Marcus Brigstocke

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Marcus 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 concurrently.

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[edit] Career

Many of the central themes of Brigstocke's work (essentially the hypocrisy of the affluent) 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[citation needed] joke is to impersonate DJ Tim Westwood, whom Brigstocke portrays as an archetypal wigger, making much of his father (formerly) being an Anglican bishop.

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 also hosts his own chat show on BBC4, The Late Edition, which has been described as "Newsnight with jokes"[citation needed]. This commitment has 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".

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[edit] Excuse My French (BBC2)

Main article: Excuse My French (2006 TV series)

Brigstocke recently 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 in 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).

[edit] 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:

“ If Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music. „

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:

“ Ah! Bloody Pacman....It is my joke. I wrote it, then I took the rest of the day off as I was so chuffed with it. I am gutted that it has been claimed and passed around by so many people. Intellectual property law will not save me, the false claims will continue until I am man enough to give it all up. All I can say is -- it seems that it is very unlikely that it was written by a Nintendo employee in 1989, being as Pac Man was still around and not much of a childhood memory, there were very few claims that gaming influenced children's behaviour, and that the wording of it is identical to how it has been deliverd in my stand up routine for 6 years! For those that are interested it has also been attributed to Bill Gates, but then so has Windows! Bitter? Well perhaps just a little. It was sent to me by someone at Channel 4 a few years back after I did it on Channel 4 in a late night stand up show! Hope that clears everything up. ”
 
— Marcus Brigstocke, [1]

While the joke was clearly not created by Kristian Wilson, a seemingly fictional mouthpiece, the joke appeared, worded near-identically, in a 1995 issue of TOTAL! Nintendo magazine, largely written at the time by Rob Pegley and Danny Wallace, the latter also writing for a Future Publishing magazine about comedy - including standup - and who has since become a successful comedy author and TV presenter.

[edit] Personal life

Brigstocke is dyslexic, and has admitted that he has to take extra preparation when using an autocue.

Brigstocke lives in South London, with university sweetheart Sophie Prideaux. The couple have two children. He is committed to non-violence and is an active campaigner for CND and "Campaign Against Arms Trade". He is fanatical about snowboarding – so much so he has set up a stand up tour in the Alps – and adores music and movies.

During an appearance on the BBC TV show Room 101, first broadcast in January 2007, Marcus admitted to having had weight problems as a younger man. He still battles with his excessive appetite, although he appears to control it admirably.

[edit] Selected radio

[edit] Selected television

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[edit] External links

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