100 Greatest Britons

From his Britain's Got Idiots show

More Andy Parsons videos

Best known as a regular panellist on BBC Two's Mock the Week, Andy Parsons started in comedy as a double-act with Henry Naylor, who he met at Cambridge University, where they became part of the Footlights group.

They started TBA, which was billed as London's first sketch comedy club, and performed together at the Edinburgh Fringe seven times between 1993 and 2001. In 1998, they also performed in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Like many writers, they cut their teeth on Radio 4's Week Ending, and were offered their own show, Parsons and Naylor’s Pull-Out Sections in 2001, which ran for nine series on Radio 2. In 2008, Parsons wrote and starred in his own Radio 4 sitcom, The Lost Weblog Of Scrooby Trevithick.

On TV, the pair also wrote for Spitting Image, Noel's House Party, Hale and Pace and Alas Smith And Jones, among others.

Parsons performed his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2000, and returned regularly until 2006. He is a regular member of the Comedy Store topical show Cutting Edge and has appeared at the Montreal Just For Laughs comedy fesival in 2006; the New Zealand Laugh Fest in 2003, 2004 and 2006; and Cat Laughs, Kilkenny, in 2005.

He won a Time Out award for comedy in 2002, and was named best international act by the New Zealand Comedy Guild in 2004.

Apart from Mock The Week, his other TV credits include Live At The Apollo, QI, Live Floor Show, They Think It's All Over and the BBC's Stand-Up Show.

Original Review:

With his absurdist observations and unique delivery, Parsons has firmly established himself as one of the most distinctive - and funniest - voices on the circuit.

He gives a masterclass of timing with every performance. The strong Estuary accent and the stilted, stylised rhythm with its unnatural pauses and weird inflections initially seem annoying in the extreme. But it soon emerges that this is a hugely effective way to ensure even the weakest gags get a great reception, knocking the audience's expectations of the tempo of a joke for six.

Not that the lions' share of his material needs this artificial aid, being sharp, funny and unexpected, and boasting that rarest of qualities: it gets better each time you hear it.

Even the naïve, bemused persona he adopts fits the speech patterns perfectly, underlining the idiot savant nature of his distinctive act that so effectively highlights the ridiculous in the world.

Some of the topical material he relentlessly pumps out ­ presumably as training for his radio series ­ might not be up to the same standard as his finest work, but it shows a commendable work ethic and can only serves to generate more of the routines that have kept him at the top of his game.

Skip to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Watched Andy on TV last night Live at the Apollo & thought him hilarious. Loved his mock on British people.

Veda Thompson, October 2010

I've seen Andy Parsons around 30 times now and he never fails to deliver. On Saturday at the Hampstead comedy club the place was rocking with laughter for the whole of his hour plus act. Whats more he never made one quip that I'd heard him do before. Phenomenal entertainer.

Stan Brewster, June 2009

Very funny and skilful comedian, gently working with the audience and seamlessly including improvisation as part of the act. Highly recommended.

John Burton, April 2008

The guy is hilarious. I had my doubts as I'd only seen him on the TV, but he does the business live. 2 hours of top notch humour.

Dave Rottweiler, April 2008

Good, solid material and wonderfully laid-back delivery. The guy certainly knows how to do it.

Michael Monkhouse, January 2008

Saw him in Durham at the weekend - fantastic

Mike, October 2007

Saw him on Comedy Store a couple of times - he was genius. One of the best I've seen, the man is a legend!

Steven Saunders, March 2007

Shear potential, and with the right backing and publicity, could surely go on to join some true comedy heroes. I'm snapping up the tickets to his comedy club nights while I still can.

Guy Pettit, October 2006

Skip to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4