Adrian Chiles is one of television’s most versatile presenters.
Between 2010 and 2015 Adrian fronted ITV’s football coverage, including the Champions League, Euros, two World Cups and England internationals. During this time he also presented three series of his successful That Sunday Night Show, also for ITV1. His BBC2 documentary series entitled My Mediterranean With Adrian Chiles aired in January 2016.
Adrian co-presented Daybreak with his long-time on-screen partner Christine Bleakley in 2010 and 2011. He launched The One Show (BBC One), Match of the Day 2 (BBC Two), The Apprentice: You’re Fired (BBC Two) and Working Lunch (BBC Two), and also presented several one-off documentaries and documentary series for the BBC including: Panorama (BBC1), Asian Millionaires (BBC Two), Working in the Dark (BBC One), So What Do You Do All Day? (BBC Two), It Beats Working (BBC One), Royal Millions (BBC One), and What Ron Said (BBC One). In 2016 Adrian hosted a two-part documentary series for BBC Two entitled My Mediterranean with Adrian Chiles, exploring the various religious festivals and customs in the region.
As a radio presenter Adrian currently hosts 5 Live Daily on Monday and Tuesdays. He has previously presented the Friday edition of 5 Live’s drivetime show, Financial World Tonight (BBC Radio 4), Wake up to Money (BBC Radio 5 Live), and 6-0-6 (BBC Radio 5 Live). His radio show, Chiles on Saturday (BBC Radio 5 Live) won a Sony Radio Academy Gold Award in 2002.
“A brilliant broadcaster, wry, witty, with an affable gruffness”The Daily Telegraph
Ahir Shah
Posted on 1 July 2019
Winner of the 2014 award for Best Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival and Edinburgh Best Show nominee in 2017 and 2018, Ahir Shah is an exciting young, sharp and intellectual comedian, whose unique brand of sophisticated stand-up features a blend of emotional frankness, poetic language, and jokes.
In August 2015, Ahir debuted his show, Distant, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, receiving huge critical success and packed houses, he went on to perform the show at the Soho Theatre for a week in October. Centering around the importance of faraway things, the show saw Ahir turn his incisive brand of comedy to topics spanning World War One, cigarettes, vegetarianism, Islamism, capitalism, politics, climate change, love, and pirates. 2016 will see Ahir return to Edinburgh with his hotly anticipated new show Machines.
Ahir began occasionally doing stand-up at fifteen (i.e. too young), and over the course of the last ten years the development of his erudite, philosophical style has seen his position in the circuit skyrocket from “curiosity” to “interloper”. Distant is the fourth hour Ahir has performed at the Fringe, succeeding Texture (2014) which was described by Chortle as being “a delightful, considered and intelligent piece of work from a comedian who’s gained his wings”, Anatomy (2013) which Fest regarded as being “as thoughtful and compelling a show as you’re likely to come across all August”, and Astrology (2011).
Outside of stand-up, Ahir is currently writing a sitcom pilot for Channel 4 titled Strange Land, about immigration in 1960s London. He has also been a contributing writer on Skins (Channel 4), The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4) and Newsjack (BBC Radio 4 Extra). His television credits include Brotherhood (Comedy Central), The Midnight Beast (E4), Live At The Electric (BBC Three), Campus and The Seven Ages of Love (both Channel 4).
“Passionate, poetic and powerfully funny” ★★★★ The List
Al Murray
Posted on 30 June 2019
Al Murray with his alter-ego, The Pub Landlord, is one of the most recognisable and successful comics in the UK. For over 20 years Al has filled arenas around the world, won numerous awards and accolades and has successfully hosted and an array of TV series. He has been surprising and delighted corporate audiences for almost as long – hosting awards ceremonies and performing after-dinner cabaret sets guaranteed to bring outrageous humour and energy to your next event. A dab hand at hosting corporate quizzes and other commercial events, Al’s experience and quick-witted audience banter make him the ideal choice for hosting or performing comedy.
His TV credits include Al Murray’s Happy Hour (ITV) and the ground breaking sitcom Time Gentlemen Please (Sky One). Al’s other live TV appearances as The Pub Landlord includes three appearances on The Royal Variety Performance (ITV1), Stand Up Central(Comedy Central), hosting Live at the Apollo (BBC1) and Live at the Palladium (ITV) to name just a few.
As himself, Al hosted ‘Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate The English?’ (History) in October 2018, travelling to England’s nearest neighbours to try to find out why everyone seems to hate them so much. He has combined his passion for film and history and filmed two specials for BBC 4; Al Murray’s Great British War Movies and Al Murray’s Great British Spy Movies. He has also hosted Al Murray’s German Adventure (BBC Four) and Al Murray’s Road to Berlin (Discovery). In 2019, he will host the new quiz show,Al Murray’s Great British Pub Quiz (Quest) which pits the UK’s most passionate pub quiz teams against each other.
Al continues to sell-out stand-up national and international tours, which has made him one of the most popular live comedy acts in the country. He won the Perrier Award (after a record four successive nominations) and secured Olivier Award nominations for both of his celebrated sell-out West End runs. Internationally, Al has forged an enviable reputation with numerous sell-out runs in Melbourne, Sydney, Montreal and New Zealand.2019 sees him embark on a new 43 date tour of the UK, Landlord of Hope and Glory.
In 2015 he took on the leadership of the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP), announcing his candidacy to stand for election at the General Election for the hotly contested Kent constituency of South Thanet. He also released his 5th book Let’s Re-Great Britain, a 13-point ‘#commonsense action plan’ which pledges that the UK will leave Europe by 2025 and the edge of the Solar System by 2050.
“Quick note to let you know all went really well at the Awards on Saturday, Al was fantastic – went down a storm”Auto-Awards, 900 pax
“The best host we’ve ever had!” Children With Cancer Charity Ball
“Simple: outstanding. Best one yet & no one had anything but the highest praise for Al” Q Awards
“Al was amazing last night. I really don’t know what we would have done without him. It was a tough crowd but he handled them expertly. Very sharp and clever and knowing. He just got them straight off and then found the right angles. Masterful. I cannot thank you and Al enough for making last night such a success. And Al was never anything short of utterly professional and a joy to be with. What a guy”BSME Awards
“[Al] was AWESOME. He really got it spot on. Client also said he was fantastic and went down really well. Thank you for all your help with it, and please pass our thanks onto Al”Mobile News Awards
“Al was lovely and hilarious” – Private Birthday Party, 300 pax
“Just thought I’d let you know that the feedback we’ve had on Al Murray has been tremendous. He scored perfect marks from our sponsors which is unheard of. So we now need to start thinking about next year… It’s going to be a very hard act to follow!” The newsawards
“Al was hilarious. He did a brilliant job, set the audience alight from the start, connected with them perfectly and clearly knew what we were after. In particular he really amped up the awards, getting laughs all the way through. Not all comedians do this, so we were delighted he made this (potentially very dry) bit his own.” Network Rail Awards
Alex Horne
Posted on 29 June 2019
Award-winning comedian Alex Horne is the creator and co-host of the Dave TV show Taskmaster which returns for its eighth series in 2019. Since it’s inception, the show has been nominated in numerous categories in the Virgin TV BAFTA Awards, International Emmy Awards, Royal Television Society Awards and Broadcast Awards for which it won Best Entertainment Show in 2018. In a corporate setting, Alex is a fantastic choice as an awards host or to perform after-dinner cabaret comedy. His material is light on controversy and swearing and heavy on clever wordplay and gloriously silly games with the audience.
Alex is also known for hosting iTunes chart-topping and Chortle Award-nominated podcast Alex Horne Breaks the News (Dave). He is the creator and frontman of The Horne Section, a five-piece band of multitalented musicians who put a stupidly unique twist to musical comedy. Their show Alex Horne Presents: The Horne Section played to sold-out audiences for five consecutive years at the Edinburgh Fringe, which led them to continue it for three series as a BBC Radio 4 show. The band has made several appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4) and is the only band ever to host Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2). They made their own Christmas mini-special for Sky Arts in 2015 titled A Horne Section Christmas and their one-off special, The Horne Section Television Programme was aired by Dave in 2018.
Alex’s numerous TV appearances include two series as co-host of We Need Answers (BBC4), Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (Dave), The Matt Lucas Awards (BBC1), Dara O’Briain’s School of Hard Sums (Dave), Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave), Celebrity Mastermind (BBC1), Celebrity Chase(ITV), John Bishop’s Christmas Show (BBC1), Drunk History (Comedy Central) and The Games That Time Forgot, a documentary written and presented by Alex for BBC4.
Alex is an Edinburgh Fringe veteran, taking nine solo shows to the festival. He earned a Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination in 2014 for his solo show Monsieur Butterfly, and a Perrier Newcomer Award nomination for his first show Making Fish Laugh in 2003. He has released two books with Virgin Publishing based on his critically-acclaimed Edinburgh shows Birdwatchingwatching in 2009 and Wordwatching in 2010.
“Alex was absolutely brilliant. He was really perfect for the event and such a nice guy” Job Crowd Awards
Alison Steadman
Posted on 28 June 2019
British actress Alison Steadman has established a career that spans over film, television, theatre and radio. As the star of Mike Leigh’s plays and films, one of her best known roles was as the lead actress in Abigail’s Party. Many people would recognise Alison in the role of Michael Gambon’s mother in The Singing Detective or from the enormously popular BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, in which she played Mrs Bennett alongside Colin Firth, Julia Sawalha, Jennifer Ehle and Emilia Fox, to name but a few. Starring in the much-loved series Gavin and Stacey as eccentric Essex mum, Pam, brought Alison to the attention of an even wider audience and made her into a national treasure. Alison has been awarded an OBE for services to British drama.
Over the years Alison came to be known for her quirky roles and dazzling stage work in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, for which she won an Olivier Award, The Memory of Water, Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr. Sloane and The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband. Her film appearances include The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, A Private Function, Coming Through, Clockwise, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and Shirley Valentine, not to mention her former-husband, Mike Leigh’s critically acclaimed pictures Life Is Sweet, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award,Secrets & Lies, and Topsy-Turvy.
Alison’s full and varied career makes her an excellent after dinner speaker and with her versatility and experience on stage and screen she would be a fantastic host to any awards ceremony.
Andrew Collins
Posted on 27 June 2019
Andrew Collins is an award-winning scriptwriter, journalist and broadcaster. His weekly review of TV for The Guardian Online – Telly Addict – is extremely popular and has reinforced Andrew’s status as a highly-regarded authority in the TV industry. He also regularly chairs screenings and Q&As throughout the year, including at the Peaky Blinderspremiere and the release of Black Mirror, as well as making regular appearances at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. In March 2015, he began hosting Saturday Night at the Movies for Classic FM.
Andrew has acted as Script Consultant for film and TV, including on the hotly anticipated sequel to the smash hit, record-breaking film The Inbetweeners. Andrew also acted as script editor on series two of Badults (BBC Three), having previously worked on a successful series one. He also worked on the second series of Drifters (E4).
Andrew is the creator and sole writer of Mr Blue Sky (BBC Radio 4), which was described by The Observer as “a lovely series that got better as it went along” and The Daily Telegraph said, “Funny? Well, yes. Andrew Collins understands people.”
His first sitcom, Grass, written with star Simon Day, aired on BBC2 in 2003, and he co-originated and co-wrote series 1 of hit BBC sitcom Not Going Out with Lee Mack, through which he won the Breakthrough Award at the Royal Television Society Awards and the Rose D’Or for Best Sitcom.
He began his journalistic career at the NME, going on to edit Q Magazine and Empire. Moving to radio on the original BBC Radio Five, he was nominated for a Writers’ Guild Award for his first series with Stuart Maconie, Fantastic Voyage. He won a Sony Gold for Collins & Maconie’s Hit Parade (BBC Radio 1) and went on to co-present Collins & Maconie’s Movie Club (ITV).
Andrew was one of the first scriptwriters on Family Affairs (Channel Five), following which he moved to EastEnders (BBC One) where he was a regular writer for three years. He hosted BBC Radio 4’s weekly film programme Back Row and presented a daily show, Teatime (BBC 6Music) between its launch in 2002 and 2005, and a weekend show until 2007; he still appears regularly on the network.
He fronted topical comedy The Day The Music Died (BBC Radio 2) for six series and panel game Banter (BBC Radio 4) for three. He has also presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4, including Send In The Clones,Shots From The Hip, The G-Word, 3D In Perspective and Oscar Sings.
He also co-wrote and performed Lloyd Cole Knew My Father on stage in Edinburgh, Belfast and London, and for Radio 2. In 2010, as well as a number of sell-out live shows with Richard Herring, Andrew performed solo at the Edinburgh Fringe with Secret Dancing, a sell-out which later became a DVD.
In addition to a trilogy of bestselling humorous memoirs, Where Did It All Go Right?, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and That’s Me In The Corner, Andrew is the author of Still Suitable For Miners, the official biography of Billy Bragg, and the official story of Friends Reunited.
Over the years, Andrew has built up a particularly stellar portfolio of interviewees. As a music writer and editor for NME and Q magazine he interviewed Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, Blur and Bob Geldof. At Empire magazine, he spoke to Robert Duvall, John Cleese, Samuel L Jackson and the late Robin Williams. Over 15 years as Film Editor at Radio Times, he’s interviewed Steve Coogan, John Peel and the casts of Star Wars, Cold Feet and Peaky Blinders. On BBC radio and Classic FM, he’s interviewed Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, David Lynch, Kevin Costner, Matt Damon, Sir Michael Caine, Woody Allen and Spinal Tap. A regular deputy of Mark Kermode on the BBC News Film Review, Andrew’s film knowledge has seen him host packed live events such as screening and Q&As at the BFI and BAFTA, Edinburgh TV Festival and the Guardian, quizzing such heavyweights as Kiefer Sutherland, Terry Gilliam, Michael Moore, Simon Pegg and Christopher Guest, as well as the cast of Spaced, Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat, magician Dynamo and the makers of Lost. Comfortable around talent at all levels, Andrew puts his subjects at ease and uses humour and a deep knowledge of film, comedy, TV and music to provide an entertaining forum for both subject and audience.
“It was a long day and Andrew did a sterling job. The Awards show was packed and he handled the crowd superbly.” Promax Europe Awards Ceremony
“His interjection between scores was a big part of the show. Narrating the night, sliding in his opinion and the historical facts of each piece of music; he was refreshing and humorous. He’s the perfect host, and perfect side order to all the wonderful sound that the orchestra served up.” From Hollywood With Love Concert, Opera North
Andy Zaltzman
Posted on 26 June 2019
Andy Zaltzman has firmly established himself in the vanguard of British comedy with his unique brand of political satire. He’s a terrific option for hosting corporate awards ceremonies or performing after-dinner cabaret. Able to deliver the sharpest and cleverest observations about the state of current affairs, he is also extremely passionate and knowledgeable about sports, cricket in particular. He’s therefore not only a great fit for sporting dinners and corporate events, he would also bring freshness to audiences that are used to hearing from political or business after-dinner speakers.
Andy made his Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2001, when he was nominated for Best Newcomer, and has been a festival favourite ever since . Andy has been regularly performing his hit live show Satirist For Hire since its debut in Edinburgh in 2013 – no two shows are ever the same as each night he satirises topics sent in by the audience.
Andy and John also hosted and curated the sell-out show Political Animal. Over the years, the show has had an impressive list of guests including Frankie Boyle, Daniel Kitson, Stewart Lee, Jeremy Hardy, Chris Addison, Russell Howard, and Richard Herring.
He is the writer and presenter of the satirical podcast The Bugle (originally co-written with Last Week Tonight star John Oliver), one of iTunes’s biggest ever comedy podcasts. Since The Bugle’s inception in 2007 it has gained a worldwide fan-base – including a prominent US audience. It has aired almost 300 episodes and averages 1 million downloads a month. With thousands of 5-star reviews on iTunes, it has been described as “a roaring success” by The Independent.
Andy has been a regular on Al Murray’s7 Day Saturday/Sunday for Radio 5, appearing on upwards of 70 episodes. On BBC Radio 4, he wrote and hosted Andy Zaltzman’s History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100, and The Department, with John Oliver. He has also made regular appearances on topical panel quiz show The News Quiz(BBC Radio 4) and The Now Show(BBC Radio 4), was featured on The Games Celebrations(Absolute Radio), and guest co-presented on The Dave Gorman Show (Absolute Radio).
In addition to a keen interest in politics, Andy is an avid fan of sport and has hosted Yes! It’s The Ashesfor BBC Radio 5Live. He has also appeared on sporting punditry show Fighting Talk. Following the success of his appearance on Sky’s Cricket’s Funniest Moments, he returns in the forthcoming show Rugby’s Funniest Moments. He also regularly writes international sports channel ESPN’s online cricket blog Cricinfoand hosts CricInfo: Andy Zaltzman’s World Cricket Podcast.
Andy’s numerous and diverse TV appearances include Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC Two), 8 Out of 10 Cats (Channel 4), Dave’s One Night Stand (Dave), Alternative Comedy Experience (Comedy Central), Newsnight (BBC Two), Sky News, Daily Politics (BBC Two), CNN, The Late and Live Guide to Comedy (BBC2), The Politics Show (BBC1) and BBC News. In the US, he has appeared on John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show for Comedy Central.
“We had a fantastic day and Andy was the cherry on top! People were in stitches, I have no idea how his brain works like that but the very unique ability to mix cricket and comedy was just exceptional!” Cricketing Dinner
Angela Griffin
Posted on 25 June 2019
Actor, presenter and columnist Angela Griffin can currently be seen playing Lizzie in hit series Lewis, and is best known for her roles in Cutting It, Holby City and Waterloo Road.
At just 16, Angela landed a role in the Nation’s biggest soap, Coronation Street, for which she won the Best Newcomer Award at the National Television Awards.
After five and a half years on the Street, Angela went on to appear in Holby City, Waking the Dead and Cutting It. She made her feature film debut in 2008’s Last Chance Harvey alongside Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, and starred in the award-winning Waterloo Road.
As well as appearing in the West End, Angela is an experienced host, presenting her own daily show for Sky One, Angela and Friends. She has hosted Sky One’s coverage of both the Oscars and the Golden Globes.
Bilal Zafar
Posted on 24 June 2019
Bilal Zafar is an up and coming stand-up comic with a friendly, story-telling style. He has experience hosting awards ceremonies and performing at corporate events.
Bilal was nominated for the Last minute.com Best Newcomer Award for his debut show at the Edinburgh fringe 2016.
Earlier the same year Bilal won the New Act of the Year award joining the company of previous winners such as Stewart Lee, Ardal O’Hanlon, Joe Wilkinson and Linda Smith.
In 2015 he was the runner up at the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year competition. He has appeared on BBC3, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Asian Network, and has written for The Independent.
“witty and absorbing…highly entertaining. I look forward to whatever Zafar cooks up next” Dominic Maxwell, The Times
“Delivers big laughs” Brian Logan, The Guardian
“fascinating and hilarious in equal measure” Ian Jones, i-D
“Zafar really delivers on the absurdity of an escalating social media farce running in parallel with growing prejudice and tensions, joyously exposing the stupidity on all sides”
★★★★ Ben Venables, The Skinny
“endearing, relaxed and naturally funny…hilarious”
★★★★ Emily Phillips, EdFest Mag
Ben Willbond
Posted on
Ben is a comedian, writer and producer. He has appeared in five series of Horrible Histories for CBBC/BBC1, and also performed in the Horrible Histories BBC Proms Live at The Royal Albert Hall. The show’s long list of awards includes five BAFTAs, a 2011 Broadcast Award and Best Sketch Show in both 2010 and 2011 at the British Comedy Awards. With the team from Horrible Histories, Ben then went on to co-write and star in family adventure fantasy Yonderland for Sky1, which was nominated for a Rose D’Or Award and returns for a third series in 2016.
Ben co-wrote feature film BILL, which was released in 2016, in which he starred alongside the cast from Horrible Histories and Yonderland.
Ben also co-wrote, co-produced and co-starred in the short film Tooty’s Wedding, which in 2011 won the LA Shorts Film Festival Award for Best Short, the Rhode Island Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for Best Comedy and the Best Foreign Film and Best Director awards at the LA Comedy Festival. In 2012 it screened at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah and the inaugural Sundance London, and was nominated for the Sundance Shorts Award before going on to win the LOCO Short Film Awards at the LOCO Festival in 2014. Other film roles include Your Highness, Cemetery Junction, Starter for Ten, I Want Candy, Click and St Trinian’s.
Ben has appeared as ‘Adam Kenyon’, a main role in series 4 of The Thick Of It (BBC2). Ben’s impressive array of TV credits also include Laura, Ben and Him (ITV2), Inside No 9 (BBC2), Count Arthur Strong (BBC2), Rev (BBC2), Extras (BBC1), Lead Balloon (BBC2), The Catherine Tate Show (BBC2) and Black Books (Channel 4). Ben has also appeared on Pointless Celebrities(BBC2).
Ben’s radio work includes The Genuine Particle, Double Science, From Fact to Fiction, Recorded for Training Purposes, Hut 33, The Maltby Collection,Another Case of Milton Jones, Gules Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off, Deep Trouble and Fry’s English Delight, all for BBC Radio 4.
“The man is faultless: he is a brilliant writer with a positively forensic ear for dialogue…a charismatic performer who combines serious acting talent with killer comedy delivery.” The Scotsman
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