Axis of Awesome Comeback Spectacular”. Their most recent show “Songs in the Key of Awesome” had it’s Australian premiere at The Sydney Opera house. The Axis of Awesome are currently touring the United States.

They leave men laughing and women gasping (and also laughing), and before long you’ll be laughing and/or gasping, depending on your gender.

The Axis of Awesome are:

Jordan Raskopoulos: Lead vocals. Star of stage and screen, Jordan is best known for his work on “The Ronnie Johns Half Hour” on Channel 10. His memorable characters and humorous lines were both memorable and humorous. Currently a National Theatresports Champion, Jordan was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival for his one-man show, “The Adventures of the Man With the Dominant Claw”. Jordan enjoys Snickers bars and the music of David Bowie.

Benny Davis: Keyboard, vocals. A classically trained musician, Benny brings some class to the Axis. And a portable keyboard. As an original member of the sketch comedy troupe “The Delusionists”, Benny was a stand out in their 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Show. A regular cast member of almost every improvised comedy show in Sydney, Benny is a virtuoso on the keyboard. Benny enjoys Super Mario Galaxy on Nintendo Wii and the music of Billy Joel.

Lee Naimo: Guitar, way way back up vocals. One of Sydney’s best improvisers, Lee has made stuff up while touring Australia and internationally. Along with Jordan, Lee is a current National Theatresports Champion, and he is co-creator of the hit live show, “Scrabble Unscripted”, which was a sold-out success at both the Melbourne and Sydney Cracker Comedy Festivals in 2006 and 2007. Lee enjoys sunshine and the music of Hannah Montanna.