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Marcus Brigstocke

Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is an English comedian and satirist who has worked extensively in stand-up comedy, television and radio. He is particularly associated with the 6.30pm comedy slot on BBC Radio 4, having frequently appeared on several of its shows.

Early life

Many of the central themes of Brigstocke's work (essentially middle class based) were first addressed during his time as a student at the University of Bristol. While at Bristol he often performed in the comedy trio Club Seals, which later made the transition to TV in the series of short programmes We Are History. Very few of the conventions and institutions of the bourgeoisie have escaped his ire, be it the middle-class obsession with heritage (The Museum of Everything), the turpitude of contemporary business culture (Think the Unthinkable), or English provincial parochialism (Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off). However, Brigstocke's favourite joke is to impersonate DJ Tim Westwood, whom Brigstocke portrays as an archetypal wigger, making much of his father (formerly) being an Anglican bishop. Brigstocke attended Westbourne House School just outside Chichester before going onto King's Bruton School in Somerset.

Comedy career

With a successful radio career including The Now Show with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, he retains a cult following. The Now Show also provided an outlet for his fierce dislike of David Blaine, referring to Blaine himself as Git Wizard, and his "Above The Below" stunt as Freakdangle. Brigstocke hailed the failure of Blaine's "Drowned Alive" as proof that Blaine is "not special; not magic; just a moistened git". He is increasingly enjoying mainstream success, recently having appeared on such broadly popular TV shows such as Have I Got News for You and Jack Dee's Live at the Apollo series.

Brigstocke plays an arts journalist named Marcus in the Neil Gaiman film A Short Film About John Bolton, and a radio DJ in the Richard Curtis film Love Actually. On 9 April 2006, Brigstocke appeared in BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial adaptation of The Code of the Woosters as Bertie Wooster with Andrew Sachs as Jeeves.

He hosts his satirical programme on BBC4, The Late Edition, which has been described as "Newsnight with jokes" It is loosely based on the format made popular by the American programme The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. This commitment led to his absence from the final two Now Show series of 2006, with his place filled by what the other cast members call "our replacement Marcus Brigstocke". He did however, return for the 2007 series.

November 2007 saw Marcus release his first stand up comedy DVD entitled "Planet Corduroy", produced by Phoenix Film & Television Productions.

In September 2008 Marcus was team captain for the recording of the first series of a new TV comedy panel debating show, Argumental for UK TV channel Dave. Marcus competes against opposing team captain Rufus Hound with a variety of guest participants, under the chairmanship of John Sergeant.

He has also worked for television shows aimed at children for CBBC: Stupid and Sorry I've Got No Head.

The Pac-Man joke

One of the best-known jokes Brigstocke uses is an ironic commentary on the controversy regarding the influence of video games on children: This joke is frequently quoted on the internet and often attributed to famous figures in electronics (such as an apocryphal CEO of Nintendo, "Kristian Wilson," although Hiroshi Yamauchi held that position from 1950 to 2002), but Brigstocke vehemently claims authorship of the joke:

Excuse My French (BBC2)

Brigstocke took part in the BBC programme Excuse My French, which was broadcast on BBC2. On the programme he, Ron Atkinson and Esther Rantzen were immersed in the French language by staying in a classic French town in the Provence region, being compelled to adapt to the French lifestyle and speak the language. His ultimate assignment was to perform a live stand-up comedy act in French to a French audience, a task at which he excelled. According to the programme, he continues to learn French, and has since performed more stand up in France (predominantly in English, but with sections in French).

Selected radio credits

Selected television credits

Personal life

Brigstocke is dyslexic. During an appearance on the BBC TV show Room 101, first broadcast in January 2007, he admitted to having had weight problems as a younger man. He still battles with his excessive appetite. During his early adulthood, he was a goth.

Brigstocke lives in South London with his university sweetheart, Sophie Prideaux. The couple have two children, a son Alfie and a daughter Emily.

He is fanatical about snowboarding – so much so he has set up a stand up tour in the Alps – and adores music (especially The Smiths and The Cure) and movies, but he has an unstoppable, insatiable hate of David Blaine and Lily Allen, and he also jokes about finding a cure to James Blunt. He is very fond of cheese and Duchy Originals oaten biscuits, but comments regularly on how expensive they are.

Brigstocke is an atheist. During an episode of The Late Edition filmed in October 2007, Brigstocke was presented with an Out Campaign t-shirt by his guest and out-spoken atheist Richard Dawkins to which Brigstocke replied:

"Look at that. Outed, outed as an atheist and proud to be so