Spike Breakwell

Last updated

Spike Breakwell (born Colin James Breakwell on 13 June 1968) is a British comedian. When he was four months old he became disabled through taking oral polio vaccine which caused a two-week coma. [1] He was brought up in Dunstable, and "treated and raised to be as stubborn and independent as anyone else round about." As a child, he attended Lady Zia Wernher School in Luton, [2] then moved to Lord Mayor Treloar College in Alton, Hampshire for his secondary education.

Contents

Breakwell was the first wheelchair-using comedian on the London alternative club circuit from 1992, appearing on stage and BBC2 television. His act always started with the line: "...I don't know what I've been drinking but I could walk half an hour ago!".[ citation needed ] He also co-wrote and co-starred (with Simon Hardeman) in the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe shows On The Toilet With Shergar (An Evening of Horseplay and Lavatory Humour ) in 1992, Simon and Spikes Laugh-In in 1993 and the critically acclaimed play looking at comedy Death of a Comedian in 1994.[ citation needed ]

He co-wrote (with Simon Hardeman) the Beginners' Guide column in The Times Magazine. [3] He has also been a regular in a BBC disability magazine programme. [1] In January 2006 Breakwell and part of the Wheelabout expedition team drove across Australia. [4] He had planned to become the first person to cross from Perth to Sydney (4600 miles) in an electric wheelchair. However, funding for the trip failed to materialise and it is yet to be completed.

In October 2007 he appeared in his first Hollywood film, Dante's Criterion , described as a supernatural horror story of a possessed television, as "Ziggy Fontain" a wheelchair-using TV advertising producer. [5]

Books

Related Research Articles

Luton Town F.C. English association football club

Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknamed 'the Hatters' and affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. The team plays its home matches at Kenilworth Road, where it has been based since 1905. The club's history includes major trophy wins, several financial crises, numerous promotions and relegations, and some spells of sustained success. It was perhaps most prominent between 1982 and 1992, when it was a member of English football's top division, at that time the First Division; the team won its first major honour, the Football League Cup, in 1988. Luton Town have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Watford.

Luton Town in Bedfordshire, England

Luton is a large town, borough and unitary authority situated in Bedfordshire, south east England, but in the East of England region for administrative purposes. It has a population of 213,052 (mid-2019 est.) and is one of the most populous towns without city status in the United Kingdom. It is also the most populous town in Bedfordshire. The town is situated on the River Lea, about 29 miles (50 km) northwest of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon outpost on the River Lea, from which Luton derives its name. Luton is recorded in the Domesday Book as Loitone and Lintone and one of the largest churches in Bedfordshire, St Mary's Church, was built in the 12th century. There are local museums which explore Luton's history in Wardown Park and Stockwood Park.

Bedfordshire Historic County of England

Bedfordshire is a historic county in the East of England. The former county is now covered by three unitary authorities: Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton.

<i>Do the Right Thing</i> 1989 film by Spike Lee

Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, and is the feature film debut of Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez. The story explores a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension between its African-American residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in tragedy and violence on a hot summer day.

Luton Airport International airport in Luton, Bedfordshire, England

London Luton Airport, previously called Luton International Airport, is an international airport located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Luton town centre in England, and is 28 miles (45 km) north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by Luton Borough Council, and operated by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (LLAOL).

The Criterion Collection American home video distribution company

The Criterion Collection, Inc. is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinephiles and public and academic libraries. Criterion has helped to standardize certain aspects of home-video releases such as film restoration, the letterboxing format for widescreen films and the inclusion of bonus features such as scholarly essays and commentary tracks. Criterion has produced and distributed more than 1,000 special editions of its films in VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray formats and box sets. These films and their special features are also available via an online streaming service that the company operates.

Leighton Buzzard railway station Railway station in Bedfordshire, England

Leighton Buzzard railway station serves the towns of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade in the county of Bedfordshire and nearby areas of Buckinghamshire. Actually situated in Linslade, the station is 40 miles (64 km) north west of London Euston and is served by London Northwestern Railway services on the West Coast Main Line. Until the 1960s the station was the start of a branch to Dunstable and Luton, with a junction just north of the present station. The station has four platforms. Platforms 1 & 2 serve the fast lines and are used by Avanti West Coast services running non-stop to/from London Euston. Platforms 3 & 4 are served by slower London Northwestern railway services to/from London Euston and by Southern services between Clapham Junction and Milton Keynes Central.

Robbie Morrison is a British comic book writer known for his work in the weekly anthology 2000 AD, where he co-created the long-running serial Nikolai Dante with artist Simon Fraser.

Houghton Regis Human settlement in England

Houghton Regis is an industrial town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England.

Simon Ainge English footballer

Simon Christopher Ainge is an English footballer who plays for Northern Premier League Division One East club Yorkshire Amateur as a defender and a forward.

Transport in Luton Transport in Luton, a large town in Bedfordshire, England

Luton is less than 30 miles (50 km) north of the centre of London, and has good transport links via the motorway network and the National Rail system. Luton is also home to Luton Airport, one of the major feeder airports for London and the southeast. Luton is served by buses run by Arriva Shires & Essex and other operators, and has a busway. As a Unitary Authority, Luton Borough Council is responsible for local highways and public transport in the borough.

This article is about the History of Luton, a large town located in the south of Bedfordshire, England.

Dunstable Market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England

Dunstable is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the third largest town in Bedfordshire and along with Houghton Regis forms the westernmost part of the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area.

Luton and Dunstable University Hospital Hospital in Bedfordshire, England

Luton and Dunstable University Hospital is an acute hospital run by Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It provides medical and surgical services for over 350,000 people in Bedfordshire, the north of Hertfordshire and parts of Buckinghamshire. The hospital is often abbreviated to the 'L&D', and employs 3,400 staff.

The Clark Brothers American dance double act

The Clark Brothers, consisting of Steve and James ("Jimmy"), were an American double act, who achieved success in Britain in the postwar period. They were thought to be the last of the "brothers" acts of tap-dancing's golden age. During their career, they appeared alongside Frank Sinatra and The Beatles, and opened The Sands in Las Vegas. The Clark Brothers also played at Madison Square Gardens and the Apollo Theatre in New York.

Colin Jost American comedian, actor and writer

Colin Kelly Jost is an American comedian, actor and writer. He has been a writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) since 2005 and Weekend Update co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writers from 2012 to 2015 and later came back as one of the show's head writers in 2017.

<i>Kingsman</i> (franchise) British-American media franchise based on the adventures of the agents of Kingsman

Kingsman is a British-American film franchise, consisting of action-comedy films, that follow the missions of the Kingsman, a fictional secret service organization. Based on the comic book series of the same name created by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, a 2012 Marvel Comics release, the film franchise debut has garnered success both financially and critically.

Luton to Dunstable Busway

The Luton-Dunstable Busway is a guided busway system in Bedfordshire, England, which connects the towns of Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Luton with Luton Airport. It was built on the route of a disused railway track and opened in September 2013. The busway runs parallel to the A505 and A5065 for 13.4 kilometres (8.3 mi), of which 7.7 kilometres (4.8 mi) is guided track with a maximum speed of 50 mph. It is claimed to be the second longest busway in the world.

Hank Woon is an American fiction author, game designer and screenwriter.

Peter Kioso is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a right back for Milton Keynes Dons, on loan from Championship side Luton Town.

References

  1. 1 2 Spike Breakwell (11 March 2006). "Inside story: spinal muscular atrophy". The Times. UK. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  2. 1 2 Bev Creagh (19 November 2021). "Meet Dunstable's wannabe Bond villain with his new book on surviving lockdown". Luton Today. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ↑ Simon Hardeman and Spike Breakwell (19 November 2007). "The Beginners' Guide: selected cuttings from The Times Saturday Magazine". Simon Hardeman, writer, comedian, knurler. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
  4. ↑ "5 Minute Travel » Blood, Sweat & Beers". Podcast FM. 4 September 2006. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
  5. ↑ "Dante's Criterion (2009)". IMDb (The Internet Movie Database). 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  6. ↑ Breakwell, Spike; Millar, Colin (2017). Leila's Game 1 Pathfinders. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  7. ↑ Breakwell, Spike; Millar, Colin (2017). Movie World 4 Voyagers. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.