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Ben Miller

Ben Miller

Ben Miller studied for a PhD in physics (specifically "novel quantum effects in quasi zero-dimensional mesoscopic electrical systems") at Cambridge University, where he was also a member of the Footlights comedy troupe.

He met his comedy partner Alexander Armstrong in 1991, when they started performing together in the TBA sketch night in Notting Hill, West London.

But 1998 was their breakthrough year, when they landed a Radio 4 series and a TV series, produced for Channel 4 and the Paramount Comedy Channel.

The show ran for four series and included such characters as Scandinavian heavy metal band Strijka, the drama Nude Practice and hip middle-class presenters Craig Children and Martin Bain-Jones.

They dissolved their partnership in 2000, to forge their separate careers

Miller went on to appear in two series and a Christmas special of the BBC One sitcom The Worst Week Of My Life, and other TV shows including Primeval and Channel 4 sitcom The Book Group .

He has also appeared in films including Razzle Dazzle, co-written by stand-up Robin Ince, and Steve Coogan’s The Parole Officer.

He reunited with Armstrong for one-off charity gig in London celebrity hangout The Groucho Club in 2005, which reignited their partnership, and led to their prime-time BBC One show in autumn 2007.

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Ben Miller: I caught fire while filming a comedy sketch

But John Noakes saved me!

comedycomedyBen Miller has told how he once got set alight when filming a comedy sketch with Alexander Armstrong.

And it was only his memory of advice given by Blue Peter legend John Noakes that saved him from serious injury.

Speaking to Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time podcast, the actor and comic explained: ‘We were doing that joke, you know, when there's an explosion, and then when the smoke clears your face is all covered in soot and you wipe your eyes and you can just see like a white bit around your eyes. 

‘That was the joke that Alexander Armstrong and I were doing when  that accident happened. 

‘The way they do it is to have a pyrotechnic, a little flash that goes off, and then they pump in the smoke. 

‘But to get the timing right, they'd pump the smoke first and then do the flash. What they didn't realise was that the smoke was flammable, so they did the pyrotechnic flash and the smoke caught alight, and basically a jet of flame went right right over the pair of us. 

‘I was wearing extremely flammable clothes… some very nylon clothes which then melted. My trousers melted and stuck to my skin. It was quite uncomfortable.’

Luckily, Miller remembered a segment Noakes did on Blue Peter, when he showed how, should you find yourself on fire, you could extinguish flames by rolling yourself up in a carpet.

There was a bed on set, so he did the same with a duvet ‘in a homage’ to the kids TV presenter, he told the podcast

Miller admitted he ‘had a bit of a thing about’ Noakes his whole life, with his first Edinburgh Fringe show, back in 1992, being called Gone With Noakes which was all about that obsession.

‘ I mean, that man has no fear,’ he told Thornton. ‘For Blue Peter he would climb the most ridiculously high buildings with no ropes, no safety harness, no nothing. He climbed to the top of Nelson's Column. He also did a like 10,000 foot skydive as well. He's extraordinary.

‘I  went to meet him. I tracked him down when I was doing my show. He had retired and he was living in Majorca.’

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Published: 2 Apr 2024

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Products

Book (2012)
The Joy Of Science, by Ben Miller

DVD (2009)
Armstrong and Miller Series 2

DVD (2006)
The Worst Week Of My Life: Series 1 And 2

DVD (2006)
The Armstrong And Miller Show - Complete 4th Series

VHS (2003)
The Book Group

Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Ben Miller's Stand-Up Science

Ben Miller's Stand-Up Science


Edinburgh Fringe 2024

Ben Miller: Volcano


Film

Huge


Theatre

Ladykillers


Tour

Armstrong And Miller Show


Agent

We do not currently hold contact details for Ben Miller's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.

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