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Actor
and comedian Alistair Barrie has been performing professionally
for nearly an entire century (this one). Much in demand as both
a headline act and MC across the international circuit, he has
played all over the UK and Ireland, as well as further afield
in the States, Australia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium,
Prague, Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Norway, Hong Kong, Macau, Malta,
Singapore, Bahrain, Indonesia, Athens (during riot season) and
the middle of the North Sea.
Alistair has performed three solo shows at the Edinburgh
Fesival which have all received critical acclaim/opprobrium/delight/maulings/riotous
ovations/silence/sell out audiences/cavernous awkwardness/rapture/delete
where applicable (it is Edinburgh after all.) They were called
The Uncertainty Principle, Choice, and Obviously.
In his opinion, they were all great, but the first was probably
most successful because he was quite the hot young property then
(a status he truly failed to deliver on, thus opening up the
way for the entire cast of Mock The Week/8
out of 10 Cats/Live at the Apollo and so on and so forth
to have careers/DVD releases etc. that he isn't remotely jealous
of), and the third was probably the best (despite what Julian
Hall said in the Independent,) and therefore clearly the one
that cost him the most money. He retains a soft spot for his
under performing second show, Choice,
which was not the most reliable of theatrical extravaganzas (he
was trying to make a point, which unfortunately somewhat undercut
the laughs per minute quotient,) 'cos on one of the nights it
really worked, some delightful middle-aged woman took him to
one side and simply said - 'Exquisite.' And she'd definitely
been in the show. When the critical history of early twentieth
century comedy is written, 'Choice'
will of course be recognised as his difficult second album. Ultimately
terribly rewarding, even if he can't remember a lot of it any
more. In August, Alistair will be returning to the festival with
a brand new show 'Happiness' - see the News
page for further details.
In 2007 he also appeared in Breaker
Morant opposite triple Perrier nominee Adam Hills and
if.comeddie winner Brendon Burns. He then flew straight to South
Africa to compere the Main Arena and Best
of the Fest at The Capetown Comedy
Festival. Alistair also regularly appears at Reading,
Leeds, Guilfest, The Big Chill and Latitude Festivals amongst
many others, and has headlined James Campbell's Comedy
Club 4 Kids at both The Arts Theatre in London's West
End and The Soho Theatre where he additionally appeared alongside
Andy Zaltzman in Political Animal.
In tandem with his frequent, and frankly ostentatious globetrotting,
Alistair is also a regular team member of The
Cutting Edge - the weekly satirical and topical show at
London's Comedy Store, as well as
having appeared frequently on both television and radio. Recent
credits include The World Stands Up
(Paramount / BBC America), Champagne Comedy
(Channel 12 Australia) Richard and Judy
(Ch 4), The Blame Game (BBC Ulster
& Radio Ulster), Loose Ends
(Radio 4), Spanking New on 7 with
Robin Ince (BBC 7), The Sandi Toksvig Show
(LBC), No Signal (Sky 1),
Good Morning South Africa (SABC1),
Nuts TV, Flipside TV and
some E4 idents he's never seen. In addition, Alistair appears
regularly as a pundit type thing on BBC
and Sky News (see Videos)
and has also worked as warm up for Friday
Night with Jonathan Ross, Never
Mind The Buzzcocks and Shoot The
Messenger.
He also spent two years training at the highly respected Poor School, where he once played a "Slow
Loris" (a type of lemury type thing that moves in much the
same way that Cliff Thorburn played snooker) and "Laertes".
So he can act too. So there. That's why he was in Breaker
Morant. As well as directing a number of plays on the
London Fringe, Alistair has appeared in The
Knock (BBC2) Green Wing (Channel
4) Absolutely True (Channel 4) Spindrift (Indica Films/BFI) and A Little Rain Must Fall (Mynfel Films).
All of this pales into insignificance in comparison to the fact
that he was also in the Queen Vic in East
Enders when Tiffany found out Grant was shagging her mum.
Throughout 2002/3 Alistair was the face of telecom giant Avaya throughout Europe and Asia, but
he doesn't like to talk about that any more since the cheques
stopped. Despite this hiccup, Alistair continues to be in great
demand on the corporate circuit as both an MC and comedian. Recent
highlights include his first ever performance at a rugby club
(he survived) and a trip to Norway to perform in front of a huge
screen with him on it. Which was nice. Have a look on the photos page to redefine the
term big-headed.
A recent (and surprisingly professional looking) DVD of this
performance has just been unearthed thanks to a lovely Norweigan
chap called Per, and is now available for your viewing pleasure
in the Videos section
(Especially if you want someone terribly capable but not actually
famous and therefore moderately financially attainable for your
corporate event).
Recent highlights include organising and compering BYE
GEORGE, the comedians farewell to George Dubya Bush in
the QEH at the Southbank Centre alongside Rory Bremner, Mark
Thomas and Marcus Brigstocke amongst others, performing for International
Alert at the Bloomsbury Theatre with Simon Amstell, Stephen Merchant
and Stewart Lee and in OrangAid
at the Lyceum Theatre with Bill Bailey and Tim Minchin. |
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