Lee Mack
Posted on 11 May 2019
Lee Mack is one of the UK’s most recognisable and celebrated comics. His relentless determination to have fun is marvellously infectious, and leaves his audiences exhausted by laughter. His energy, finely crafted one-liners, and quick ad-libs create an elusive star quality. He is also the winner of three British Comedy Awards.
2014 saw the return to our screens of Not Going Out, Lee’s BBC One sitcom. The show has won both the Break-Through Award – Behind the Screen at the RTS Awards, and the Gold Rose D’or award for Best Sitcom. This was the seventh series of the sitcom, and was the longest series to date, with ten episodes, and with it, Not Going Out became the longest running sitcom on the BBC. December 2015 will see a Christmas Special of Not Going Out.
Lee has also been team captain on Would I Lie To You (BBC) alongside Rob Brydon and David Mitchell for the ninth series running. In the autumn of 2014, Lee toured with his first live stand-up show in four years, Hit the Road Mack, which was filmed for DVD, released in November 2014.
In 2013, Lee also recorded a new 13 part comedy panel show for Sky called Duck Quack’s Don’t Echo. As host of the show, Lee challenges his 3 celebrity guests to offer up an incredible fact in a bid to prove they have the best. Each fact is then put to the test using elaborate and hilarious methods to establish a winner. The show aired in early 2014 and was followed swiftly by a second series in 2015.
In 2010 Lee toured the country with his twice extended tour, Going Out, continuing Lee’s success with his touring stand up. Lee’s previous sold out solo tour was nominated for Best Live Stand Up Tour at the 2006 British Comedy Awards. This coincided with the release of his first live DVD – Lee Mack Live. His second live DVD, Going Out was released in 2010.
He has also won a BAFTA for his contribution to The Sketch Show (ITV1) and was host of They Think Its All Over (BBC One) and two series of The Lee Mack Show on BBC Radio 2 (nominated for a Sony Award). In 2011, Lee hosted his own prime time Saturday night entertainment show Lee Mack’s All Star Cast on BBC One to great success.
Lee Mack has also frequently appeared on Have I Got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Live at The Apollo, QI, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and The Royal Variety Performance.
Lesley Sharp
Posted on 9 May 2019
Lesley’s career has spanned the genres of film, television and stage. Some of her best-known television roles include her multi-award winning role as Rose Cooper in Bob & Rose, Trudy Graham in Clocking Off, Janet Scott in Scott & Bailey and Alison Mundy in Afterlife. She has also appeared in popular television shows such as Doctor Who, Poirot and Cranford and featured in BBC One’s Who Do You Think You Are?.
Lesley’s film credits are even more impressive, Lesley has starred in Inkheart, Vera Drake and From Hell. She also starred in The Full Monty which smashed Box Office records and enjoyed international success when it was released. Lesley was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress BAFTA for her role in The Full Monty.
Lesley’s theatre career boasts a nomination for the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for her title role in Harper Regan at the National Theatre, a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Uncle Vanya at the Royal National Theatre, a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for A Family Affair at the Donmar Warehouse and a Time Out Award for Best New Actress for her performance in Simon Curtis’ Road at the Royal Court. This year sees Lesley starring in a run of A Taste of Honey at the National Theatre, directed by Polly Findlay.
Lesley’s successful, busy and varied career makes her an entertaining after dinner speaker and a confident awards host.
Meera Syal CBE
Posted on 2 May 2019
Meera Syal is an actress, author and journalist much-loved for her brilliantly funny performances in television programmes such as the iconic and multi award-winning Goodness Gracious Me (which she also co-wrote) and Emmy Award-winning The Kumars at No.42 in which she played naughty Granny, Ummi Kumar and was nominated for BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.
Meera’s parents emigrated from New Delhi in 1960 and she was born in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and educated at Manchester University where she read English and Drama, gaining a rare Double First.
She is also an acclaimed and popular author. Her childhood experiences growing up in a small Black Country mining community, as literally “The Only Asians In The Village”, provided the background to her first novel Anita and Me. The novel was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize and won a Betty Trask Award and Meera adapted the screenplay for the BBC film that followed. The novel is now also a recommended text on the school curriculum. Meera is also the author of Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee, about the loves, lives and infidelities of three East London Asian women, and adapted this into a RIMA winning BBC series in which she played one of the lead roles. Her critically acclaimed third novel, The House Of Hidden Mothers was published in June 2015 and will be developed as a three part television series this year.
Meera’s acting career has continued to flourish across stage and screen. Meera has been on our television screens in popular shows such as Broadchurch, Doctor Who and Absolutely Fabulous, and more recently alongside Jack Black and Tim Robbins in HBO’s The Brink. On film she has worked with an array of great directors including, Woody Allen, (twice) Terry Jones and Stephen Frears.
Her work in theatre has seen Meera perform in leading roles at The National Theatre, The Old Vic and the Royal Court to name but a few, and she recently played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon. She also played Shirley in Willy Russell’s iconic Shirley Valentine in the West End for which she won the Whats On Stage Solo Performance award. In 2017 she took on the role of Miss Hannigan in Annie. Although one of her proudest moments was tracing her revolutionary family tree in the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are.
Meera is the recipient of 11 National Awards including the Women In Film and Television’s Creative Achievement Award (2008) and in 2011 she was visiting Professor of Theatre at St Catherine’s College, Oxford University. She was awarded a CBE for Services To Drama and Literature in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List. She is also a proud ambassador for Breast Cancer Care and The Alzheimer’s Society, and the long standing patron of Newham Asian Women’s project which provides refuges and advice for women and children escaping domestic violence.
Meera is a popular after-dinner speaker and awards host who can provide unique and witty insight into women’s and cultural events.
“Meera was brill! Really, really good. Funny, charming. Lovely to the client who was absolutely delighted!” Linklaters Diversity Event
“Meera was fantastic and shared some great stories with us!” Citi Group Client Dinner
“Exactly the right combination of humour and professionalism” British Parking Awards
Rob Delaney
Posted on 18 April 2019
Rob Delaney is a writer/stand up originally from Boston and graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Much of Delaney’s success can be attributed to his massive following on Twitter of over 1,000,000 followers.
Rob’s reach spreads beyond the US market; in the UK he sold out the Soho Theatre in 7 minutes via one ‘tweet’ making him the fastest selling US performer in the venue’s history. His Channel 4 TV series Catastrophe has received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, and multiple award wins including a Bafta and two Royal Television Society awards. Nominations for the show include an Emmy. The first two seasons are available on Amazon in the US. The show has been commissioned for two further seasons. Other television credits include Comedy Central’s Key & Peele, E!’s Chelsea Lately, Burning Love, and TBS’ Cougartown.
In 2013, his first novel and bestselling memoir, Rob Delaney: Mother Wife Sister Human Warrior Falcon Yardstick Turban Cabbage was released by Spiegel & Grau in the US, and by Little Brown in the UK.
In 2012, he was named one of Variety’s ‘Top 10 Comics to Watch’ and won the award for ‘Funniest Person on Twitter’ at the Comedy Central Comedy Awards beating out such luminaries as Steve Martin and Stephen Colbert. He’s also been listed as one of ‘The Funniest People on Twitter’ on such sites as the Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Vice Magazine, Paste Magazine, Comedy Central, and Funny or Die.
His debut one hour special, Rob Delaney: Live at the Bowery Ballroom, is available on Netflix and from Comedy Central Records.
Rob also sings the national anthem for the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He currently resides in London and regularly performs stand up across the world.
“Rob certainly meets all the criteria required for the clutches of stardom to grab hold of him and whisk him away”
Huffington Post
“Delaney is one of the sensations of the US scene”
The Guardian
“An excellent US comic, who pedals wry, searing anecdotes on modern life. A rare, and fleeting, delight”
UK Arts Agenda
Visit Rob’s website at www.robdelaney.com
Follow Rob on Twitter: @robdelaney
Like Rob’s Facebook page: facebook.com/robdelaney
Robert Bathurst
Posted on 17 April 2019
Robert has worked extensively on stage and screen for nearly 30 years.
He has appeared in a number of popular television shows including the award-winning ITV series Downton Abbey. He also starred in the hugely popular Cold Feet for four series – which returns for a new series in 2016. Other TV credits include My Dad’s The Prime Minister, The Queen, Roman’s Empire,The Pillars of the Earth, Hornblower, Kingdom, Goodbye Mr. Steadman, Joking Apart, Red Dwarf and the BBC adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma.
Robert’s theatre work includes the one man play “Alex” which he has performed on the West End and as a World Tour. Alex can also be booked for corporate events. Robert has also performed extensively at the National Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and in the West End.
Sarah Parish
Posted on 13 April 2019
Sarah Parish has become one of the best known actresses of British television. Her extensive television career includes roles as Dawn Rudge in Peak Practice and starring roles in several hit TV series including BBC1’s Atlantis, hit comedy W1A, Pillars of the Earth, Mistresses and Cutting It. She’s has appeared on the big screen in The Wedding Date and the popular festive film, The Holiday, alongside Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black and Kate Winslet.
Her co-stars have included James Nesbitt in the ITV medical drama Monroe written by Peter Bowker. And she has frequently co-starred alongside actor David Tennant, in the musical serial Blackpool and TV series Recovery as well as Doctor Who.
Her theatre career includes Laurence Boswell’s Popcorn which won an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and she also starred as Maria in David Leveaux’s Nine at the Donmar Warehouse.
