Biography
Marcus began his comedy career at Bristol University where he performed stand up and character shows and soon won the BBC New Comedian of 1996. He has since emerged as a major comedy, writing and acting talent, performing in the UK and beyond and has become a regular voice on BBC Radio with an impressive list of TV and film credits.
The Edinburgh festival has been a regular haunt for Marcus, and has seen him receive a great deal of critical acclaim. His shows include: Planet Corduroy, The Museum Of Everything, The Award Winning Show, Get A Life and Help Yourself, Club Seals Late Night, Marcus Brigstocke Stand Up and The Late Edition - Marcus's excellent topical talk-show on BBC4.
Recent TV appearances also include Live from the Apollo (with Jack Dee), Have I Got News For You, King Stupid for CBBC and a valiant attempt at raising laughs on What's the Problem with Anne Robinson (with varied success). He also played the lead character in BBC3's Vacant Possession, one of the Twisted Tales series. Other acting work includes Adam Savage in Simon Nye's BBC 1 sitcom The Savages, and of course David Oxley (BA Hons) in We Are History, the cult success which has bought him to the attention of many an adoring fan and the odd angry archaeologist.
Radio 4 has become a second home for Marcus as he is rarely off the 18.30 slot in one form or another. He is the regular angry young man on The Now Show with Punt and Dennis. He has written and recorded six series of Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off and The Museum Of Everything with Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell. He plays the head of Unthinkable Solutions in Think The Unthinkable. Other recordings include Just a Minute, Newsquiz, The Today Program, and the wonderfully silly 99p Challenge. He played a starring role in the first series of 2000 Years Of Radio and also made Risking Everything, a serious investigation in to the world of insurance.
On the big screen he has appeared in Richard Curtis' movie Love Actually as a Radio DJ interviewing the wonderfully jaded Billy Mack (Bill Nighy). He went to Berlin with Kevin Spacey to film Beyond The Sea - the life story of Bobby Darin. In Piccadilly Marcus appears with Sam Rockwell and Tom Wilkinson as 'man having sex under stairs', a small but vital role. He also played a desperately ambitious and tragically unable arts presenter in A Short Film About John Bolton, directed by Neil Gaiman - available now on DVD - for Ska Films.
In April 2008 he and fellow comedian and snowboarder, Andrew Maxwell founded the Altitude Festival - a comedy and music festival in the ski resort of Meribel, in the French Alps.
In September 2008, Brigstocke was team captain for the recording of the first series of a new TV comedy panel debating show, Argumental for UK TV channel Dave, He is the Captain of the Red Team. In this, he competes against Rufus Hound with a variety of guest participants, under the chairmanship of John Sergeant.
In 2009, Brigstocke starred in the UK tour of the hit American live improvisation show, Totally Looped.
His second stand-up show God Collar toured in 2009. In June 2010, Brigstocke announced that he had signed a publishing deal with Transworld to turn the God Collar Tour into a book.
Marcus now lives in South London, happily married to his university sweetheart, and may well be the proudest dad in the world. He is committed to non-violence and is an active campaigner for CND and 'Campaign Against Arms Trade'. He once had a #11 chart smash with DJ Dee-Kline's, Don't Smoke Da Reefa. Without wishing to scrape the barrel further it is worth saying that Marcus very briefly worked as a podium dancer, and also on an oil-rig in the North Sea (although not as a dancer). He is fanatical about snowboarding - so much so he has set up a stand up tour in the Alps - and adores music and movies. Marcus can be seen and heard in venues across the country delivering his award-winning stand up, on screens large and small and on Radio 4 more frequently than the shipping forecast.
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