Ian Macpherson (comedian)

Ian Macpherson
Pseudonym Fiachra Macfiach
Born Birmingham, United Kingdom
Medium Stand-up, novels, short stories, poetry
Nationality Irish
Years active 1980s-Present
Genres character comedy, surreal humour, wit
Influences Flann O'Brien
Influenced Malcolm Hardee[1]
Website IanMacpherson.net.

Ian Macpherson is an Irish writer and performer. He is best known for his stand-up comedy (especially his work in alternative comedy of the 1980s) and for his comic novel, Deep Probings: the autobiography of a genius (1999), which loosely parallels his own life. In 2004, Deep Probings was featured as a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime. He has also written a number of children's books including Late Again! (2000).

2011 saw the publication of The Autobiography of Ireland's Greatest Living Genius, an omnibus containing both Deep Probings and its previously unpublished sequel, Posterity Now.

He was described by Arthur Smith as "Comedy's answer to James Joyce" and by Stewart Lee as "Pre-dating and pre-empting all contemporary Irish comics, and the originator of the most influential joke of all time, Ian Macpherson is the Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb of stand-up comedy."[2]

Biography

Born in Birmingham in 1951, Macpherson moved to Dublin at the age of two. He studied and obtained a degree from University College, Dublin.

Later, in London he became involved with children’s, street and fringe theatre. He wrote and acted in such shows as One For The Road, Mutiny on the Bountiny (sic) and The Good, The Bad and The Banana. He later moved into stand-up comedy to great acclaim and won the first Time Out Comedy Award in 1988.

Several one-man shows followed at the Edinburgh festival, including The Chair at the Assembly Rooms (2001) and The Joy Of Death (2002) at the Pleasance. At this time he was also writing comedy scripts and radio plays.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Genealogy of the Joke
  2. ↑ What they've already said
  3. ↑ Ian Macpherson: the story so far

External links