Phill Jupitus
Encyclopedia
Phillip Christopher Jupitus (born 25 June 1962) is an English
stand-up
and improvised comedian, actor
, performance poet
, musician
and podcaster.
Jupitus has been a team captain on BBC Two
's popular music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks
since its inception in 1996 and also appears regularly as a guest on several other panel show
s, including QI
and BBC Radio 4
's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
.
on the Isle of Wight
, he took his stepfather Alexander's surname, Jupitus, when he was 16. The shortening of his first name to 'Phill' arose due to his mother's reminders that the name 'Phillip' is spelled with two Ls, something he carried over to the shorter form.
'Jupitus' is an anglicised version of the original surname Šeputis ascribed to the Jupitus family by an immigration officer when they migrated to Britain from Lithuania
in 1917.
Phill attended Northbury Infants and Junior schools in Barking
and later attended Woolverstone Hall School
near Ipswich as a boarder
on a scholarship
.
He took eight O-Level
exams, passing four, and enrolled at a Technical College briefly to study at A-Level.
After dropping out of college, he became a civil servant for the then Department of Health and Social Security
(DHSS) (now the Department for Work and Pensions
) working in a Jobcentre.
He now lives with his wife and daughters in Leigh-on-Sea
, Essex.
Using the moniker Porky the Poet, he became associated with Anti-Fascist Action
and the ranting poetry scene alongside fellow acts Kool Knotes, Swift Nick and Attila the Stockbroker
and approached local bands to offer himself as a support act for their tours:
Both Mark Lamarr
and Sean Hughes
, with whom he appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
, also started their careers as performance poets. Jupitus toured the student scene of colleges, universities and student unions supporting bands such as Billy Bragg
, The Style Council
and The Housemartins
.
He supported Billy Bragg
once more on the Labour Party
sponsored Red Wedge
tour in 1985: "In the early 80s, I got involved with Red Wedge, in which Neil Kinnock
got various bands to stage concerts for Labour. The reason I got involved was 20% because I believed in the cause, 30% because I loved Billy Bragg, and 50% because I wanted to meet Paul Weller".
After Red Wedge, he found it difficult to get other bookings due to the decline of political poetry as a mainstream art. He joined indie record label Go! Discs as a runner, which had signed Billy Bragg and other bands, such as The Housemartins.
Bragg has since said: "We ended up managing to get him a job at Go! Discs, which was brilliant. I was concerned that the cut-throat nature of the record business would make him jaded — underneath that rhino exterior there is quite a sensitive person — but that was before I realised that he was going to come back and do gigs again. Working at Go! Discs got his confidence up."
His performances of two of his poems, "Beano" and "Nobby", were included in the 1986 album Not Just Mandela (released on Davy Lamp Records, with all proceeds going to the Anti-Apartheid Movement
) alongside tracks by Billy Bragg and Attila the Stockbroker amongst others.
Jupitus became press officer and compere
for The Housemartins (appearing in the music video for "Happy Hour
" in 1986), using the role to continue being front of an audience, whilst also taking support slots for other artists. During this time he worked as a warm-up act on the Channel 4
TV show The Show. He quit working for Go! in 1989 and fell back on his poetry and compering to try and gain a foothold on the London
comedy circuit.
He conceived and directed the Brit-nominated video for Billy Bragg's track "Sexuality
" in 1991 and wrote a parody version about bestiality. He also made an appearance alongside R.E.M.
in Bragg's "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" video and on Searchlight
magazine's 2006 "Hope Not Hate" campaign tour with Bragg, singing the parody. He has also appeared numerous times at the Glastonbury Festival
acting as DJ and compere in The Left Field
tent.
Jupitus also produced the music video for Kirsty MacColl
's 1991 single release "All I Ever Wanted" from the album Electric Landlady
. He appeared at her tribute concert in 2002 as compere and also sang "Fifteen Minutes
", one of her songs.
He began hosting his own show on BBC GLR
in 1995, a regular job that would last until 2000.
After which he embarked on his first stand-up tour of the UK, Jedi, Steady, Go, performing the Star Wars
story in a comedic fashion.
Jupitus performed at the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2008. In October 2009, he joined the West End
cast of Hairspray
, playing the role of Edna Turnblad at the Shaftesbury Theatre
. He joined the 2011 tour of Spamalot
, playing the role of King Arthur.
Phill was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex in South Essex College's congregation ceremony in Southend on 30 September 2010 in recognition of his achievements.
, as a regular team captain - having appeared in every single episode, except for Season 25, Episode 6. He also frequently appears on QI
as a guest panellist; during the vodcast for one 2007 episode, he provided a Dalek
impersonation and also has a history of mimicking the host of QI, Stephen Fry
, while on the show.
In December 1999, he had the lead role in Dark Ages
, an ITV sitcom parodying preparations (and fears) for the year 1000 in the setting of Essex 999AD.
He was the breakfast DJ on BBC 6 Music
from 2002 until 30 March 2007 (the last song played, by listener request, was "Broadway" by The Clash
), and made brief returns to the station during the summer of 2007, sitting in for Stephen Merchant
on Sunday afternoon and Liz Kershaw
on Saturday mornings. In 2010 he publicly criticised the BBC's announcement that it was to discontinue the station, describing the decision as "not only an act of cultural vandalism, it's also an affront to the memory of John Peel
and a slap in the face to thousands of licence-payers." Jupitus has since written a book about his time on 6 Music, entitled Good Morning Nantwich: Adventures in Breakfast Radio. In February 2010, Jupitus presented the breakfast show for one week on Bournemouth University
student radio station, Nerve* Radio, while researching the book.
Away from his comedy and DJ work, Jupitus has also worked on Radio 4
as a regular contributor to Loose Ends
, The News Quiz
(where his performances are notable for a range of parody voices), I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
and Just a Minute
. He also presented Best Sellers — a series on the life and work of Peter Sellers
— and wrote and presented Disneyfied, a documentary on the work of Walt Disney
.
Jupitus has presented several editions of the popular Top Ten series for Channel 4, while also joining another comedy panel game — It's Only TV But I Like It — as a team captain, alongside Jonathan Ross
and Julian Clary
.
He has made one appearance in an episode of Holby City
as a patient (in "Men are from Mars"). As a voice actor he has provided the voices for Dandelion in an ITV adaptation of Watership Down
and also performing a selection of voices for Rex the Runt
by Aardman Animations
.
He appeared as a sports journalist in the movie Mike Bassett: England Manager
.
Jupitus made a guest appearance on the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
40th anniversary DVD performing with the band on the track "Mr. Apollo" and has toured with them around the UK. He appears on the Bonzos' 2007 album, Pour l'Amour des Chiens
.
He performed with The Blockheads on their 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and has done so sporadically since Ian Dury's death, also appearing in Dury's place for "Drip Fed Fred
" during the Madness
concert at Wembley Arena shortly before Dury's death.
He co-wrote and starred in the play Waiting for Alice with Andre Vincent
which had a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The world premiere took place on 16 July 2007 at the St. Ives Theatre in Cornwall.
Jupitus is also a continuity announcer for the UKTV channel Dave during the channel's evening schedule. During 2008 he did the voice over work for the Dave show Batteries Not Included. He also took part in the Dave show Comedy Exchange, where he went to America, while Eugene Mirman
came to Britain. Here they each performed different routines in various events . He has appeared in Argumental
for the same channel, where team captain Marcus Brigstocke
made him laugh so hard he fell off his chair and took a long time to recover. Jupitus and Brigstocke were reunited on the Radio 4 show (hosted by Brigstocke) I've Never Seen Star Wars
, in which Jupitus tried out things that he'd never attempted before, such as eating a Findus Crispy Pancake, undergoing a colonic irrigation, and shaving another person's head. They appeared together again in the UK tour of Totally Looped, performing at Brighton Theatre Royal, Portsmouth Southsea Kings and Victoria Halls, Stoke in spring 2009.
Jupitus has also twice appeared on the Radio 4 show The Unbelievable Truth
and is a regular guest with the Comedy Store Players
.
Since August 2008 he has become the new host of the Times
football podcast
"The Game", replacing the previous co-hosts Gabriele Marcotti
and Guillem Balague
, although Marcotti will still be the regular pundit on the show.
Between September 2008 and June 2011 Jupitus produced a podcast along with Phil Wilding, who produced his BBC 6Music show, called "Phill and Phil's Perfect Ten
". Initially being released fortnightly it later became more sporadic due to the pair's work commitments. In April 2009, archive episodes were made available for purchase on audible and iTunes as audiobook bundles of four with bonus 'perfect ones' attached. Since ending the podcast in June 2011 the pair have indicated that all back-episodes will be released free at some point in the future.
In December 2008 Jupitus took part as a guest presenter on RTE
's comical topical discussion show The Panel.
In 2002, Phill Jupitus was a stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 2
for Steve Wright while he was away on holiday.
During the 2008 Major League Baseball
season, Jupitus presented a feature during the seventh inning stretch of Channel Five's featured Sunday night game. Each week he would read a section or quote from one of his favourite baseball-related books. He is fan of the Boston Red Sox
and has their logo tattooed on his arm.
On 13–14 February 2009 Jupitus co-hosted the first BadMovieClub on Twitter
. At midnight exactly, over 2,000 Twitter users simultaneously pressed 'Play' on the film The Happening
and continued to 'tweet' whilst watching, creating a collective viewing experience that generated 40,000 'tweets' in under two hours. The first showing took place at 9:00 pm, hosted by Graham Linehan
.
On Sept 9, 2009 Jupitus narrated a half-hour documentary on BBC Radio 4
about the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes
created by Bill Watterson
.
On Oct 6th, 2010 Phill (along with Emma Kennedy) hosted a special comedy evening at the Canterbury Animation Festival 'Anifest'
He will be returning to Anifest 2011. on the 1st of October 2011.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
stand-up
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
and improvised comedian, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, performance poet
Performance poetry
Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe poetry written or composed for performance rather than print distribution.-History:...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and podcaster.
Jupitus has been a team captain on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's popular music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
since its inception in 1996 and also appears regularly as a guest on several other panel show
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
s, including QI
QI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
and BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or Clue, is a BBC radio comedy panel game broadcast since 11 April 1972 at the rate of one or two series each year , transmitted on BBC Radio 4, with occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC's World Service...
.
Early life
Born Phillip Swan in NewportNewport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, he took his stepfather Alexander's surname, Jupitus, when he was 16. The shortening of his first name to 'Phill' arose due to his mother's reminders that the name 'Phillip' is spelled with two Ls, something he carried over to the shorter form.
'Jupitus' is an anglicised version of the original surname Šeputis ascribed to the Jupitus family by an immigration officer when they migrated to Britain from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in 1917.
Phill attended Northbury Infants and Junior schools in Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
and later attended Woolverstone Hall School
Woolverstone Hall School
In the early 1950s the London County Council obtained use of Woolverstone Hall near Ipswich, Suffolk, and some of adjoining land for the purpose of establishing a secondary grammar boarding school for London boys...
near Ipswich as a boarder
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
on a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
.
He took eight O-Level
General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...
exams, passing four, and enrolled at a Technical College briefly to study at A-Level.
After dropping out of college, he became a civil servant for the then Department of Health and Social Security
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...
(DHSS) (now the Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
) working in a Jobcentre.
He now lives with his wife and daughters in Leigh-on-Sea
Leigh-on-Sea
Leigh-on-Sea , sometimes called Leigh, is a civil parish in Essex, England. It is part of Southend-on-Sea for administrative purposes. It became a civil parish in 1996. The council tax was increased to support it. A town council was formed. Leigh is the only parish in Southend...
, Essex.
Career
During his five years at the DHSS, Jupitus began writing political poetry and drawing cartoons in distracted moments. He quit his employment there in 1984, hopeful of a career move into the music industry.Using the moniker Porky the Poet, he became associated with Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action was a militant anti-fascist organization founded by members of Red Action and other left-wing groups in the United Kingdom in 1985....
and the ranting poetry scene alongside fellow acts Kool Knotes, Swift Nick and Attila the Stockbroker
Attila the Stockbroker
Attila the Stockbroker is a punk poet, and a folk punk musician and songwriter. He performs solo and as the leader of the band Barnstormer...
and approached local bands to offer himself as a support act for their tours:
Both Mark Lamarr
Mark Lamarr
Mark Lamarr is an English comedian, radio DJ and television presenter.-Early life:Lamarr was born in the Park South area of Swindon and has three elder sisters. His father is Irish...
and Sean Hughes
Sean Hughes (comedian)
Sean Hughes is a British-Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor.-Career:Hughes was born in London, but spent most of his youth in Firhouse, Dublin...
, with whom he appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
, also started their careers as performance poets. Jupitus toured the student scene of colleges, universities and student unions supporting bands such as Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
, The Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
and The Housemartins
The Housemartins
The Housemartins were an English indie pop band that was active in the 1980s. Many of the Housemartins' lyrics were a mixture of Marxist politics and Christianity, reflecting singer Paul Heaton's beliefs at the time .-Formation:The band was formed in late 1983 by Paul Heaton and...
.
He supported Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...
once more on the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
sponsored Red Wedge
Red Wedge
Red Wedge was a collective of musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Fronted by...
tour in 1985: "In the early 80s, I got involved with Red Wedge, in which Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
got various bands to stage concerts for Labour. The reason I got involved was 20% because I believed in the cause, 30% because I loved Billy Bragg, and 50% because I wanted to meet Paul Weller".
After Red Wedge, he found it difficult to get other bookings due to the decline of political poetry as a mainstream art. He joined indie record label Go! Discs as a runner, which had signed Billy Bragg and other bands, such as The Housemartins.
Bragg has since said: "We ended up managing to get him a job at Go! Discs, which was brilliant. I was concerned that the cut-throat nature of the record business would make him jaded — underneath that rhino exterior there is quite a sensitive person — but that was before I realised that he was going to come back and do gigs again. Working at Go! Discs got his confidence up."
His performances of two of his poems, "Beano" and "Nobby", were included in the 1986 album Not Just Mandela (released on Davy Lamp Records, with all proceeds going to the Anti-Apartheid Movement
Anti-Apartheid Movement
Anti-Apartheid Movement , originally known as the Boycott Movement, was a British organization that was at the center of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's Blacks....
) alongside tracks by Billy Bragg and Attila the Stockbroker amongst others.
Jupitus became press officer and compere
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
for The Housemartins (appearing in the music video for "Happy Hour
London 0 Hull 4
London 0 Hull 4 is a 1986 album by The Housemartins. It was their first album and contains the singles "Flag Day" , "Sheep" , "Happy Hour" and "Think for a Minute" ....
" in 1986), using the role to continue being front of an audience, whilst also taking support slots for other artists. During this time he worked as a warm-up act on the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
TV show The Show. He quit working for Go! in 1989 and fell back on his poetry and compering to try and gain a foothold on the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
comedy circuit.
He conceived and directed the Brit-nominated video for Billy Bragg's track "Sexuality
Sexuality (Billy Bragg song)
"Sexuality" is the ninth track on Billy Bragg's 1991 album, Don't Try This at Home. The song was his best known hit of the time, and was also released as a single which reached #27 on the UK charts and #2 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts....
" in 1991 and wrote a parody version about bestiality. He also made an appearance alongside R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
in Bragg's "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" video and on Searchlight
Searchlight (magazine)
Searchlight is a British anti-fascist magazine, founded in 1975 by Gerry Gable, which publishes exposés about racism, antisemitism, and fascism in the UK....
magazine's 2006 "Hope Not Hate" campaign tour with Bragg, singing the parody. He has also appeared numerous times at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
acting as DJ and compere in The Left Field
The Left Field
The Left Field is a travelling stage and bar which forms part of a number of British festivals. The event is organised by Geoff Martin, organiser of the Battersea and Wandsworth TUC, and sponsored by Cooperative Insurance, the GMB union, the Amicus union, Clause IV, Ethical Threads and the Workers...
tent.
Jupitus also produced the music video for Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty MacColl
Kirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter.MacColl scored several pop hits from the early 1980s to the early 1990s...
's 1991 single release "All I Ever Wanted" from the album Electric Landlady
Electric Landlady
Electric Landlady is Kirsty MacColl's third studio album. Released in 1991, it was her second Capitol Records release and second collaboration with producer/husband Steve Lillywhite...
. He appeared at her tribute concert in 2002 as compere and also sang "Fifteen Minutes
Kite (Kirsty MacColl album)
Kite is the breakthrough second album by Kirsty MacColl, released in 1989. Produced by her then husband Steve Lillywhite, it was her first album for Virgin Records. The album including MacColl's hit cover of The Kinks' "Days", as well as two tracks written with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr...
", one of her songs.
He began hosting his own show on BBC GLR
BBC London 94.9
BBC London 94.9 is London's BBC Local Radio station, and part of BBC London. Broadcasting across Greater London and beyond on 94.9 FM, DAB, Virgin Media Channel 930, Sky Channel 0152 and also online...
in 1995, a regular job that would last until 2000.
After which he embarked on his first stand-up tour of the UK, Jedi, Steady, Go, performing the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
story in a comedic fashion.
Jupitus performed at the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2008. In October 2009, he joined the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
cast of Hairspray
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, playing the role of Edna Turnblad at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
. He joined the 2011 tour of Spamalot
Spamalot
Monty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
, playing the role of King Arthur.
Phill was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex in South Essex College's congregation ceremony in Southend on 30 September 2010 in recognition of his achievements.
Television
Jupitus was one of the panellists on the first TV episode of the show Loose Talk, which made a brief transition to television in 1994. His break came in 1996 when he joined BBC Two's pop quiz, Never Mind the BuzzcocksNever Mind the Buzzcocks
Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
, as a regular team captain - having appeared in every single episode, except for Season 25, Episode 6. He also frequently appears on QI
QI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
as a guest panellist; during the vodcast for one 2007 episode, he provided a Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
impersonation and also has a history of mimicking the host of QI, Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, while on the show.
In December 1999, he had the lead role in Dark Ages
Dark Ages (TV series)
Dark Ages is a British television sitcom, first broadcast as five thirty-minute episodes on ITV in December 1999. It portrayed medieval English villagers fearful of the turn of the new millennium in the year 999 AD, and parodied contemporary fears at the turn of the third millennium in 1999...
, an ITV sitcom parodying preparations (and fears) for the year 1000 in the setting of Essex 999AD.
Other works
Phill Jupitus' first vinyl recordings were part of the live Newtown Neurotics album Kickstarting a Backfiring Nation as Porky the Poet in 1987.He was the breakfast DJ on BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
from 2002 until 30 March 2007 (the last song played, by listener request, was "Broadway" by The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
), and made brief returns to the station during the summer of 2007, sitting in for Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
on Sunday afternoon and Liz Kershaw
Liz Kershaw
Liz Kershaw is a UK radio broadcaster.-Early career:The elder sister of fellow broadcaster and world music exponent Andy Kershaw, she began her career as a pop journalist for the Yorkshire Post before joining Leeds station Radio Aire, where her brother also worked for a time.While in Leeds, she...
on Saturday mornings. In 2010 he publicly criticised the BBC's announcement that it was to discontinue the station, describing the decision as "not only an act of cultural vandalism, it's also an affront to the memory of John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
and a slap in the face to thousands of licence-payers." Jupitus has since written a book about his time on 6 Music, entitled Good Morning Nantwich: Adventures in Breakfast Radio. In February 2010, Jupitus presented the breakfast show for one week on Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...
student radio station, Nerve* Radio, while researching the book.
Away from his comedy and DJ work, Jupitus has also worked on Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
as a regular contributor to Loose Ends
Loose Ends (radio)
Loose Ends is a British radio programme originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, and then transmitted early Saturday evenings from 1998 by BBC Radio 4. It was hosted by Ned Sherrin until he became ill in late 2006 with a reported throat infection, and later throat cancer...
, The News Quiz
The News Quiz
The News Quiz is a topical panel game broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4.-History:It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Simon Hoggart, Barry Took , and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in...
(where his performances are notable for a range of parody voices), I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or Clue, is a BBC radio comedy panel game broadcast since 11 April 1972 at the rate of one or two series each year , transmitted on BBC Radio 4, with occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC's World Service...
and Just a Minute
Just a Minute
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
. He also presented Best Sellers — a series on the life and work of Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
— and wrote and presented Disneyfied, a documentary on the work of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
.
Jupitus has presented several editions of the popular Top Ten series for Channel 4, while also joining another comedy panel game — It's Only TV But I Like It — as a team captain, alongside Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross (television presenter)
Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011...
and Julian Clary
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
.
He has made one appearance in an episode of Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
as a patient (in "Men are from Mars"). As a voice actor he has provided the voices for Dandelion in an ITV adaptation of Watership Down
Watership Down (TV series)
Watership Down is an animated television series, adapted from the novel of the same name by Richard Adams. It was a co-production of Alltime Entertainment of the United Kingdom and Decode Entertainment of Canada, and produced by Martin Rosen, the director of the 1978 feature film...
and also performing a selection of voices for Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt
Rex the Runt is an animated claymation television show produced by Aardman Animations for BBC Bristol in association with EVA Entertainment and Egmont Imagination. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince....
by Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations
Aardman Animations, Ltd., also known as Aardman Studios, or simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The studio is known for films made using stop-motion clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring Plasticine characters Wallace and Gromit...
.
He appeared as a sports journalist in the movie Mike Bassett: England Manager
Mike Bassett: England Manager
Mike Bassett: England Manager is a 2001 satirical comedy film directed by Steve Barron, following the fortunes of the manager of Division One football club Norwich City, Mike Bassett, who having led his side to the 'Mr Clutch Cup', is appointed England manager.The film takes the form of a...
.
Jupitus made a guest appearance on the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band are a band created by a group of British art-school denizens of the 1960s...
40th anniversary DVD performing with the band on the track "Mr. Apollo" and has toured with them around the UK. He appears on the Bonzos' 2007 album, Pour l'Amour des Chiens
Pour l'Amour des Chiens
Pour l'Amour Des Chiens is the first all new studio album by The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in 35 years...
.
He performed with The Blockheads on their 30th anniversary tour in 2007 and has done so sporadically since Ian Dury's death, also appearing in Dury's place for "Drip Fed Fred
Drip Fed Fred
"Drip Fed Fred" is a single by British band Madness from their 1999 album Wonderful, featuring Ian Dury on vocals. It was released as a single in January 2000, peaking at number 55 in the UK Singles Chart...
" during the Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
concert at Wembley Arena shortly before Dury's death.
He co-wrote and starred in the play Waiting for Alice with Andre Vincent
Andre Vincent
Andre Vincent is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor. Vincent sits on the board of The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society...
which had a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The world premiere took place on 16 July 2007 at the St. Ives Theatre in Cornwall.
Jupitus is also a continuity announcer for the UKTV channel Dave during the channel's evening schedule. During 2008 he did the voice over work for the Dave show Batteries Not Included. He also took part in the Dave show Comedy Exchange, where he went to America, while Eugene Mirman
Eugene Mirman
Eugene Boris Mirman is a Russian-born American comedian, writer, and filmmaker. Mirman currently plays Yvgeny Mirminsky on Delocated, and voices Gene Belcher for the animated comedy Bob's Burgers.-Early life:Mirman was born in Russia to Jewish parents...
came to Britain. Here they each performed different routines in various events . He has appeared in Argumental
Argumental
Argumental is a British improvised comedy panel game in which two teams captained by Robert Webb and Seann Walsh debate and argue on various topics. Sean Lock hosts the game. It is made by independent production company Tiger Aspect Productions for Dave and made its debut on 27 October 2008...
for the same channel, where team captain Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Alexander Brigstocke is an English comedian, actor and satirist who has worked extensively in stand-up comedy, television, radio and in 2010-2011 musical theatre. He is particularly associated with the 6.30pm comedy slot on BBC Radio 4, having frequently appeared on several of its shows...
made him laugh so hard he fell off his chair and took a long time to recover. Jupitus and Brigstocke were reunited on the Radio 4 show (hosted by Brigstocke) I've Never Seen Star Wars
I've Never Seen Star Wars (radio series)
I've Never Seen Star Wars is a comedy talk show broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Hosted by comedian Marcus Brigstocke, each episode features a celebrity guest trying out experiences that are new to them, but common to many others. The title comes from the show's producer and creator, Bill Dare, having...
, in which Jupitus tried out things that he'd never attempted before, such as eating a Findus Crispy Pancake, undergoing a colonic irrigation, and shaving another person's head. They appeared together again in the UK tour of Totally Looped, performing at Brighton Theatre Royal, Portsmouth Southsea Kings and Victoria Halls, Stoke in spring 2009.
Jupitus has also twice appeared on the Radio 4 show The Unbelievable Truth
The Unbelievable Truth
The Unbelievable Truth is a BBC radio comedy panel game made by Random Entertainment, devised by Graeme Garden and Jon Naismith. It is very similar to the occasional I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue game "Lies, All Lies", which was first played in 1985...
and is a regular guest with the Comedy Store Players
The Comedy Store Players
The Comedy Store Players is a group of improvising comedy performers known for their performances at The Comedy Store in London. The group first came into being in October 1985.Members of the group have included:*Dave Cohen*Jeremy Hardy*Kit Hollerbach...
.
Since August 2008 he has become the new host of the Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
football podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
"The Game", replacing the previous co-hosts Gabriele Marcotti
Gabriele Marcotti
Gabriele Marcotti is an England-based Italian sports journalist, sports author, and radio-television presenter.Born in Italy and now based in London, he was raised in Chicago, Poland, Germany, New York and Japan...
and Guillem Balague
Guillem Balague
Guillem Balague is a Sky Sports Spanish football expert. He is a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show Revista de la Liga and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several popular Spanish newspapers....
, although Marcotti will still be the regular pundit on the show.
Between September 2008 and June 2011 Jupitus produced a podcast along with Phil Wilding, who produced his BBC 6Music show, called "Phill and Phil's Perfect Ten
Phill And Phil's Perfect Ten
Phill And Phil's Perfect Ten was a comedy audiobook and irregular podcast hosted by Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding. It was recorded and offered for free on their website and ITunes after each recording, and archive editions were available as audiobooks on and ITunes each containing 4 episodes and...
". Initially being released fortnightly it later became more sporadic due to the pair's work commitments. In April 2009, archive episodes were made available for purchase on audible and iTunes as audiobook bundles of four with bonus 'perfect ones' attached. Since ending the podcast in June 2011 the pair have indicated that all back-episodes will be released free at some point in the future.
In December 2008 Jupitus took part as a guest presenter on RTE
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
's comical topical discussion show The Panel.
In 2002, Phill Jupitus was a stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
for Steve Wright while he was away on holiday.
During the 2008 Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
season, Jupitus presented a feature during the seventh inning stretch of Channel Five's featured Sunday night game. Each week he would read a section or quote from one of his favourite baseball-related books. He is fan of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
and has their logo tattooed on his arm.
On 13–14 February 2009 Jupitus co-hosted the first BadMovieClub on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. At midnight exactly, over 2,000 Twitter users simultaneously pressed 'Play' on the film The Happening
The Happening (2008 film)
The Happening is a 2008 science fiction thriller film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan that follows a woman, her husband, the husband's best friend, and the friend's daughter as they try to escape from an inexplicable natural disaster. The plot revolves around a mysterious...
and continued to 'tweet' whilst watching, creating a collective viewing experience that generated 40,000 'tweets' in under two hours. The first showing took place at 9:00 pm, hosted by Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor, comedian and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
.
On Sept 9, 2009 Jupitus narrated a half-hour documentary on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
about the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes
Calvin and Hobbes is a syndicated daily comic strip that was written and illustrated by American cartoonist Bill Watterson, and syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. It follows the humorous antics of Calvin, a precocious and adventurous six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his...
created by Bill Watterson
Bill Watterson
William Boyd Watterson II , known as Bill Watterson, is an American cartoonist and the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes...
.
On Oct 6th, 2010 Phill (along with Emma Kennedy) hosted a special comedy evening at the Canterbury Animation Festival 'Anifest'
He will be returning to Anifest 2011. on the 1st of October 2011.