Simon Amstell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section does not cite its references or sources.
You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since October 2006.

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Image:Simon amstell.jpg Simon Amstell (born 29 November, 1979) is an English comedian and television presenter.

[edit] Biography

Amstell was born in Essex into a Jewish family. He attended Beal High School in Redbridge. He first appeared on television in 2000 as a presenter on the UK kids' channel Nickelodeon but was sacked for "being too sarcastic"<ref>[1] The Guardian</ref>. From 2001 to 2006 he presented Popworld on Channel 4 with Miquita Oliver. He voiced the characters "Timothy the popworld melon" and "Richard the popworld horse". On popworld he developed a highly ironic, surreal and leftfield style which gained the show a cult following, but angered many of its guests^{[citation needed]}. One such example was a mock interview with singer Lemar called "Lemar From Afar," in which Amstell shouted questions into a megaphone from one end of a car park while Lemar stood at the other end. Another was asking the singer of the Kooks whether he ever called ex Katie Melua "Katie Manure", which was deemed "a bit personal" <ref>Video of interview Youtube</ref>. He was also very open about his homosexuality. During an interview with Blu Cantrell he informed her she looked quite "hard". She laughed and told him it was a line he should use on more girls, to which Amstell raised his eyebrows and murmured; "That won't be necessary."^{[citation needed]} Amstell was unafraid to ask stupid, irrelevant and almost insulting questions to guests who clearly expected more respect ^{[citation needed]}.

Amstell presented The Morning After Show and had a regular spot on Christopher Price's Liquid News. He has made guest appearances on Bo' Selecta!, Never Mind The Buzzcocks (including a spot as guest presenter on 20/3/06) and Comic Relief. He also briefly presented on London radio station XFM. He has since been replaced by Adam & Joe.

Amstell now hosts Never Mind The Buzzcocks full time - his first episode aired at the end of October 2006. He had said that he hoped to beat "the universal, exceptionless rule that when a new host takes over an old show it is a horrible, embarrassing disaster" <ref>BBC Press release - Simon Amstell is new host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks</ref>.

Amstell also performs as a stand up comedian. He has been a finalist of the BBC New Comedy Awards, the Mardi Gras Comedy Competition and the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year Competition (2003)^{[citation needed]}. In August 2005 he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, presenting an evening of music, comedy and chat. He returned to the Fringe in August 2006 to perform stand-up at the Pleasance Dome. He also appeared at the Carling Festivals in the Cabaret and Comedy tent, with a comedy set based around anti-Semitism, prejudice, The Big Issue, monkeys and a £2000 Christian Dior suit.