Berry began his career as a runner.[citation needed] Between 1998 and 1999, he appeared in the video game magazine show Game Over on BSkyB's computer and technology channel .tv.[4]
After meeting Rich Fulcher while filming The Mighty Boosh, Berry wrote and starred in the comedy series Snuff Box with him on BBC Three.[10][11] Fulcher had co-starred as Bainbridge's lackey Bob Fossil in The Mighty Boosh.[12] Berry also starred with Fulcher and Simon Farnaby on E4's The Golf War in November 2007.[13]
Berry appeared in a number of films during this period, including The Devil's Chair (2006)[20] and Moon (2009). He starred in The Search (2009), a short film about "a lonely man's search for the existence of life outside our universe takes a remarkable turn when he connects with a recently bereaved family".[21]
In 2012, BBC Radio 4 aired his comedy series I, Regress, where he portrayed Dr. Berry, a brilliant but unorthodox regressive therapist. In each 15-minute episode, Berry explored the psyche of a guest patient, attempting to treat their problems in surreal dreamlike sequences.[22] Berry appeared in the film adaptation of the David Nicholls novel One Day as Aaron, Dexter's agent. He was briefly featured in the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, introducing ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky" by way of a mock weather forecast.[citation needed]
In July 2012, he appeared as vainglorious actor Steven Toast in the pilot episode of Channel 4 sitcom Toast of London, co-written with Arthur Mathews. Notwithstanding mixed reviews, a series was commissioned, and the first episode was broadcast on 20 October 2013, and it brought Berry the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Comedy Performance.[23] In 2015, Berry and Arthur Mathews published Toast on Toast: Cautionary Tales and Candid Advice, a spoof autobiography of Steven Toast. It was released as an audiobook read by Berry.[citation needed]
Berry played the title character in the 2013 Portlandia episode "Squiggleman". Co-creators Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein included the appearance on a list of their "proudest musical moments" from the show.[24]
From 2014 to 2015, Berry co-starred in the BBC 2 series House of Fools, written by and starring Reeves and Mortimer.[25] He portrayed Beef, "the highly sexual, flamboyant and blindly confident friend of Vic and Bob" who "will seduce anything in a skirt".[26]
Berry appeared in episode nine of the sixth season of Dan Harmon's television series Community, released on Yahoo Screen on 5 May 2015. In December 2015, he played Professor Awfulshirt in Harry Hill in Professor Branestawm Returns on BBC One.[27]
Since 2019, Berry has starred in the FX TV adaptation of the film What We Do in the Shadows as Laszlo, one of four vampires living in Staten Island.[28] It was renewed for a second season in May 2019, and began airing in April 2020.[29][30] The third season aired in September 2021.[31] In an interview with collider.com, Berry said, "It's different and it's very free. The scripts are starting points and then we go from there. That's how I like to work, anyway. So, for me, it was perfect. That's my background, improvisation. It was home for me in that department."[32]
In 2019, Berry starred in the IFC/Channel 4 sitcom Year of the Rabbit. Set in Victorian London, he plays the alcoholic Detective Inspector Rabbit. On 11 February 2020, the series was renewed for a second series of six episodes.[33] Citing budget cuts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Channel 4 reversed their decision in January 2021, casting doubt on the show's future. Layla Smith, chief executive of the show's production company OMG, said "Year of the Rabbit is a victim of the devastating effects of COVID. [...] IFC are very committed to the show, but we will need to find another partner — and we're working on that."[34]
In April 2020, BBC Two commissioned Berry for a mockumentary series titled Squeamish About ... The four quarter-hour specials would be cowritten by Berry and Arthur Mathews and star Berry as Michael Squeamish. The series uses a combination of archive footage and voiceover to produce a surreal perspective on the episodes' subject.[35]
In 2021, after the second series of Year of the Rabbit was axed, Berry was commissioned by the BBC to make a "Steven Toast in America" series. The show was a six-part television programme for BBC One, broadcast under the title Toast of Tinseltown and co-written by Berry and Arthur Mathews.[36]
Voiceovers
Berry performs as a voice actor. He voiced Bubbles, an inter-dimensional dolphin, in the 2015 SpongeBob SquarePants film sequel, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. That year, he also voiced the main villainess, The Butt Witch, in Twelve Forever, a series pilot created by Julia Vickerman for Cartoon Network that was released on its website on 18 May 2015. The show was moved to Netflix in December 2017.[37][38] From 2015 to 2016, Berry narrated Matt Berry Does ..., a series of comedy shorts for the BBC.[39] He provided the voice of Prince Merkimer in Matt Groening's animated series Disenchantment, which premiered in 2018 on Netflix.[40] Berry's distinctive voice has seen him providing many voiceovers for both radio and television advertising, including Absolute Radio, Müller Corner adverts and characters on several adverts for The Natural Confectionery Company. He has been in the sketch show The Wrong Door as a recurring bit-part character who runs into a snooker hall and shouts "Stop playing snooker!" before whispering an implied impossible wager to one of the players and completing an infeasible trick shot. In 2012, he worked with Team17 on their video game title Worms Revolution, providing voiceover, as fictional wildlife documentary maker Don Keystone, for both the game and the video advertisements produced for it.[41]
In 2014, Berry read out the teamsheets at Luton Town before the game. In 2015, he provided the voice for a satirical anti-war film by the UK branch of Veterans for Peace called Action Man: Battlefield Casualties.[42]
In 2024, he voiced Chester Arborday in the season 35 episode of The Simpsons, "Lisa Gets an F1".[45]
Music
Berry composed all the music for Snuff Box and Toast of London,[46] as well as the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera, which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade.[47]AD/BC was a half-hour parody of overblown musicals in general and Jesus Christ Superstar in particular, telling the story of the innkeeper who allowed Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus to sleep in his stable. AD/BC was broadcast in December 2004 and featured Fulcher and Mighty Boosh stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Berry performed a song for an episode of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, "One Track Lover", a spoof of cheesy romantic 1980s songs.[48]
Berry is friends with musical composer Dan McGrath and contributed to the Strictly Come Dancing theme song by playing guitar and providing the audible "Hey".[51]
Berry has recorded nine studio albums: Jackpot (1995), Opium (self-released, 2008), Witchazel (2011), Kill the Wolf (2013), Music for Insomniacs (2014),[52][53]The Small Hours (2016),[54]Television Themes (2018), Phantom Birds (2020) and The Blue Elephant (2021).[55] The most recent five have been released on Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz Records. In 2017, a "companion piece"[56] to The Small Hours was released, Night Terrors, featuring remixes by artists such as Saint Etienne. Berry stated in the first issue of Bearded in 2007 that he was producing and collaborating on new material with 1960s soul singer Geno Washington and would record an album.[57] It was Witchazel, which Berry originally released as a one-day-only free download in March 2009.[58] It was later released as a CD and paid-for digital download.[52]
Berry has toured with a number of bands including Jonas 3 and The Maypoles.[59] The latter comprises former Bluetones singer Mark Morriss and singer/clarinettist Cecilia Fage.[60] Rich Fulcher has joined Berry on stage for several appearances. Geno Washington has joined him onstage at London gigs for encores of the Snuff Box theme.[citation needed]
In October 2007, Berry provided a new track, "Cream Pie", to Bearded for readers to download free,[61] followed by a cover of the Blur song "Sing" in November 2007. "Cream Pie" is still available to supporters of Beardaid.[citation needed]
Until 2010, Berry presented a show on Absolute Radio, where he still performs various voiceovers and was described as "the voice of Absolute Radio".[62]
In July 2018, Berry released the album Television Themes[64] on Acid Jazz Records, featuring covers of famous retro TV themes such as Sorry!, Doctor Who and Rainbow. It became his first UK Top 40 album chart hit.[65]
In 2019, Berry was revealed as one of the contributing artists on The Desert Sessions album Vols. 11 & 12. He co-wrote, narrated, and played the organ on the track "Chic Tweetz".[66]
In October 2020, Berry's album Phantom Birds (also issued by Acid Jazz) made the UK albums chart and eclipsed the number 38 peak of Television Themes by reaching number 31.[67] In December 2020, he appeared in Gorillaz's live-streamed concert Song Machine Live, performing the narration for the spoken-word song "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" from the album Demon Days.[68]
On 14 May 2021, Berry released his ninth studio album, The Blue Elephant, distributed by Acid Jazz.[citation needed]
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows, The Mighty Boosh, Arctic Boosh (1999) and Autoboosh (2000) as well as a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aired from 2004 to 2007, and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the United States. The first television series is set in a zoo operated by Bob Fossil, the second in a flat and the third in a secondhand shop in Dalston called Nabootique.
Sarah Doon Mackichan is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy-award-winning Smack the Pony. She frequently collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan, having played multiple characters in The Day Today, Brass Eye and Alan Partridge, and has also appeared in Toast of London and Two Doors Down. Mackichan was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards for her performance in Plebs and won critical praise for her performance alongside John Malkovich in Bitter Wheat in 2019.
Noel Fielding is an English comedian and actor. He was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and has been a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. He is known for his dark and surreal comedic style.
Julian Barratt Pettifer is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside comedy partner Noel Fielding.
Matthew James Holness is an English comedian, director, author, plus actor. He created and played the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi.
Richard Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance.
Richard Fulcher is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, and Edward Sheath in the American series Jon Benjamin Has a Van. He has also appeared in Noel Fielding's more recent show, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. His other appearances include Unnatural Acts with Julian Barratt and Fielding of The Mighty Boosh and he starred in and wrote the TV series Snuff Box alongside Matt Berry.
Alice Eva Lowe is an English actress, writer, director, and comedian. She has appeared as Dr. Haynes in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Madeleine Wool/Liz Asher in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. She wrote, directed, and starred in the 2016 film Prevenge and starred in and co-wrote the 2012 film Sightseers. She also starred in the educational children's television series Horrible Histories.
Snuff Box is a British dark sitcom set in London. Starring and written by Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher with additional material by Nick Gargano, it aired on BBC Three in 2006. The series was directed by Brass Eye director Michael Cumming who later directed Berry's Toast of London.
Paul Thomas King is a British writer and director. He works in television, film and theatre, and specialises in comedy. He directed all 20 episodes of the BBC surreal comedy series The Mighty Boosh (2004–2007), and in 2005 he earned a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best New Director.
AD/BC is a parody rock opera with music by Matt Berry and lyrics by Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade. It premiered on BBC Three on 21 December 2004.
Simon Farnaby is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his work with the Them There collective where he has written and starred in productions including Horrible Histories, Yonderland, and Ghosts.
The Mighty Boosh is a British surreal comedy television series created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Starring the comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh, it often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk and rap. The series is known for popularising a style called "crimping", short a cappella songs which are present throughout all three series. Julian Barratt wrote the music within the show, and performed it with Noel Fielding. Fielding also designed many of the show's graphics and artwork.
Arctic Boosh was a 1999 stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, along with Rich Fulcher. It was the second incarnation of what would eventually become The Mighty Boosh. It was directed by Stewart Lee.
The Boosh is a 2001 radio series, written and performed by The Mighty Boosh, and originally broadcast on BBC London Live, then BBC Radio 4, and later BBC 7.
The Mighty Boosh was a stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, who are also known as The Mighty Boosh. Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher, and Dave Brown also appeared in the show. It toured from February 2006 to April 2006.
The first series of The Mighty Boosh was originally broadcast between 18 May 2004 and 6 July 2004. It features five main cast members: Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown, and centres on Howard Moon and Vince Noir, and the adventures they have whilst working at a zoo. A DVD of the series was released on 29 August 2005 in Region 2. Series 1 began to air in America on Adult Swim from 29 March 2009.
Arnab Chanda is an English born actor, writer, and director.
Michael Cumming is a British director and filmmaker. He is best known for directing comedy shows such as Brass Eye, Toast of London, Toast of Tinseltown, The Mark Thomas Product, Snuff Box,The Mark Steel Lectures and Rock Profile.
References
1 2 "Matt Berry". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
↑ House of Fools (Comedy), Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Matt Berry, Morgana Robinson, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Pett Productions, 14 January 2014, retrieved 5 September 2020{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
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