Daniel Rigby graduated from RADA in 2004, and his stage credits include Yukio Ninagawa's Hamlet for the Barbican, a version of Midsummer Night's Dream in New York and London.

He started comedy in 2006, and won the Laughing Horse new act of the year competition the following year. In 2009, he made his Edinburgh debut the following year with Mothwokfantastic.

His other TV work includes roles in The Street, Ideal and spin-off series Spooks Code Nine – but it was his portrayal of a young Eric Morecambe in the 2010 biopic Eric And Ernie which propelled him to prominence, and won him a Bafta for best actor.

Daniel Rigby: Afterbirth
Live Review

Daniel Rigby has had some questions since he was reborn as a Christian at 19 years old. But now, having seen a different kind of light, he is exploring some of the Biblical stories he grew up with and explaining how he lost his faith.

With an Izzardesque stammering shotgun delivery which stutters from one story to the next, Rigby can be compelling to listen to. However he does not possess Izzard’s talent for the making the surreal accessible. He makes several references and callbacks to the Seven Dwarves that control his mind; an elaborate analogy that has varying degrees of success and grows tired and predictable fairly quickly.

Rigby has a thorough knowledge of the stories he presents as evidence that the Bible is nonsense, and he provides some fantastically unique insights into the tales of Noah, Moses and Lot. This is the most entertaining section of the show, so it is a shame that Rigby feels the need to steer away from it to play a game with the audience using some general, but more absurd, superstitions. Under-prepared and dull, it fizzles out with little impact or point.

We hear how Rigby was converted by the controversial Alpha Course, which provides good fodder for his caustic and accusatory comedy ranting. But we are only really treated to the superficial surface stories about the vicar wearing caps and giving out free meatballs. Much more interesting would have been to discover how the transition to and from Christianity affected him and those around him.

This could have been a cathartic tale or an in-depth expose on the tactics of the modern church but is ultimately a fairly lightweight look at the question of religion. Rigby even quotes from Dawkins and uses some of the scientist’s arguments to summarise his show.

Rigby is a good performer with clear potential and he has provided a feelgood hour – for the non-religious at least – but one can't help but feel that if he is risking eternal damnation he'd really ought to do it in more style and really push the boundaries harder.

One of my mate's older brothers. It was surreal hearing he was up for a bafta and I was even more shocked to hear he won it. Congrats and all the best, have to get some tickets sometime.

Dave, May 2011

Very good as Eric Morecambe in the Eric and Ernie drama, well done, a great portrayal of a comedy icon

Gavin Ramejkis, January 2011

I saw Daniel at Edinburgh fringe 2009. We discovered him at the BBC Comedy show and sent our friend to get tickets the next day as a matter of urgency. The Hungarian dance routine is genius and I can't wait to see more

Bridget Cox, August 2009

Saw him yesterday at Ed fest. This man is a future big star of comedy: tight set, very rarely did any of the sketches fail, very funny, go see while you can

ali, August 2009

Saw him recently. It was such a brilliantly energetic performance. His routine on classical music in tube stations stood out for me.

ColinS, August 2009

Saw this guy at a charity benefit gig in N7 and he came on super confident. Great delivery and nice diversion into surrealism running alongside some very sharp jokes. He dealt with some audience disruption very well without dissing the squiffy girls involved and instead got everyone in on a joke. Well worth a look imho!

Joan, March 2009

You really are the funniest guy to walk the planet. I hope you do well in your shows, I wish I cold be there but its just a bit too far for me to travel. Break a leg.

Susie, November 2007