Tim Key
Encyclopedia
Tim Key is an English
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...

 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...

, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee
Malcolm Hardee
Malcolm Hardee was an English comedian, author, comedy club proprietor, compère, agent, manager and "amateur sensationalist"....

 Award for Comic Originality.

Edinburgh Fringe

Key was first noticed in the stage production Far Too Happy with the Cambridge Footlights (although not attending Cambridge University itself) which was a sell out at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...

 and was nominated for a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. This show also featured comedian Mark Watson
Mark Watson (comedian)
Mark Andrew Watson is an English stand-up comedian and novelist.-Early life:Watson was born in Bristol to Welsh parents and attended Henleaze Junior school and then Bristol Grammar School, where he won the prize of 'Gabbler of the year', before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he studied...

 and actress Sophie Winkleman
Sophie Winkleman
Sophie Lara Winkleman is an English actress who has worked extensively in television, film and stage. On 14 February 2009, she became engaged to Lord Frederick Windsor, the son of Prince Michael and Princess Michael of Kent. They married in Hampton Court on 12 September 2009...

.

In 2003, Key returned to Edinburgh directing (with Mark Watson) a sketch show - "Non-Sexual Kissing"; and performing in Alex Horne
Alex Horne
Alex Horne is a British comedian.He was educated at Lancing College and the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights.-Career:...

's "Making Fish Laugh". The latter was nominated for a Perrier Best Newcomer Award.

In 2004, Key took "Luke & Stella" to Edinburgh. This was a tragic one-man comedy play about a div-boy called Luke who has all sorts of problems one evening. He also performed in Alex Horne's Every Body Talks and Mark Watson's 24 hour show.

In 2005, Key took Cowards
Cowards
Cowards are a British four-man comedy act, composed of Tim Key, Stefan Golaszewski, Tom Basden and Lloyd Woolf.-History:Having all studied at Cambridge University and/or been involved in Footlights , Cowards formed in October 2004 and began performing their sketches live. They performed a new hour...

to Edinburgh. Cowards is a four-man sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...

 group Cowards
Cowards
Cowards are a British four-man comedy act, composed of Tim Key, Stefan Golaszewski, Tom Basden and Lloyd Woolf.-History:Having all studied at Cambridge University and/or been involved in Footlights , Cowards formed in October 2004 and began performing their sketches live. They performed a new hour...

. Key also performed in Alex Horne's When In Rome and Mark Watson's 2005 minute show.

In 2006, Cowards returned to Edinburgh and Key performed in Mark Watson's 36 hour show.

In 2007, Key took his first solo poetry show to Edinburgh. It was called The Slut in the Hut and sold out. In this year We Need Answers
We Need Answers
We Need Answers is a British television panel game presented by comedians Mark Watson, Tim Key and Alex Horne. The show features a pair of celebrities answering questions which have previously been texted in by the public, or the audience, to 63336, a text message service.-Format:In We Need...

also debuted. Key was question master in a debauched quiz to find the smartest comedian. Mark Watson and Alex Horne made up a trio of hosts who ultimately crowned Paul Sinha
Paul Sinha
Paul Sinha is a British stand-up comedian and broadcaster. Sinha is openly gay, a subject he has discussed on stage.-Education:Sinha was educated at Dulwich College and St George's Hospital Medical School...

 the first winner of this show. He also starred in Mark Watson's 24 hour jamboree.

In 2008, Key performed Freeze in Edinburgh. Freeze is a two-hander with Tom Basden
Tom Basden
Tom Basden is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.-Education:Basden was educated...

. There was also a run of We Need Answers. Josie Long
Josie Long
Josie Long is an English comedian.-Background:Long spent her early life in Orpington, South East London, where she attended Newstead Wood School for Girls in Swift House. She also attended GIFT Ltd. summer schools. She began performing stand-up comedy at 14, winning the BBC New Comedy Awards at...

 defeated Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...

 to lift the title.

In 2009, Key took his second solo poetry show to Edinburgh, entitled The Slutcracker. It featured what some have described as "deliberately bad poetry", some of which is about zebras. Key has subsequently stated that his poetry is not "deliberately" bad. The show also incorporated subtle references to cooking, and several short films in which Key variously appears as a bearded woman, a bearded man, and an office worker overseeing the slaughter of an eel. The show won the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award. He additionally starred in a comic play Party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....

, written by Tom Basden
Tom Basden
Tom Basden is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.-Education:Basden was educated...

, also featuring Jonny Sweet
Jonny Sweet
Jonny Sweet is a British comedian and winner of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer.-Early life:Sweet was born and educated in Nottingham and attended Nottingham High School, before going to Cambridge University.-Career:...

, Anna Crilly
Anna Crilly
Anna Crilly is an English actress and comedian. Secondary school: Kent College, Pembury. Crilly attended Middlesex University where she studied performing arts...

, Katy Wix
Katy Wix
Katy Wix is a Welsh actress who has appeared in Not Going Out, Comic Relief Special, Rush Hour, Miranda and Torchwood.She also has numerous recurring roles in Horrible Histories...

 and Nick Mohammed
Nick Mohammed
Nick Mohammed is a British comedian, actor and writer.-Early life:Nick Mohammed started his school life at Meanwood C of E primary in Leeds LS7....

. He also featured in Mark Watson's final 24 hour show.

In 2010, Key brought The Slutcracker to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Melbourne International Comedy Festival
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is the third-largest international comedy festival in the world and the largest cultural event in Australia. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks in April typically opening on or around April Fool's Day...

.

In 2011, Key returned to Edinburgh to complete his slutty trilogy with a new show, Masterslut, at the Pleasance Dome. He was also one of the contestants in Taskmaster II, in which Alex Horne
Alex Horne
Alex Horne is a British comedian.He was educated at Lancing College and the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights.-Career:...

 challenged comedians to complete numerous tasks for points. Key placed third.

Radio & television

In 2005, Key was commissioned to write a radio show for 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...

 based on his stage show Luke & Stella. The show's name changed to All Bar Luke
All Bar Luke
All Bar Luke is a radio series written and performed by comedian and poet Tim Key and produced by Seb Barwell. It was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.-Description:...

and was produced by Seb Barwell for Angel Eye. Series 1 aired in 2006, series 2 aired in 2007. The third series aired for the first time in Summer 2008. A Christmas special was broadcast in Christmas 2009.

In 2006, Key worked on Time Trumpet
Time Trumpet
Time Trumpet is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one-off programmes 2004: The Stupid Version and Clinton: His Struggle with...

, Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy....

's inventive sketch show set in thirty years time and reflecting on the present and the future. Key took the part of an EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

special effects supervisor. He worked with Iannucci again on a pilot, Shush
Shush
Shush may be:*the Iranian town of Shush**the Persian name of ancient Susa, which is next to the modern town**Shush County, Iran**a Tehran metro station* S.H.U.S.H., the fictional peace-keeping organization* Slang to keep quiet...

, by Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is a BAFTA Award–winning English comedian and actress best known for her performances in The Thick of It in the late 2000s, and series of critically acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...

, Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks is a British comedy actress, writer and producer.Banks is perhaps best known in the UK as a cast member of the British Channel 4 comedy series Absolutely, where her best-known character was a schoolgirl who sat on the edge of a desk.She appeared as the Keeper of the Rules in the...

 and Arthur Mathews
Arthur Mathews (writer)
Arthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partner Graham Linehan, has either written or contributed to a number of popular television comedies, most notably Father Ted. He is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology...

.

There have also been two series of Cowards on BBC Radio 4, produced by Victoria Lloyd. The first series aired in April 2007, and series two was broadcast in 2008. Both have since been released on CD by BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...

. In 2009 Cowards transferred to BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....

. directed by Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack
Steve Bendelack is a British film and television director, who has worked primarily on a range of highly-acclaimed comedy programmes.Originally an assistant to Peter Fluck and Roger Law on satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image, Bendelack went on to direct the show in later years...

, and produced by Seb Barwell.

Key was also resident poet on Out To Lunch
Out to Lunch
Out to Lunch may refer to:*Out to Lunch!, a 1964 album by Eric Dolphy*Out to Lunch , a 1974 ABC special*Out to Lunch , a radio show in Baltimore, Maryland...

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...

 in 2007.

In 2007, Key appeared on Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe
Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe is a British television review programme broadcast on BBC Four by Charlie Brooker. The programme contains reviews of current shows, as well as stories and commentary on how television is produced.-Format:...

, reading a poem about Deal Or No Deal
Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which was the Dutch Miljoenenjacht produced by Dutch producer Endemol. It is played with up to 26 cases with certain sums of money...

and again in November 2008, reading other poems about the Russell Brand/Jonathan Ross media spectacle
Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row
The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row concerned a series of voice messages that English entertainers Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross left on the answering machine of actor Andrew Sachs, which were labelled obscene by many media commentators and politicians...

, and children's TV advertising.

In 2008 and 2009, Key was resident poet on the radio show Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better
Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better
Mark Watson Makes the World Substantially Better is a radio comedy programme starring Mark Watson. It started on BBC Radio 4 on 13 February 2007...

hosted by Mark Watson
Mark Watson (comedian)
Mark Andrew Watson is an English stand-up comedian and novelist.-Early life:Watson was born in Bristol to Welsh parents and attended Henleaze Junior school and then Bristol Grammar School, where he won the prize of 'Gabbler of the year', before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he studied...

, on BBC Radio 4, each week reading a poem about human virtues. In series one of the show, Tim Minchin
Tim Minchin
Timothy David "Tim" Minchin is a British-Australian comedian, actor, and musician.Tim Minchin is best known for his musical comedy, which has featured in six CDs, three DVDs and a number of live comedy shows which he has performed internationally. He has also appeared on television in Australia,...

 provided music and songs, with Tom Basden
Tom Basden
Tom Basden is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.-Education:Basden was educated...

 taking the role in series two.

In 2009, Key also co-created We Need Answers, a panel show pitting two celebs against each other, for BBC Four. Mark Watson
Mark Watson (comedian)
Mark Andrew Watson is an English stand-up comedian and novelist.-Early life:Watson was born in Bristol to Welsh parents and attended Henleaze Junior school and then Bristol Grammar School, where he won the prize of 'Gabbler of the year', before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he studied...

 and Alex Horne made the show with Key and celebs answering questions included Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer
Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....

, Michael Rosen
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen is a broadcaster, children's novelist and poet and the author of 140 books. He was appointed as the fifth Children's Laureate in June 2007, succeeding Jacqueline Wilson, and held this honour until 2009....

, Neil Innes
Neil Innes
Neil James Innes is an English writer and performer of comic songs, best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, and for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later The Rutles.-Personal life:...

 and Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn
Robert Llewellyn is an English actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known as the mechanoid Kryten in the hit sitcom Red Dwarf, and for his role as presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.-Early career:...

.

In 2009, Key appeared on the spin-off television series Charlie Brooker's Newswipe
Newswipe with Charlie Brooker
Newswipe with Charlie Brooker is a British news review programme broadcast on BBC Four written and presented by Charlie Brooker. It is similar to Brooker's Screenwipe series which is also shown on BBC Four. A first series of six episodes ran between 25 March 2009 and 29 April 2009...

, reading poems in a section named "The Topical Poetry of Tim Key". He returned with his poetry in the second series of Newswipe in 2010.

In 2010 Key appeared as Duncan in Tom Basden's BBC Radio 4 sitcom Party.

In November 2010 Key appeared along side Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...

on Mid Morning Matters, a new online series based on his Alan Partridge
Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...

character.

In 2010 he appeared on the music panel show 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...

.

In 2011 he appeared as a TV interviewer in episode 2 of the sitcom Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short
Life's Too Short is an observational sitcom series, created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, from an idea by Warwick Davis, and is described by Gervais as being about "the life of a showbiz dwarf", with Davis playing a fictionalised version of himself. Gervais and Merchant appear...

.

Film

Key's short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island
The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island
The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island is a 2007 short film, directed by James Griffiths, and written by and starring Tim Key and Tom Basden...

', which he wrote and performed in with Tom Basden, won Best UK Short at the 2007 Edinburgh Film Festival. It was nominated for a 2008 BAFTA in the category of Best Short Film, but lost to Dog Altogether
Dog Altogether
Dog Altogether is the first film to be entirely written and directed by Paddy Considine. The term 'Dog Altogether' comes from an Irish expression that Paddy's father used to use when situations got really bad...

by Diarmid Scrimshaw, and one of Tim's biggest heroes, Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine
Patrick George "Paddy" Considine is an English actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, musician and frequent collaborator with Shane Meadows. Best known to audiences for his portrayals of dark, troubled, morally or mentally ambiguous characters...

.

Key has made two other short films with Tom Basden, Piano For Beginners in 2004, and The Amazing Hedge Puzzle in 2005, both of which were directed by Alex Winckler and produced by J Van Tulleken.

Key and J Van Tulleken are currently filming some of his poetry, in the form of 1 to 2 minute ostentatiously arty black and white films with the poems narrated over. Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Hall
Rebecca Maria Hall is an English actress.In 2003, Hall won the Ian Charleson Award for her debut stage performance in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession...

, Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal
Kristen Schaal is an American actress, writer and comedienne, best known for her role as Mel in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, as Louise in Bob's Burgers and as a contributor on The Daily Show.-Early life:...

, Tom Basden
Tom Basden
Tom Basden is a British actor and comedy writer, and a member of the British four man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collaborates in two-man shows with fellow Cowards member Tim Key.-Education:Basden was educated...

, and Khalid Abdalla
Khalid Abdalla
Khalid Abdalla is a Egyptian-British actor. He came to international prominence after starring in the 2006 Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning film, United 93. Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, it chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked as part of the...

, among others have appeared in these films, alongside Key.

Books

  • The Incomplete Tim Key. Canongate Books Ltd, 2011. ISBN 978-0-8578611-8-4
  • 25 Poems, 3 Recipes and 32 Other Suggestions (An Inventory). The Invisible Dot Ltd, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9553703-6-6
  • Instructions, Guidelines, Tutelage, Suggestions, Other Suggestions and Examples Etc.: An Attempted Book By Tim Key. (And Conversations/ Descriptions/ A Piece About A Moth). The Invisible Dot Ltd, 2009. ISBN 9780955370335

Album

Key's first album, a curious artefact of poetry, prose and tense conversation, entitled Tim Key. With a String Quartet. On a Boat. is released by The Invisible Dot Ltd/ Angular Records, November 2010.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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