Glenn Wool | |
|---|---|
 Wool in 2016 | |
| Born | September 16, 1974 [1] |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Website | glennwool.com |
Glenn Wool is a Canadian stand-up comedian now living in England. [2] He has released six albums, including 2020's Viva Forever, produced by Dan Schlissel for Stand Up! Records.
His father, who was Estonian, escaped a concentration camp in Sweden after World War II by helping steal a minesweeper and sailing it to Ireland. [3] The family eventually emigrated to Canada, changing its name from the Estonian "Vool" to "Wool." [4] Wool's father became a policeman in Toronto, where his investigation of a fraud case involving novelist Jeffrey Archer led Archer to base a character on Wool's father in his first book, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less . [5]
Wool grew up in various Canadian cities including Toronto and Vancouver, as well as the British Columbia cities of Langley and White Rock, where he went to Earl Marriott Secondary School. [6] He discovered comedy at age 12 after seeing a Bill Cosby live stand-up appearance. [7]
Wool's combination of intelligent political comedy and burly Canadian demeanour has been described as "hoser savant." [8] He began his comedy career in Vancouver in 1995, at age 19. [7] He moved to London at age 22, where he quickly established himself in the city's comedy scene. [9] [8] He has appeared on many British comedy and panel shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats , Russell Howard's Good News , The John Bishop Show , Never Mind The Buzzcocks , 28 Acts in 28 Minutes , Comedy Cuts , Comedy Central UK's "The Alternative Comedy Experience", and radio programs such as Political Animal as well as Live at Gotham and John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central and Showtime's The Green Room with Paul Provenza . [7] [9] [6]
He is a frequent performer at large music festivals such as Glastonbury. [7] He has also performed more than 17 times at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, [10] where his shows have typically been well-reviewed. [11] [12] [13] Gareth Newnham of the Weston & Somerset Mercury, reviewing Wool's Wools Gold II: The Iron Pirate, praised his "perfect comic-timing and delivery, a combination of stoner drawl and fire-brand Southern preacher which snaps back and forth at almost a drop of a hat," and Wool's "ability to take a joke and then push it to the darkest place he possibly can." [14] Wool also hosted the 2016 show Before the Morning After, featuring comics filmed in a diner at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe, for the NBC streaming service Seeso. [9] [15]
Wool has toured the world extensively, telling one interviewer that he once circled the globe three times in two weeks, becoming so jet-lagged that he forgot what city he was in. [16] [17] In 2014, Wool was part of a team of comics that planned to set a world record for the world's highest stand-up concert by climbing Mount Everest, but was forced to pull out after delays. [18] [4]
He has toured with Doug Stanhope, [19] and appeared on Stanhope's 2017 group album/video Comedians' Comedian's Comedians, which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Comedy chart. [20] He has been a member of Canadian musical comedy group The Lumberjacks with Stuart Francis and Craig Campbell. [21]
Wool is the voice of the title character in the Cartoon Hangover 2018 miniseries Slug Riot. [22] He also voiced the character Hunter in the animated Disney XD short Lottie Bearshout: Good as Goaled, which won a BAFTA Children's Award in 2016. [9] [23]
In 2004, he wrote and starred in What’s The Story?”, an episode of Channel 4's experimental series Comedy Lab . [6]
Wool co-hosts the podcast Freestyle with comedian Frankie Boyle. [24]
Wool has released five albums on Stand Up! Records, all produced by Grammy winner Dan Schlissel. Derek Riggs, who designed Iron Maiden's albums, did the cover for Wool's No Land's Man. [25] Befitting Wool's wide-traveling career, several albums were recorded in far-flung locations: I'll Ask Her was recorded in Alaska, with a title that puns on the state's name, [26] and Creator, I Am But a Pawn was recorded in Tallinn, Estonia. [27]
Wool won the Best of Fest award for his 2010 appearance at the Sydney Comedy Festival. He was nominated in the Best Headliner category at the Chortle Awards in 2008, [2] and Best International Stand Up at the 2003 New Zealand Comedy Awards. [28]
Wool is divorced and remarried. [29] Wool and his wife live in England and have a son. [2]
Richard Keith Herring is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring. He is described by The British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy".
Doug Stanhope is an American stand-up comedian, author, actor, political activist and podcast host. His stand-up material favors caustic and often obscene observations of life in the style of Bill Hicks, which he delivers while consuming alcohol. Politically, he has favored libertarianism and once endorsed the Free State Project, a proposed political migration of at least 20,000 libertarians to a single low-population state to foster libertarian ideas.
JJ Whitehead is a Canadian born stand-up comedian, who was based in the United Kingdom until 2014. He lives in Hollywood, California. He has made appearances at 14 Edinburgh Festival Fringes including 7 solo shows.
Tony Law is a Canadian stand-up comedian. Originally from Lacombe, Alberta, he has been based in London, United Kingdom since the age of 19.
Sarah Jane Millican is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and in the same year she married fellow comedian Gary Delaney. Her first book, How to Be Champion, was published in 2017. Millican has performed on various tours, mainly across the United Kingdom, over the years.
Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 200 comedy albums and videos since its founding in 2000, including albums by Lewis Black, Patton Oswalt, Greg Proops, David Cross, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Buress, Judy Gold, the Sklar Brothers, and Eddie Pepitone. Comedian and actor Marc Maron, who released his first three albums on Stand Up!, described Schlissel as "a guy who loves comedy, and is very attentive to the process of recording comedy," and, referencing the large number of noteworthy comics who were given important exposure in their early careers by the label, joked that "you've done everybody's first two records."
Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the Chortle Awards to honour the best stand-up comics working in the UK. In recent years, the site has also branched out into events promotion.
Michael John Flanagan is an English comedian. Flanagan has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured Britain with stand-up shows. He presented Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change? for Radio 4 and has appeared on various TV shows including Mock the Week, A League of Their Own, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Was It Something I Said?, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and I Love My Country.
The Alternative Comedy Experience is a stand-up comedy show that premiered on 5 February 2013 on the Comedy Central channel in the UK. It features live comedy shows, filmed in July 2012 at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh, and behind-the-scenes interviews.
Bobby Mair is a Canadian stand-up comedian based in London, England. Mair has appeared on The Hour, Russell Howard's Good News, Sweat the Small Stuff, Virtually Famous, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Sam Delaney's News Thing, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Live at The Rivermill. Mair won the Laughing Horse New Act Of The Year competition in 2012. He has supported Jerry Sadowitz, Doug Stanhope and Bill Burr.
Sofie Hagen is a London-based Danish comedian, author, podcaster, fashion designer, and fat acceptance campaigner. She has toured with comedy shows, released a book and hosted and co-hosted a number of podcasts.
Alex Edelman is an American stand-up comedian based in New York City. He is an internationally touring comic and found early success in the United Kingdom where he was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has toured three shows since 2014: Millennial (2014–2015), Everything Handed to You (2015–2016), and Just for Us (2018–2020). Just for Us opened off-Broadway in 2022 before premiering on Broadway in 2023; it was named a NYT Critic’s Pick both times.
Josiah Norris is a British alternative comedian, comic actor and screenwriter.
Rosie Jones is a British comedian, writer and actress. After starting her career as a writer on panel shows, she went on to appear as a guest on The Last Leg, 8 Out of 10 Cats, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI and Hypothetical. She attended the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo as a roving reporter for The Last Leg.
John-Luke Roberts is a British stand-up comedian, writer, actor and performer.
Olaf Falafel is a comedian and a children's author, who illustrates his own books, he is also the creator and presenter of Art Club an online Art channel for kids. He has been a stand-up comedian since 2012 and was also known for making humorous Vines, which he shared on Twitter, and some of which went viral, until uploading of videos from Vine to Twitter was suspended in 2016. His humour frequently involves puns and absurdity. He is a supporter of Luton Town Football Club.
Catherine Bohart is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in the United Kingdom.
Sarah Keyworth is an English stand-up comedian. They began pursuing a career in comedy in 2012, eventually going full-time in 2018 after being nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. They have appeared on television comedy shows such as Roast Battle, The Now Show, The Dog Ate My Homework, Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Dan Schlissel is an American record producer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and founder of the record labels Stand Up! Records, which specializes in comedy, and -ismist Recordings, which focused on punk and alternative rock from Nebraska and nearby Midwestern states. Schlissel won a Grammy as producer of Lewis Black's 2006 album The Carnegie Hall Performance, and was nominated for his work on Black's two Grammy-nominated albums, Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues and Anticipation. He is known for his work with Black and other comics including Doug Stanhope, Maria Bamford, Marc Maron, and Mitch Hedberg, and helping release the debut record of Iowa metal band Slipknot.
Sam Campbell is an Australian stand-up comedian and actor. He won the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award in 2018 and the main prize at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in 2022.
| Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
