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52-450: Simon Marc Amstell (born 29 November 1979) is an English comedian , writer and director. He wrote and directed the films Carnage (2017) and Benjamin (2018). His work on television has included presenting Popworld and Never Mind the Buzzcocks . Amstell was born in east London in 1979, to David and Tina (née Leventhal) Amstell. He was brought up in a Jewish family, and he is

104-501: A British Comedy Award. In April 2012, the second series of Grandma's House began airing. Amstell announced this would be the last series. On 19 March 2017, Amstell's mockumentary Carnage premiered on BBC iPlayer . It is set in the year 2067, when the UK is vegan , and older generations are suffering the guilt of their omnivorous past. In 2018, Amstell wrote and directed the feature film Benjamin , which premiered on 19 October 2018 at

156-1261: A Hollywood supply of comedians to draw from, radio comedy did not begin in the United Kingdom until a generation later, with such popular 1950s shows as The Goon Show and Hancock's Half Hour . Later, radio became a proving-ground for many later United Kingdom comedians. Chris Morris began his career in 1986 at Radio Cambridgeshire , and Ricky Gervais began his comedy career in 1997 at London radio station XFM . The League of Gentlemen , Mitchell and Webb and The Mighty Boosh all transferred to television after broadcasting on BBC Radio 4 . On television there are comedy talk shows where comedians make fun of current news or popular topics. Such comedians include Jay Leno , Conan O'Brien , Graham Norton , Jim Jefferies , James Corden , John Oliver , Jonathan Ross , David Letterman , and Chelsea Handler . There are sketch comedies, such as Mr. Show with Bob and David and Monty Python who created their sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus (a BBC show that influenced Saturday Night Live ), and sitcoms, such as Roseanne , Only Fools and Horses , and Not Going Out , as well as popular panel shows like The Big Fat Quiz of

208-476: A budding magician and showing one of his tricks to the show's presenter Andrew O'Connor , himself a magician. Amstell and his family won a television and a video recorder. Amstell started performing on the comedy circuit when he was in his early teens and later became the youngest finalist to appear in the BBC New Comedy Awards . His first professional television appearance was in 1998 as a presenter on

260-785: A collection of annotated stand-up scripts and linked stories. Amstell also performs as a stand-up comedian . He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2005 , 2006 , 2007 and 2009 . In 2008, Amstell completed his first UK tour. He appeared at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal in July 2009. His entire run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2009 at the Bongo Club sold out. He took part in his second national tour in

312-446: A comedian says things funny." This draws a distinction between how much of the comedy can be attributed to verbal content and how much to acting and persona. Since the 1980s, a new wave of comedy, called alternative comedy , has grown in popularity with its more offbeat and experimental style. This normally involves more experiential, or observational reporting (e.g., Alexei Sayle , Daniel Tosh , Malcolm Hardee ). As far as content

364-414: A comic author, and playwright, wrote ancient comedic plays. He wrote 40 comedies, 11 of which survive and are still being performed. Aristophanes' comedy style took the form of satyr plays . The English poet and playwright William Shakespeare wrote many comedies. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriages between the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that

416-585: A comic's career advances significantly when they win a notable comedy award, such as the Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly the Perrier comedy award). Comics sometimes foray into other areas of entertainment, such as film and television, where they become more widely known (e.g., Eddie Izzard , Lee Evans ). A comic's stand-up success does not always correlate to a film's critical or box-office success. Comedians can be dated back to 425 BC, when Aristophanes ,

468-1098: A five-decade span in radio, television, and entertaining armed-service troops through the USO . Other noted stand-up comedians include Lenny Bruce , Billy Connolly , George Carlin , Richard Pryor , Victoria Wood , Joan Rivers , Whoopi Goldberg and Jo Brand . Some of the earliest commercial sound recordings were made by standup comedians such as Cal Stewart , who recorded collections of his humorous monologues on Edison Records as early as 1898, and other labels until his death in 1919. Bandleader Spike Jones recorded 15 musical comedy albums satirizing popular and classical music from 1950 to his death in 1965. Tom Lehrer wrote and recorded five albums of songs satirizing political and social issues from 1953 to 1965. Musician Peter Schickele , inspired by Jones, parodied classical music with 17 albums of his music which he presented as written by " P.D.Q. Bach " (fictional son of Johann Sebastian Bach ) from 1965 through 2007. In 1968, radio surreal comedy group The Firesign Theatre revolutionized

520-553: A major impact on comedy in films today. Laurel met Oliver Hardy in the US and teamed up as Laurel and Hardy . Keaton also started making silent comedies. Fields appeared in Broadway musical comedies , three silent films in 1915 and 1925, and in sound films starting in 1926. The Marx brothers also made the transition to film in 1929, by way of two Broadway musicals. Many other comedians made sound films, such as Bob Hope (both alone, and in

572-448: A misleading setup (known as a 'pull back and reveal' in the UK and a 'leadaway' in the US). Ed Byrne is an example of a comedian who has used this technique. Some jokes are based on ad absurdum extrapolations, for example much of Richard Herring and Ross Noble 's standup. In ironic humour there is an intentional mismatch between a message and the form in which it is conveyed (for example

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624-440: A new annual awards ceremony event with multiple categories all decided by a public vote. Produced in collaboration with Hungry Bear Media , the awards ceremony is linked to Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer charity drive, with comedy fans being encouraged to donate in order to help accelerate life-saving research. Phil Harris, Channel 4's head of entertainment, said: "This is an award show for our times. Fans will be able to vote on

676-416: A series of " Road to ... " comedies with partner Bing Crosby ), ventriloquist Edgar Bergen , and Jerry Lewis (both with and without partner Dean Martin ). Some comedians who entered film expanded their acting skills to become dramatic actors, or started as actors specializing in comic roles, such as Dick Van Dyke , Paul Lynde , Michael Keaton , Bill Murray and Denis Leary . Radio comedy began in

728-631: Is concerned, comedians such as Tommy Tiernan , Des Bishop , Kevin Hart , and Dawn French draw on their background to poke fun at themselves, while others such as Jon Stewart , Ben Elton and Sarah Silverman have very strong political and cultural undertones. Many comics achieve a cult following while touring famous comedy hubs such as the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal , the Edinburgh Fringe , and Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia . Often

780-549: Is more light-hearted than Shakespeare's other plays. American performance comedy has its roots in the 1840s from the three-act , variety show format of minstrel shows (via blackface performances of the Jim Crow character ); Frederick Douglass criticized these shows for profiting from and perpetuating racism . Minstrelsy monologists performed second-act, stump-speech monologues from within minstrel shows until 1896. American standup also emerged in vaudeville theatre from

832-426: Is necessarily pathological. Forbes publishes an annual list of the most financially successful comedians in the world, similarly to their Celebrity 100 list . Their data sources include Nielsen Media Research , Pollstar , Box Office Mojo and IMDb . The list was topped by Jerry Seinfeld from 2006 until 2015, who lost the title to Kevin Hart in 2016. In that year, the eight highest paid comedians were from

884-574: Is the pun or double-entendre, where similar words are interchanged. The Two Ronnies often used puns and double-entendre. Stewart Francis and Tim Vine are examples of current comedians who deploy numerous puns. Jokes based on puns tend to be very quick and easy to digest, which sometimes leads to other joke forms being overlooked, for example in the Funniest Joke of the Fringe awards. Other jokes may rely on confounding an audience's expectations through

936-502: The British Comedy Awards 2007 due to the voting irregularities. In a statement, the company said: "Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ... ITV will not make any further comment regarding this matter until the conclusion of the investigation." It was announced on 21 September 2007 that the British Comedy Awards 2007 would not be screened by ITV1; however, it

988-511: The United States . The participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire designed to measure psychotic traits in healthy people. They found that comedians scored "significantly higher on four types of psychotic characteristics compared to a control group of people who had non-creative jobs." Gordon Claridge, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford and leader of

1040-473: The 1880s to the 1930s, with such comics as W. C. Fields , Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers . British performance comedy has its roots in 1850 music hall theatres, where Charlie Chaplin , Stan Laurel , and Dan Leno first performed, mentored by comedian and theatre impresario Fred Karno , who developed a form of sketch comedy without dialogue in the 1890s and also pioneered slapstick comedy . In

1092-504: The BFI London Film Festival. In 2022, it was announced that Amstell has written and will direct a new feature film, Maria . Amstell directed a series of shorts written by Jessie Cave starring Olly Alexander . In 2015, he wrote and directed the short film William , starring Alex Lawther . In 2016, Amstell wrote and directed Something More for Channel 4. On 21 September 2017, Amstell published his first book, Help ,

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1144-578: The Buzzcocks episodes. It was followed in February 2008 by Never Mind the Buzzcocks: A Moving Tribute , which jokingly implied that Amstell had either died or retired from the show. On 25 April 2009, Amstell announced via his internet mailing list that he would not be hosting another series of Never Mind the Buzzcocks because of his desire to concentrate on his live tours and stand-up performances. Amstell received several accolades for his work on Never Mind

1196-599: The Buzzcocks . In 2007, he won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Entertainment Performance and the British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. And in 2008, he received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Entertainment Performance ; Harry Hill won the award. Moreover, Amstell's era was the reason why Never Mind the Buzzcocks was chosen as the 36th-best TV show of

1248-765: The UK and Ireland. From 10 July to 9 August 2012, Amstell performed 'Numb' in New York City at Theatre 80 in the East Village. On New Year's Eve 2012, a one-off stand-up special performance of Simon Amstell's stand-up show, 'Numb', which he toured to sell-out audiences in 2012, was recorded for the BBC at TV Centre. In 2014, Amstell announced a new tour of UK and North America, titled 'TO BE FREE'. In 2017, Amstell announced his third stand-up UK tour, titled 'What Is This?'. It began in London on 22 September 2017. In 2019, Amstell announced

1300-583: The UK children's channel Nickelodeon . He claims he was sacked for being "sarcastic and mean to children," although the posted biography on his website also, in jest, claims: "He started his TV career at Nickelodeon where he was fired for making pop stars uncomfortable. He then began presenting the Channel 4 show, Popworld  – where he gained a huge following for his groundbreaking work in making pop stars uncomfortable." From 2000 to 2006, Amstell presented Popworld on Channel 4 with Miquita Oliver . He voiced

1352-536: The United States when Raymond Knight launched The Cuckoo Hour on NBC in 1930, along with the 1931 network debut of Stoopnagle and Budd on CBS . Most of the Hollywood comedians who did not become dramatic actors (e.g. Bergen, Fields, Groucho and Chico Marx , Red Skelton , Jack Benny , Fred Allen , Judy Canova , Hope, Martin and Lewis ), transitioned to United States radio in the 1930s and 1940s. Without

1404-583: The United States, including Amy Schumer , who became the first woman to be listed in the top ten. The top ten of 2016 are as follows: British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom , celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The awards were shown live on ITV in December from 1990 to 2006, after which

1456-472: The Year , Have I Got News for You , and Celebrity Juice . The most acclaimed sitcoms include Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory . Comedy is increasingly enjoyed online. Several comedians got their start through the internet such as Bo Burnham . Comedians streaming videos of their stand-up include Bridget Christie , Louis C.K. and Daniel Kitson . There are many established formats for jokes. One example

1508-655: The autumn of 2009. Amstell performed Do Nothing in 2009 at the Royal Court Theatre, raising money for their young writers programme. In May 2010, Amstell recorded Do Nothing in Dublin 's Vicar Street venue for a November DVD release. In December 2011 and April 2012, it was shown on BBC3 and the BBC iPlayer. In April 2012, Amstell performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival . From May to June 2012, Amstell began his 'Numb Tour' in

1560-462: The award ceremony at the 2004 Awards . Following the Russell Brand Show prank calls row and his 12-week unpaid suspension from all of his BBC shows, Jonathan Ross resigned from presenting the 2008 awards, in agreement with ITV , as he did not want to "take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners of the awards." Angus Deayton replaced Jonathan Ross as the host of

1612-474: The broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 was suspended by ITV due to allegations of irregularities and deception in the awarding of the 2005 People's Choice Award and then ongoing related investigations about the 2007 British television phone-in scandal resulting in Ofcom 's subsequently fining ITV a record £ 5.675 million for its misuse of premium-rate telephone lines. After Michael Parkinson presented

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1664-456: The characters "Timothy the Popworld melon" and "Richard the Popworld horse" and developed a highly ironic, surreal and left-field style which gained the show a cult following but angered many of its guests. One example was a mock interview with singer Lemar called "Lemar From Afar" in which Amstell shouted questions into a megaphone from one end of the world's largest car park while Lemar stood at

1716-458: The concept of the spoken comedy album by writing and recording elaborate radio plays employing sound effects and multitrack recording , which comedian Robin Williams called "the audio equivalent of a Hieronymous Bosch painting." Comedy duo Cheech and Chong recorded comedy albums in a similar format from 1971 through 1985. Karno took Chaplin and Laurel on two trips to the United States to tour

1768-530: The decade by The Times . In 2009, BBC Two commissioned a six-part series titled Grandma's House from Tiger Aspect Productions , written by and starring Amstell, co-written by Dan Swimer. The show was commissioned after the airing of a pilot earlier the same year. Filming started in February 2010 and broadcasting began in August 2010. Grandma's House received a generally positive reaction from critics and audiences alike and Samantha Spiro, who played 'Liz' won

1820-539: The eldest of four children. He was educated at Beal High School , a state comprehensive school in Ilford . Amstell's first television appearance was in 1993 when he appeared as a contestant on the Channel 4 game show GamesMaster . In 1994, he appeared on Good Morning with Anne and Nick performing an impression of Dame Edna Everage . Also that year, he appeared in an episode of Family Catchphrase , describing himself as

1872-517: The inaugural ceremony at the London Palladium in December 1990, the majority of subsequent shows were presented by Jonathan Ross , staged at London Studios , and produced by Michael Hurll Television (MHTV), whose parent company is Unique Communications Group. Ross did not present the 2008 awards, in light of The Russell Brand Show prank calls and was replaced for that year by Angus Deayton . The 2007 show occurred on 6 December 2007, but

1924-558: The independent film Black Pond . In 2015, he provided voice work for the video game Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist . In 2016, Amstell hosted the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Amstell lives in London. He is Jewish, gay, vegan , and abstains from alcohol. As of 2018, he had been in a relationship since 2012. Comedian A popular saying often attributed to Ed Wynn states: "A comic says funny things;

1976-432: The modern era, as technology produced forms of mass communications media , these were adapted to entertainment and comedians adapted to the new media, sometimes switching to new forms as they were introduced. Stand-up comedy is a comic monologue performed standing on a stage. Bob Hope became the most popular stand-up comedian of the 20th century in a nearly 80-year career that included numerous comedy film roles over

2028-494: The most tabulated votes and should have been declared the winner, and Ant & Dec were asked to return their 2005 award. Charged by the awards show with investigating the allegations of irregularities, the independent law firm Olswang summarized its findings as follows: "Robbie Williams was invited to present an award. It was understood that he would be happy [to do so] if the recipients were Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly . In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance

2080-586: The new date of on 15 December 2021 being set by Hungry Bear Media and Channel 4. The first ceremony was due to be held at the Roundhouse in London, with Channel 4 due to broadcast the event two days later as part of their Friday night comedy line-up. Due to the ongoing pandemic and concerns over the Omicron variant , the show was cancelled by the organisers a week before it was due to be staged and Channel 4 said that it would be rescheduled for another time. The ceremony

2132-470: The other end. Another was a "Si-chiatrist" interview with Luke Pritchard and Hugh Harris of The Kooks in which Amstell played the role of psychiatrist with Pritchard and Harris as his patients. Amstell first appeared on the comedy show Never Mind the Buzzcocks as a guest during Mark Lamarr 's tenure as host, in 2003 and 2006. Following Lamarr's departure, he was one of the series' guest hosts before becoming permanent host from 2006 to 2009. He said at

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2184-472: The people, some established and others less so, who really make them laugh. We will be celebrating some incredible comedy talent while supporting the incredible Stand Up to Cancer. It promises to be a very special night of TV." Aiming to celebrate "the UK's most brilliant comedy content and creators", the first ceremony was due to be held in the spring of 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic , with

2236-419: The release of an hour-long Netflix stand-up special, 'Set Free', which premiered on 20 August. In 2021-22, Amstell toured a new show, 'Spirit Hole'. In 1995, Amstell created Radio XL at his secondary school, Beal High School, which is still a big part of Beal tradition today. Amstell co-wrote an episode of Channel 4 teenage drama Skins in 2007, titled " Maxxie and Anwar ". In 2011, Amstell appeared in

2288-402: The study claimed, "the creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis—both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder." However, labeling comedians' personality traits as "psychotic" does not mean that individual is a psychopath, since psychopathy is distinct from psychosis , and neither does it mean their behavior

2340-487: The time that he hoped to beat "the universal, exceptionless rule that when a new host takes over an old show it is a horrible, embarrassing disaster". In June 2007, Amstell and long-term collaborator Dan Swimer wrote Imagine... A Mildly Amusing Panel Show , a spoof version of Alan Yentob 's arts programme Imagine . Yentob and Amstell play themselves in a mock interview between what a number of commentators described as "overtly sexual" clips taken from Amstell's Never Mind

2392-580: The vaudeville circuit. On the second one, they were recruited by the fledgling silent film industry. Chaplin became the most popular screen comedian of the first half of the 20th century. Chaplin and Stan Laurel were protégés of Fred Karno , the English theatre impresario of British music hall , and in his biography Laurel stated, "Fred Karno didn't teach Charlie [Chaplin] and me all we know about comedy. He just taught us most of it". Chaplin wrote films such as Modern Times and The Kid . His films still have

2444-511: The work of Danielle Ward ). Other joke forms include observation ( Michael McIntyre ), whimsy ( David O'Doherty ), self-deprecation ( Robin Williams ) and parody ( Diane Morgan ). In a January 2014 study, conducted in the British Journal of Psychiatry , scientists found that comedians tend to have high levels of psychotic personality traits. In the study, researchers analyzed 404 male and 119 female comedians from Australia , Britain , and

2496-509: Was finally held on 2 March 2022 and broadcast on Channel 4 three days later. The ceremony was hosted by comedian Tom Allen , with presenters including Matt Lucas , Jessica Hynes , Al Murray and Meera Syal . It included a tribute to Sean Lock . At the 2005 ceremony, the wrong show received the People's Choice Award. The award was "mistakenly given" to Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway even though The Catherine Tate Show received

2548-527: Was given. But it could not be definitively established that Williams' involvement led to the wrong winner being announced" [italics added]. Saturday Night Takeaway did, however, receive the People's Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards 2006 . Beginning on 26 July 2007, British tabloid newspapers reported the alleged involvement of the British Comedy Awards in the 2007 British television phone-in scandal . ITV announced that they postponed

2600-527: Was later extended for one more year. Shortly afterwards, the 2010 ceremony was postponed until it finally aired in January 2011. In June 2015 Channel 4 announced they would be dropping the ceremony. The 2013 awards were presented at a two-hour ceremony hosted by Jonathan Ross on 12 December and shown live on Channel 4 . In August 2020, Channel 4 announced the launch of the National Comedy Awards,

2652-465: Was not confirmed then that the Awards would still take place in December, and it was not ruled out that they could be screened by another channel. The 2007 awards did take place on 5 December 2007, but that show was not televised. In early May 2008 Ofcom announced its fining and sanctioning ITV plc in a press release. On 15 August 2008, it was announced that a similar scandal could have been committed in

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2704-504: Was not televised due to the 2005 controversy and subsequent investigations. The following years ceremony was shown live on 6 December 2008. Compliance for the show was the responsibility of the ITV Compliance Unit of ITV Network Limited (consisting of members from ITV plc , STV Group , UTV Media , and Channel Television Ltd ). In June 2010, it was announced that awards were to be broadcast on Channel 4 for three years, which

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