Jason Manford

Jason Manford
Born	Jason John Manford (1981-05-26) 26 May 1981 Salford, England, UK
Residence	Stockport, England, UK
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Spouse(s)	Catherine (m. 2007-2012; separated)
Children	Twin Daughters (b. 2009) Daughter (b. 2010)
Website
Official website

Jason John Manford^[1] (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, television presenter, and actor, best known for his roles on comedy panel shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats on Channel 4 and Odd One In for ITV. In July 2011, Manford began presenting ITV reality programme Show Me The Funny.

Early life

Manford was born^[2] in Salford,^[3] Greater Manchester, a son of Sharon^[1] (née Ryan), who is a Catholic^[4] and gave birth to him when she was sixteen – and Ian Manford, a courtroom stenographer.^[2] He grew up in a terraced house in what is known as the "Triangle of Death" area of Manchester notorious for its gang activity and high crime rate.^[2][5] He has three younger brothers: Stephen, Colin and Niall, and a younger sister, Danielle.^[2]

When Manford was seventeen he got a job as a glass collector at a local pub.^[6] While working there he became interested in comedy after watching the likes of Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard and Johnny Vegas perform at the local comedy club. Kay recommended him to do the Higher National Diploma in media and performance at the University of Salford.^[7] Despite not having the required A Level grades he was accepted into the programme and eventually upgraded to a full degree. His brother Colin has followed him into comedy and is also a University of Salford graduate.^[8]

Career

Television and radio

Manford hosted a breakfast show on Xfm Manchester^[9] until May 2008.^[10]

From June 2007 until November 2007, he was Paramount Comedy's continuity announcer and writer.^[11] In June 2007, he took over from Dave Spikey as a team captain on 8 out of 10 Cats.^[12]

He presented his own show, Tonightly, which aired every weekday from 1 to 22 August 2008 and appeared as a celebrity supporter for inventor Kin Kam in a special charity edition of BBC2's Dragons' Den for Sport Relief.

In March 2010, Manford was announced as host of a new comedy show called Comedy Rocks, featuring stand up comedians as well as musical performances. A pilot was shown on ITV1 on 26 March 2010 and a six-part series began on ITV1 on 14 January 2011. On 26 May 2010, he was announced as the new presenter of BBC One's The One Show from July 2010.^[13] He resigned from the programme in November 2010 following allegations surrounding his private life.^[14][15]

He also makes up one half of the Home Team (with Peter Andre) on the ITV1 game show Odd One In.

In July 2011, Manford presented Show Me The Funny, a reality show on ITV1 involving 10 comedians in which one is voted off each week.^[16] The live final was filmed in Hammersmith Apollo in August 2011.

Manford wrote and presented "2013: A Funny Old Year" which was broadcast on ITV on New Year's Eve.

In late 2013 he also stared as the voiceover artist for Jet2.com.

Stand-up

After a successful first UK tour^[17] and high sales of the following DVD, filmed live at the Manchester Apollo, he started his "Turning Into My Dad" tour on 14 July 2010.^[18]

In March 2010, Manford took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.^{[citation needed]}

His latest UK tour, named "First World Problems", was performed between June and December 2013.^[19]

Acting

Manford performs the voiceover on the Churchill Insurance adverts^[20] and is one of the voices in the BBC comedy sketch show Walk on the Wild Side. He appeared in series four of Channel 4's Shameless as a security guard who is seduced by Karen Maguire. In July 2012 Manford took over the role of Pirelli in the London revival of musical Sweeney Todd.

Manford has a minor voice acting role in the Xbox 360 video game Fable III, playing a character called "Jammy" who teaches the player how to use mortars. Pvt. Jammy dies early in the game.^{[citation needed]}

Manford had a role in the BBC 3 series Ideal. He starred in the 1 February 2013 episode of Moving On.

The Laugh Inn

In 2011 Jason became one of the shareholders of the Chester based comedy club, The Laugh Inn. Jason frequents the club to see shows and support the circuit comedians as well as performing impromptu or unannounced shows. The club closed in 2013

Influences

Manford cites Billy Connolly as his comedy hero,^[21] after seeing him when Manford was 8, and comics such as Tommy Cooper and Peter Kay heavily influenced his comic style.^[6] In 2009 in an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Manford talked about his passion for musicals, expressing an interest in taking a singing and acting role on stage, and giving a short, impromptu performance of "Suddenly Seymour".

Personal life

Manford married actress Catherine in October 2007. On 20 August 2009, his wife gave birth to healthy twin daughters.^[22][23] His wife gave birth to their third daughter in December 2010. The family lived in Stockport, Greater Manchester.^[24] In May 2013, Jason and Catherine split amicably ^[25]

On 18 November 2010, Manford resigned as co-host of The One Show to "concentrate on his family" following his admission to a number of allegations published in tabloid newspapers in regards to exchanging sexually-oriented Twitter messages with fans.^[26][27] Manford separated from his wife in 2012.^[28]

In November 2008, Manford became patron of Savebabies,^[22][29] a charity campaigning for newborn screening.^[30]

Manford is a supporter of Manchester City. ^[31]

Awards and nominations for stand-up comedy

• Winner of the 1999 North West City Life Comedian of the Year
• Winner of the 2000 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year
• Finalist in the 2000 Channel Four So You Think You're Funny competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Nominated for the 2001 Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Comedy
• Nominated for the 2005 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his debut one-man show Urban Legend
• Winner of the 2005 Writers Guild of Great Britain and The List's Best Comedy Newcomer for his debut Edinburgh show Urban Legend
• Winner 2006 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act
• Winner of the 2006 North West Comedy Awards category for Best Stand up on the North West Circuit

Filmography

Pilots

In 2013, Manford hosted three pilots: Good News, Bad News for ITV. Oh! What a Week for ITV and You and Whose Army? for Sky1. None of the shows have yet been commissioned for a full series.

Stand-up DVDs

• Live at the Manchester Apollo (16 November 2009)
• Live 2011 (14 November 2011)
• First World Problems (10 November 2014)^[32]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jason Manford.

• Jason Manford Official site
• Jason Manford Comedy CV
• Jason Manford Chortle
• Jason Manford's Urban Legend review Chortle, 2005
• Seven Sundays (Short film) YouTube
• Forum for fans of comedian Jason Manford
• Jason Manford Interview Spoonfed, 22 October 2008
• Jason Manford at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Manford on Twitter