Simon Munnery
| Simon Munnery | |
|---|---|
surreal comedy | |
| Subject(s) | Politics |
Simon Munnery is an English comedian.
Early life
Born in Middlesex, Munnery grew up in
Munnery had a short-lived career as a video game programmer. His most famous title was a version of Asteroids for the Commodore International VIC-20 (a game that Jeff Minter once described as a "pile of wank").[6] He also authored several games for the ZX81 (Road Race, Breakout and Space Invaders) and the ZX Spectrum. The VIC-20 games he wrote were Asteroids, Cosmiads and Scramble.
Career
Stand-up comedy
While at university, Munnery took part in a stand-up double-act called God and Jesus with
Munnery was brought to the attention of a comedy community as the compere of a post-alternative comedy cabaret called Cluub Zarathustra performed originally in London and later at the Edinburgh Festival.[7] Cluub Zarathustra featured Stewart Lee, Kevin Eldon, Sally Phillips, Johnny Vegas, Julian Barratt, Richard Herring, Roger Mann, Jason Freeman and the music of Richard Thomas and Loré Lixenberg.[8][9] A television pilot was made of Cluub Zarathustra for Channel 4 in 1996, but was never broadcast. It became the subject of a book by Robert Wringham in 2012.[10][11]
Munnery's
His 2006 Edinburgh Fringe show, AGM, included the opportunity for the audience to raise questions to discuss as group (such as "is there a God?"). The experience would often continue after the main show, when he takes the audience on tours around town, taking in art galleries, drinks and visits to other shows.
In 2010, Munnery hosted a Bright Club event at the Bloomsbury Theatre.[12]
In 2018, Munnery performed at Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK
Television
Futurtv ("Not 'Future TV', oh no. It can't be 'Future TV' – it's right now!") was a BBC production for
Munnery wrote and hosted the 1999 TV comedy game show,
Munnery also appeared in sketches in the first series of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle in 2009, and in Lee's The Alternative Comedy Experience for Comedy Central.
Radio
During the 1990s he made several series for
Munnery has returned to radio in the early 2000s, hosting Simon Munnery's Experimental Half Hour ("experimental in that it lasts an hour") and Simon Munnery Weakly Chats on Resonance FM. He also wrote and performed two four-part Radio 4 series called "Where Did It All Go Wrong?", which were broadcast in the summer of 2003 and the spring of 2005.
In 1999, together with John Hegley, he made a comedy series for BBC Radio 4 called The Adventures of John and Tony.
Munnery featured as a "genius" on Dave Gorman's Genius show on Radio 4.
Books
- Sit-Down Comedy (contributor to anthology, ed ISBN 978-0-09-188924-1
- How To Live, ISBN 978-0-9551946-2-7 Republished by Go Faster Stripe, 2018
- Wall & Piece, (contributor), by Banksy, Century, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84413-787-9
- You Are Nothing, (interviewee), by Robert Wringham, Go Faster Stripe, 2012. ISBN 978-0-9560901-2-6
Other works
Munnery has several CDs available: Alan Parker – Blast From The Past (featuring Stewart Lee on guitar and Al Murray on drums), Simon Munnery's Experimental Half Hour (2 CD's from the Resonance FM radio show of the same name), AGM recorded live at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2003, and BucketHead: Phenomenon Anon And On and Mr Bartlett & Mr Willis (2011) written and co-performed by Kevin Eldon.
In 2007, Simon appeared as Alan Parker on a music track by
Two DVDs of his work were released in 2007 – the first IAMTV, covering his Perrier Award Nominated show from the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe, was closely followed by Hello produced by Go Faster Stripe, a more recent stand-up performance.
In the 1990s, he regularly contributed a column to NME as "Alan Parker: Urban Warrior".
In 2009, Munnery starred in an award-winning animated rotoscope short, titled Yellow Belly End, co-written and directed by Philip Bacon, a student of the National Film and Television School. In the nine-minute film, Munnery appears in a bird costume and contemplates a cliff. He is credited as "Bird".
In 2017, Munnery was interviewed by fellow comedian Stuart Goldsmith for his podcast the Comedians Comedian. They discussed the inspiration for some of Munnery's ground breaking characters amongst other topics.[13]
In 2020, artist Andy Holden curated a retrospective of the artwork of Simon Munnery, titled ‘What Am I?’ It was first shown at Ex-Baldessarre, Bedford, and then toured to Stroud Valley Art Space.[14]
References
- ^ "Surrealism in a bucket". Harrow Times. 3 May 2005.
- ^ WGSB Famous Old Boys
- ^ "Munnery's the word – Arts – www.theage.com.au".
- ^ "Nerdy, cool and in a league of his own". The Daily Telegraph. 31 July 1999. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014.
- ^ "Simon Munnery - Venn diagrams - video Dailymotion".
- ^ James Hague (March 1997). Halcyon Days. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Cluub Zarathustra: British Comedy's Weirdest Secret". 4 September 2012.
- ^ British Comedy Guide. "Cluub Zarathustra: British Comedy's best-kept secret".
- ^ London News. "Simon Munnery Celebrates 30 Years in Comedy". Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
- ^ "Go Faster Stripe".
- ^ "Robert Wringham – You Are Nothing". 25 June 2012.
- ^ Carole Jahme (4 November 2010). "Laugh and learn at Bright Club". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- ^ Stuart Goldsmith (4 November 2017). "The Comedian's Comedian - 213 - Simon Munnery". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "Farty paintings and getting sozzled on gin: a seriously silly history of art and comedy colliding". The Guardian. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
External links
- Simon Munnery – official site
- New Statesman – Munnery's writing for The New Statesman, 2006–2008.
- Simon Munnery's Comedy CV
- Resonance FM
- How to Live – Munnery's book at First Against the Wall.
- CERN Podcast – Simon Munnery and Kevin Eldon visit CERN