Ted Chippington
Ted Chippington | |
---|---|
Birth name | Francis Smyth |
Born | February 1962 anti-humour |
Website | http://www.myspace.com/revtedchippington |
Ted Chippington (real name Francis Smyth; born February 1962 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England) is a British stand-up comedian.
Noted for his diffident on-stage
His deadpan style has won him a small number of devoted followers. Stewart Lee has often cited Chippington as the reason he began stand-up comedy, describing Chippington's act as "a mixture of surrealism and insolent provocation and uncompromising boredom"[1] and citing him as "the first post-alternative comedian".[2] Another admirer, Richard Herring, talks of Chippington's "contempt for the very idea of jokes".[3] For his part Chippington – who describes his own act as being influenced by Lenny Bruce and Owd Grandad Piggott[4] – says he is an "anti-comedian" and that he only started doing his act "to annoy people". He has even claimed that his main reason for retiring from the stage in the 1990s was that he was becoming too popular.
Early years
Chippington started performing in 1981 under the name "Eddie Chippington" before changing to Ted "due to maturity and baldness". He first came to national prominence when a gig he had performed in
In 1986 he released an album, Man in a Suitcase – a collection of live recordings plus some more songs, including his versions of "
Despite its failure to crack the charts, "She Loves You" raised Chippington's profile considerably and led to numerous media appearances, including a turn on the BBC's lunchtime magazine show Pebble Mill at One, the latter fulfilling a lifelong ambition.
Chippington also fielded interviews with the
Chippington once again came close to mainstream
At a time when the alternative comedy boom was at its peak, Chippington – who once claimed his favourite comedian was Bernard Manning[6] – struggled to break through to a wider audience.
Retirement
In 1990, feeling overwhelmed by the media attention, Chippington retired from show business and emigrated to the US. Rumours circulated that he had gone there to work as a truck driver,[7] but he was working in Los Angeles as a chef.[8] He later returned to the UK, getting married and settling in Torquay after a spell in London.
Return to performing
In 2007 he started performing again. Initially styling himself the "Reverend Ted Chippington", he ditched his old
In 2007 a CD boxset of Chippington's earlier work, entitled Walking Down the Road, was released on Robert Lloyd's Big Print label. A tribute to Chippington entitled "Tedstock", featuring Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and numerous other stand-up comedians, was held at London's Bloomsbury Theatre in order to fund this release.[9] This event led to a new flurry of media appearances for Chippington, including articles in national newspapers[10][11] and television and radio appearances.[5][12]
Since his return, he has toured regularly, invariably with the Nightingales, and visiting France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Ireland.[13] He has also made guest appearances on the Marc Riley and Phill Jupitus radio shows.
Discography
Albums
- Man in a Suitcase (1986), Vindaloo - UK Indie #5[14]
- Walking Down the Road (box set) (2007), Big Print
Singles and EPs
- Non-Stop Party Hits of the '50s, '60s & '70s EP (1985), Vindaloo
- "She Loves You" (1986), Vindaloo - UK No. 77[15]
- "Rockin' with Rita (Head to Toe)" (1986), Vindaloo (as part of the Vindaloo Summer Special) - UK No. 56[16]
- "(I'm Not) the Wanderer" (1987), Vindaloo - UK Indie No. 28[14]
- Is that Squirrel Relevant? EP (2010) – Otalgia featuring Ted Chippington[17]
- Blues Fan EP (2012), Respect Vinyl[18]
References
- ^ Stewart Lee website, July 2005 Archived 7 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- theguardian.com. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ Herring, Richard. "Newsletters – RichardHerring.com". Richardherring.com. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ "Reverend Ted Chippington – Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ a b Interview with Phill Jupitus, BBC 6 Music, 5 February 2007
- ^ "Melody Maker, July 12, 1986". Archived from the original on 23 April 2001.
- ^ "The Quietus – 2013 interview". Thequietus.com.
- ^ "Ted Chippington working in USA". The Guardian. 3 February 2007.
- ^ "Stewart Lee – November 2006 – Newsletters – NOTBBC". Notbbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ "The comedian who vanished", The Independent, 1 February 2007
- ^ "Father Ted", The Guardian, 3 February 2007
- ^ Clip from The Culture Show, BBC Two, 3 February 2007
- ^ "Ted Chippington abroad". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-9517206-9-4
- ^ "Official Charts Company – Ted Chippington". Archive.today. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ISBN 0-86241-913-1
- ^ "Is That Squirrel Relevant?". Otalgia.bandcamp.com.
- ^ "Blues Fan". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014.