| Michael Fry | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Matthew Dinneen |
| Medium | Internet comedy |
| Genres | Parody music |
Matthew Dinneen, [1] best known by his stage name Michael Fry, is an Irish comedian, actor and musician.
The son of a mother from Donegal and a father from Salford, Fry grew up in Navan along with his three brothers. [1] He studied at St Patrick's Classical School. [2] While in school, he studied at the Gaiety School of Acting. He originally pursued a business degree at the University of Galway, but later moved to Trinity College. [3]
Fry started creating videos while living in Coleraine and working for Tourism Ireland, though he chose to use a pseudonym due to the company's social media policy. He chose the name "Michael Fry" as his Twitter account was named "@BigDirtyFry", and described Michael as "the most generic name he could think of". [3] After a sketch Fry made about the Derry/Londonderry name dispute went viral, his Twitter following grew from 480 to 14,800. [4]
Various sketches made by Fry have gone viral on social media, including parodies of a Liam Payne interview at the 2022 Oscars, [5] Handforth Parish Council, [3] 2021 and 2022 year-end versions of We Didn't Start the Fire, [6] [7] Conor McGregor [8] and Irish mothers. Many of his sketches are done in the form of songs. [9] [10]
His first appearance on stage was at 16. [1]
Fry appeared in Holding, the 2022 Virgin Media adaptation of Graham Norton's debut novel of the same name. [1] [11] Also in 2022, Fry made an appearance in an episode of Derry Girls as a train employee. [12] [13]
In 2022, Fry starred in a music video for Sorcha Richardson. [14]
In September 2022, Fry starred alongside other Irish comedians, including Emma Doran and Justine Stafford, in RTÉ2's sketch show No Worries If Not! [15]
In 2022, Fry was cast in the BBC Radio 4 sketch show Parish is Burning. [16]
Fry has described himself as being "influenced by TV shows rather than individuals", such as Peep Show, The Office and Parks and Recreation . [17]
Fry has participated in an initiative by Foras na Gaeilge for RTÉ Radio 1 to promote the learning of the Irish language. [18] He has done ad campaigns for Permanent TSB. [19]
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