Dave Spikey
(born as David G. Bramwell
, on 6 October 1951 in Farnworth, England) [1] is an English comedian based in Chorley, Lancashire. Spikey spent his early career working as a BioMedical Scientist in the haematology laboratory at Bolton General Hospital. It was during this period in the 1980s that Spikey scripted and performed in a number of amateur pantomimes with a group of like-minded health workers called the Bolton Health Performers.
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Bio
Early years
In 1992, Spikey was asked to form a double act with Rick Sykes, as purely a 'one-off' to support a popular musical duo called 'Intaglio'.
[2] Dave and Rick were known as Spikey and Sykey. The double act's most notable success came on
Central TV's
New Faces
show.
A turning point came one summer Sunday evening in 1993 when Spikey got a phone call to see if 'he could get to
Blackpool in half an hour'.
Cannon and Ball were appearing at The Opera House and they needed a compere immediately.
He was the last host of UK gameshow
Chain Letters
in 1997, following on from
Jeremy Beadle,
Andrew O'Connor,
Allan Stewart,
Ted Robbins and
Vince Henderson. While working on the show, he once got trapped by the rotating
Chain Letters
revolving sign.
Success
Spikey won the Best Newcomer award at the
British Comedy Awards, and then starred in
Phoenix Nights'', a hit comedy series on
Channel Four in which he played
Jerry St. Clair. Peter Kay has announced that a new series of Phoenix Nights is to be made, however it is unknown whether Spikey will return.
In 2003, Spikey released his first
DVD,
The Overnight Success Tour
. Towards the end of 2004, he wrote the
ITV comedy-drama
Dead Man Weds
, in which he also co-starred, in 2005, with
Johnny Vegas.
Since 2005, Spikey has been one of the regular team captains on the comedy
panel game,
8 Out of 10 Cats
although did not return for the series in 2007. That year also saw the release of his second live DVD,
Living The Dream
. He now presents the
darts gameshow
Bullseye
on
Challenge.
Spikey has two new projects in the pipeline which have been commissioned by the BBC, being
Magnolia
, a sitcom about painters and decorators, and
Footballers Lives
- a comedy about a pub football team, which was due to air by the end of 2006. He was also on the panel for talent show
When Will I Be Famous?.
Because of his time at hospital, Spikey's chosen subject on
Celebrity Mastermind
in 2006 was
Human Blood. He won this show.
Dave Spikey is patron of the non-profit radio station "
Chorley FM" which is not the fictitious radio station made famous by "That Peter Kay Thing" and "Phoenix Nights" TV Series.
Dave Spikey also provides the voice of the fox character in Foxy Bingo advertisements.
Live Shows/tours
2003: 'Overnight Success'
2005: 'Living the Dream'
2007: 'An audience with Dave Spikey'
2008: 'The Best Medicine'
2009: 'The Best Medicine: Repeat Prescription'
References
- GRO Birth Index: Oct/Nov/Dec 1951, Brawell, David G., Farnworth 10c 142.
- The Intaglio Project.