Nigel Tufnel

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Nigel Tufnel is a fictional character in the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap. In the film, he is the lead guitarist of the rock band Spinal Tap. He was played by actor Christopher Guest.

Character biography

Nigel Tufnel was born in Squatney,

David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) who lived next door. They began jamming together in a toolshed in David's garden, influenced by (fictional) early blues artists like Honkin' Bubba Fulton, Little Sassy Francis and particularly Big Little Daddy Coleman, a deaf guitar player, and wrote their first song, "All the Way Home
". Before long they had formed their first band, The Thamesmen.

Tufnel's hobbies include collecting guitars; particularly noteworthy is his Sea Foam Green six-string

Bach (a "Mach piece") in D minor
, which he claims is the "saddest of all keys". The piece is provisionally titled "Lick My Love Pump'".

Tufnel has a great love for

Pokey in his shirt pocket and wearing Gumby shirts frequently. He is also a self-proclaimed "fish nut," liking cod and canned tuna because they have "no bones." Tufnel sits on the editorial board of his preferred in-flight periodical, Car and Driver. His favorite cookies are Oreos, but without the filling. A rider in his contract requires a large plate of Oreo halves, without frosting. Onstage he wears glam rock-inspired makeup and usually plays a Gibson Les Paul
. He is almost always seen chewing gum.

Tufnel has stated that if he was not in the music industry he would like to either enter the field of

haberdashery
or become a surgeon.

Tufnel's work outside Spinal Tap includes his appearance on the 1979 album Lenny & Squiggy present

David St. Hubbins, was played by Michael McKean
.

2011 Nigel Tufnel Day

Main article: Up to eleven

Tufnel is especially noted for his amplifier, which has numbering going "up to eleven", which he believes makes it louder than amplifiers that only go up to ten ("It's one louder"). When he is asked why the ten setting is not simply set to be louder, Nigel pauses, clearly confused, before responding, "These go to eleven."[1][2]

In the run-up to 2011, Spinal Tap fans created a movement to make 11/11/11 "Nigel Tufnel Day."[3] The movement was organised by The Nigel Tufnel Day Appreciation Society and Quilting Bee in Favor of Declaring & Observing 11 November 2011 as Nigel Tufnel Day (in Recognition of Its Maximum Elevenness). The theme of Nigel Tufnel Day was to take whatever you are doing on that day and "turn it up to 11".

Soloing techniques

  • Using a violin (as opposed to a violin bow, as made famous by Jimmy Page) to play his guitar
  • Playing a second guitar with his foot
  • Classical music inspired solos
  • Playing another guitar from a distance using horseshoes (as in The Return of Spinal Tap)

References

  1. ^ Memorable Quotes from This Is Spinal Tap IMDB.com
  2. ^ "The Script to This is Spinal Tap, v3". Corky.net. 1 March 1995. Archived from the original on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  3. ^ "11/11/11 Is Nigel Tufnel Day". Yahoo. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.

External links

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