Phil Ellis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 October 1981 Preston, England |
| Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
| Years active | 2000s–present |
Phillip Michael Ellis [1] (born 1981 [2] [3] [4] ) is an English stand-up comedian from Preston, Lancashire. [5] In 2023, his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Phil Ellis's Excellent Comedy Show won the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality, [6] and was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. [7] He is a contestant in the 20th series of Taskmaster . [8]
Ellis was born in Preston, Lancashire. His interest in comedy began as a child when he would ask his mother for comedy VHS tapes which she would buy from the Asda she worked at as she had an employee discount. [9] He watched shows like Bottom and The Young Ones, The League of Gentlemen and Red Dwarf and comedians such as Rik Mayall, Bob Mortimer, Sean Lock and Lee Mack are some of his influences. [9] [10] He went to the University of Staffordshire and was awarded a level three degree in media and production and worked at an airbag factory. [9] [10]
Ellis's TV appearances include The Russell Howard Hour , Drunk History (UK), Roast Battle, The Tez O'Clock Show, and Redknapp's Big Night Out. [11] Ellis's wrote and starred in three series of his own BBC Radio 4 show, Phil Ellis is Trying, [12] and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe every year since 2013. [13] He won the Edinburgh Comedy Award Panel prize in 2014 for Funz and Gamez, a children's game show with adult jokes. [14] In his shows he is known for making up lies about his personal life, for example in his 2013 show Phil Ellis: Unplanned Orphan, one of the main premises of the show was that his parents told him at age thirty that he was adopted and in another more recent show spoke about his two children, when in reality neither are these things are true as he isn't adopted and doesn't even have children. [15]
In 2023, his Edinburgh Fringe show Phil Ellis's Excellent Comedy Show won the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality and was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. [6] Ellis was announced as a contestant of the 20th series of Taskmaster in 2025 along with Ania Magliano, Maisie Adam, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar. [16]
Ellis’s 2025 Edinburgh Fringe show, Soppy Stern, won the Malcolm Hardee Award for Act That Should Make a Million Quid [17] and was a joint-winner for Best Show for the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards [18] . Ellis also brought back his award-winning hit kids show, Funz and Gamez, for a two week run entitled Funz and Gamez Rebootz. It won Best Fringe Kids Show at The List Festival Awards. [19]
It was announced Ellis will be taking his nationwide tour, Bath Mat, on the road starting on the 9th December 2025 until 26th April 2026. It will include a 5-night run at Soho Theatre in London and stops in Cardiff, Brighton, Birmingham, Liverpool and more. [20]
Ellis' shows at the Edinburgh Fringe have received many positive reviews. He was described by The Guardian as "a helter-skelter hour of fun"; [21] by Broadway Baby as "one of the finest and funniest comedians in the UK today" in 2023; and by The Skinny as a "conductor of chaos" in a 2024 review. [22] [23]
| Year | Title | Role | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Phil's III | Writer | [24] |
| 2012 | The Tape Face Tapes | Various | Television movie [24] |
| 2015 | BBC Comedy Feeds | Writer and associate producer | One episode [24] |
| 2016 | Drunk History | Phil | One episode [24] |
| 2017 | Born Silly | Writer | [24] |
| 2018 | Life Lessons | Phil | One episode [24] |
| 2018 | Eaten By Lions | Ice Cream Man | [25] |
| 2020 | There She Goes | Captain Banana Crackers | One episode [24] |
| 2021 | Back Chat | Hans | One episode, voice only [24] |
| 2025 | Taskmaster | Himself | Contestant; series 20 [8] [16] |