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Matthew Holness | |
|---|---|
 Holness performing as Merriman Weir in 2007 | |
| Born | Matthew James Holness 1975 (age 47–48) Whitstable, Kent, England |
| Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, director |
Matthew James Holness (born 1975) is an English comedian, writer, director and actor. He created and played the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi.
Born in Whitstable, Kent, Holness became a fan of Hammer horror films at a young age, to the extent that when, at the age of six, he asked Hammer star and fellow Whitstable resident Peter Cushing for his autograph, Cushing expressed concern that the child knew so much about the films. [1]
Holness attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and went on to read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. As a member of the Cambridge Footlights, he appeared in a number of shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the mid-1990s. He also served as vice-president when David Mitchell was president. Other contemporaries included Robert Webb, Richard Ayoade and John Oliver. [2] [1] Holness received the Master of Arts from Cambridge, graduating in absentia due to his comedy work. [3]
Holness first appeared on television as a cast-member of the short-lived BBC Two comedy series Bruiser in 2000. [4] In the same year, Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight , a stage show written by Holness and Ayoade and starring the pair along with Alice Lowe, was nominated for the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. [5] The show was built around a spoof horror writer named Garth Marenghi. The sequel, Garth Marenghi's Netherhead , won the Perrier Award the following year. [6]
He played the role of Simon, an arrogant and sarcastic computer technician in series two of The Office , which aired in 2002. [7] About the same time, he appeared in the comedy stage play The Mighty Boosh , filling the role of Bob Fossil while regular cast member Rich Fulcher was overseas. [8]
In 2004, the character of Garth Marenghi transferred to television with the Channel 4 horror comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace . Despite critical acclaim and later, a cult following, the series suffered from relatively low ratings when first broadcast. [1]
From 2004 to 2006, Holness played the character of Keith Bilk in the BBC Radio 4 series The Department .
Parody chat show Man to Man with Dean Learner appeared on Channel 4, in 2006. Here, Holness played a series of bizarre celebrity guests interviewed by a sleazy host, played by Ayoade.One of the guests was folk singer Merriman Weir, in which guise Holness also appeared in comedy clubs around Britain playing a guitar. In the same year, Holness appeared in the BBC Two comedy series Time Trumpet , a mock retrospective documentary set in the future.
In 2009, he appeared in the Channel 4 sitcom Free Agents . A year later he played the part of a bandleader in Cemetery Junction , a dramedy film by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.
In 2011, he played a minor role in the first episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Friday Night Dinner . The same year, "A Gun for George" was released. This was a short film written and directed by Holness in which he plays an angry loner who writes pulp-fiction crime novels about a vigilante called the Reprisalizer. He played the part of a smug lawyer in Life's Too Short , a sitcom starring Warwick Davis. [7]
Holness wrote and directed a 2012 short film for Sky Arts' Playhouse Presents series entitled "The Snipist", which depicted a dystopian alternative 1970s Britain stricken by rabies. Douglas Henshall starred, with John Hurt providing the voice of the Ministry. [9]
Holness wrote and directed the 2016 "Smutch", a Halloween Comedy Short shown on Sky Arts, in which he played an embittered author haunted by a ghost writer. [10]
In 2018, he played the part of brooding Swedish detective Knut Ångström in the BBC Radio 4 Nordic noir parody Angstrom. [11]
The following year, he played Prince Hector of Bulgaria in an episode of the Channel 4 sitcom Year of the Rabbit . [12] The same year, Holness made his debut as a feature director with Possum , a psychological horror film set in Norfolk. He described the film as "not remotely funny". [1] In interviews to promote Possum, Holness said he had written a script for another horror film which he was also hoping to get made. [13]
In 2022, Holness announced a short fiction collection entitled Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome. This was written as Marenghi and presented as one of the character's own works, which Marenghi began working on in the 1980s. It was also released as an audiobook narrated by Holness as Marenghi. The collection was released in November 2022. [14]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Festival | Roger | |
| 2010 | Cemetery Junction | The Band Leader | |
| 2011 | A Gun for George | Terry Finch | Short film; also director, writer and composer |
| 2018 | Possum | — | Director and writer [15] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Bruiser | Various roles | 6 episodes; also writer |
| 2002 | The Office | Simon | Episode: "Motivation" |
| 2004 | Garth Marenghi's Darkplace | Garth Marenghi / Dr. Rick Dagless M.D. | 6 episodes; also co-creator and writer |
| 2005 | Casanova | Landlord | Episode #1.1 |
| 2006 | Time Trumpet | Himself | 6 episodes |
| Man to Man with Dean Learner | Various roles | 6 episodes; also co-creator, writer and executive Producer | |
| 2009 | Free Agents | Dan Mackey | 6 episodes |
| 2011 | Friday Night Dinner | Chris | Episode: "The Sofa Bed" |
| 2011 | Life's Too Short | Ian Wold | 3 episodes [16] |
| 2012 | Playhouse Presents | — | Episode: "The Snipist"; director and writer |
| 2014 | Toast of London | Max Gland | Episode: "Buried Alive" |
| 2016 | Smutch | Oswin | Television short; also director, writer and composer |
| 2017 | Back | Laurie | 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Year of the Rabbit | Prince Hector of Bulgaria | Episode #1.4 |
| 2020 | The Haunting of Bly Manor | Dominic Wingrave | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | We Are Lady Parts | Gameshow Host | Episode: "Sparta" |
| 2022 | Toast of Tinseltown | Richard Chickentoss | Episode: "Doctor Grainger" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Department | Keith Bilk | 14 episodes |
| 2018 | Angstrom [17] | Knut Ångström | 4 episodes |
| Year | Title | Book | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | ? | Phobic: Modern Horror Stories [18] | Anthology |
| 2008 | 'Possum' | The New Uncanny [19] | Anthology |
| 2008 | 'The Toad and I' | Black Static 3 [20] | Magazine |
| 2014 | 'Possum'? [21] | Dead Funny: Horror Stories by Comedians [22] | Anthology |
| 2014 | 'Introduction' | Reminiscences of a Bachelor [23] | Reprint |
| 2016 | (voiceover) | From Frazzled to Fabulous: How to Juggle Fatherhood, a Successful Career, 'Me Time' and Looking Good [24] | Audiobook |
| 2017 | (voiceover) | The Scarifyers: The Gnomes of Death [25] | Audiobook |
| 2017 | 'The Mastiff: A story of The Diggers' [26] | Protest: Stories of Resistance [27] | Anthology |
| 2017 | (cast: Eric Drazen) | Doctor Who: The Lure of the Nomad [28] | Audiobook |
| 2022 | (Original author; Audiobook narrator) | Garth Marenghi's TerrorTome [29] | Novel; Audiobook |
| 2023 | (Original author; Audiobook narrator) | Garth Marenghi's Incarcerat [30] | Novel; Audiobook |
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and 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.
Garth Marenghi is a fictional horror author created by English comedian Matthew Holness. He is depicted as a conceited hack writer, who remains blissfully unaware of his lack of talent.
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a 2004 British horror parody television series created by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness for Channel 4. The show focuses on fictional horror author Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner, characters who originated in the stage show Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight.
Noel Fielding is an English comedian and actor. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as 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.
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, broadcaster, and filmmaker. 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.
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight was a low-budget horror parody stage show written by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe. The show, which spoofed Stephen King, was performed at the 2000 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was nominated for the Perrier Award.
Alice Eva Lowe is an English actress, writer, and comedian. She is best known for her roles 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.
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead was a low-budget comedy horror stage show written by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe. It was performed at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won the Perrier Award.
Dean Learner is a fictional character created and performed by British comedian Richard Ayoade in stage shows and television shows. Learner is a famous publisher, mostly of pornography, but also of the books of the fictional horror writer Garth Marenghi.
Matthew Charles Berry is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He has appeared in comedy TV roles in The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, What We Do in the Shadows, and Toast of London, the last of which he also co-created. The series earned him the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. As a musician, he has released nine studio albums.
Man to Man with Dean Learner is a British comedy chat show that was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 20 October 2006 and released on DVD on 3 September 2007. It features comedians Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness.
Paul King is a British writer and director. He works in television, film and theatre, and specialises in comedy. He directed 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.
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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.
Spencer Brown is an English comedian, actor, director and writer from London. His style is surreal and contains elements of slapstick, absurdity and silliness. He is currently presenting The Sexy Ads Show on Fiver/Channel Five.
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The 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the 54th Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Fringe ran from 5–27 August 2001 and presented 1462 shows over 176 venues.
Bunny and the Bull is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Paul King. It stars Edward Hogg and Simon Farnaby in a surreal recreation of a road trip. King has previously worked on British television comedies The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace; the film is made in a similar style and has cameo appearances from stars of those series.
Possum is a 2018 British psychological horror film written and directed by Matthew Holness in his feature film debut, starring Sean Harris and Alun Armstrong. It centres on a disgraced children's puppeteer who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront trauma he suffered there.
(Julian Barratt:) Rich wasn't in the country at the time, so we got Matt Holness to do... (Noel Fielding:) From Garth Marenghi. (Julian Barratt:) Yeah. (Caption:) Matthew Holness, Guest Appearance as 'Bob Fossil'.
(end creditsP
Most of the tales explore damaged minds, whether it's Reece Shearsmith's dog-murdering boy, Mitch Benn's vengeful doctor or Matthew Holness's deranged puppeteer...
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