Simon Marc Amstell
(born 29 November 1979) is a BAFTA nominated, [1] award-winning English comedian and television presenter. In 2007, Amstell was nominated for "The Times Breakthrough South Bank Show Award".
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SIMON AMSTELL TICKETS
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Career
Youth
Amstell's first television appearance was in 1993, when he appeared as a contestant on the
Channel 4 game show
GamesMaster
.
[2] [3] [4] He also appeared on
Good Morning with Anne and Nick doing his impression of
Dame Edna Everage.
[5]
Amstell started performing on the comedy circuit when he was just 14 and later caught the eye of television executives by becoming the youngest finalist of the
BBC New Comedy Awards in 1998.
Nickelodeon
His first professional
television appearance was in 1998, as a presenter on the UK children's channel
Nickelodeon. He claims he was sacked for being "sarcastic and mean to children."
[6]
Popworld
From 2000 to 2006 he presented
Popworld on
Channel 4 with
Miquita Oliver. He voiced the characters "Timothy the Popworld melon" and "Richard the Popworld horse". On Popworld he developed a highly ironic, surreal and left field style which gained the show a cult following, but angered many of its guests. One such example was a mock interview with singer
Lemar called "Lemar From Afar," in which Amstell shouted questions into a megaphone from one end of a car park while Lemar stood at 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 and Pritchard and Harris his patients. During his time at Popworld, Amstell was at the centre of several controversies, including making
Britney Spears cry after asking her if she thought she'd "gone a bit nuts".
[7]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Amstell's first guest appearances on the comedy pop quiz show
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
were on 27 October 2003 and on 20 March 2005. Amstell then took over from
Mark Lamarr as host of the show with his first episode as host airing at the end of October 2006. He said at 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".
[8]
In March 2007, Amstell won the 2006
Royal Television Society Award for
Best Entertainment Performance
[9] for his work on
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
.
In June 2007, Simon wrote with Dan Swimer
Imagine... A Mildly Amusing Panel Show
, a spoof version of
Alan Yentob's arts programme
Imagine. Alan Yentob and Simon Amstell play themselves in a mock interview between clips of Simon's episodes of
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
. Simon was spotted soon after the production sitting on a bench feeding some stray cats.
In December 2007, Amstell won two ''
British Comedy Awards for "Best Comedy Entertainment Personality" and "Best Comedy Entertainment Series" for
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
. On 23 January 2008,
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
won the Best Entertainment Programme [10] award at the Broadcast Awards 2008. In February 2008, Amstell wrote with Dan Swimer,
Never Mind the Buzzcocks - A Moving Tribute'', which implied (
satirically) that Amstell had either died or retired from the show. He had not, of course, as the show continued from October 2008.
On 25 April 2009, Amstell announced via his internet mailing list that he will not be hosting another series of
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
because of his desire to concentrate on his live tours and performances instead.
[11]
Stand up
Amstell also performs as a
stand up comedian. He has performed at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe every August
2005-
2007 and 2009. He has also appeared at the
Carling Festivals in the Cabaret and Comedy tent for the last two years. 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 is taking part in his second national tour in the autumn of 2009.
Personal life
Amstell was born in
East London into a Jewish family.
[12] He attended
Beal High School in
Redbridge. His religion and sexuality figure occasionally in his work.
[13] [14]
Amstell
came out as
gay two months into his work on
Popworld
, claiming that no one believed him initially, "so I had to keep going on about it."
[15] His orientation has been referred to both on
Popworld
and
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
, with
John Barrowman challenging him to a "gay-off" on
NMTB
. Simon answered jokingly, "I haven't even told my Mum yet!"
[16]
References
- Baftas - 2008 nominations
- The TV game is kids' stuff for Amstell, ''The Guardian'', 7/11/2008
- Simon Amstell on Gamesmaster, part 1 on YouTube
- Simon Amstell on Gamesmaster, part 2on YouTube
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk7-ShK156U
- I always want the funny line (interview)
- List of Buzzcocks quotes, Series 18, Episode 2, Quote 2
- BBC Press release - Simon Amstell is new host of ''Never Mind The Buzzcocks''
- RTS Archive
- Broadcast magazine Broadcast Awards 2008
- Amstell quits Buzzcocks
- Comic Amstell creating sitcom of his early years
- Simon Amstell 'No Self', Edinburgh Festival Fringe review
- Simon Amstell: The gay UK comedian courts laughter and controversy
- I always want the funny line (interview)
- AfterElton Briefs