Steve McNeil (born 1 September 1979) is a British comedian, Twitch streamer, author, and TV host who is best known as co-creator and team captain on video-gamecomedy TV show Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit. Steve has also created content for Ginx TV,[1] and is one half of the Go 8 Bit spin-off project WiFi Wars, a live interactive video-game comedy show.[2][3][4]
Following a degree in Business Management and various jobs in fitness franchises close to his home of Milton Keynes, Steve trained as an actor at the ALRA Theatre School; it was his acting credentials that first exposed him to comedy by responding to an acting call for a 'white, middle-class man' and joining Brendon Burns' Perrier Award-winning 2007 show So I Suppose This Is Offensive Now?[5] which he had originally taken up merely to subsidise being at the Edinburgh Fringe. This connected him with directors Matt Holt & Rohan Acharya, and under their guidance Steve began to explore comedy more. Steve pulled together comedy troupe of 15 friends who trained together. Over time the group gradually thinned in numbers[6] leaving himself and fellow actor/comedian Sam Pamphilon as a sketch comedy double act.
In 2009 McNeil & Pamphilon started writing sketch comedy together and later that year won the 10th Anniversary London Sitcom Trials with End to End, which brought them onto the BBC's radar and they subsequently wrote for a number of projects that were never released including Funny Plus One and For The Win. McNeil & Pamphilon placed in the semi-finals of 2010's So You Think You're Funny and 2011's Amused Moose Laughter Awards, placing in their Top 10 Fringe Shows.
During this time Steve continued acting; he features in 2009 ITV drama Stockwell,[7] stood in for Rik Mayall in a production of Michael Frayn'sBalmoral and following this was personally asked by Frayn to perform in a world premiere of a Chekov translation. He also joined MTV prank showFlash Prank as a regular cast member fooling members of the public.
Steve during an interview for MCM Comic Con in 2016.
In 2013, struggling to put a show together for the Edinburgh Fringe, McNeil (a lover of video-games) & Sam Pamphilon decided to create a show where comedians played video-games for entertainment:[8]
I'd got a Nintendo Wii, and there was quite a lot of good retro stuff on that, so we figured if we plugged that in with a big screen and got our mates like Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar drunk and got them to swear at each other while they played Mario Kart, we figured we could charge drunk Scottish people 10 quid a go to watch it. Tediously, it became far more successful than the shows we'd spent years crafting as scripts.
In the show, McNeil & Pamphilon Go 8 Bit, audiences were split into two teams, Team McNeil and Team Pamphilon, and would watch top-name comedians go head-to-head in classic retro games including Street Fighter and Bomberman. Comedians Richard Soames, Nish Kumar and Paul Foxcroft often joined as commentators with support from Guy Kelly and resident 'Punishment Twat' Will Heartley. The captain and/or comedian of whichever team lost the round would have to suffer a forfeit such as eating a bowl of jalapeños or drinking a sardine smoothie. Following their first trip to Edinburgh the show was quickly picked up for TV, with Rohan Achraya as producer. Simultaneously Rob "King Rob" Sedgebeer approached Steve and Sam with the prospect of developing technology that would allow audience members to play games by logging into a Wi-Fi network and broadcasting browser-based games into their devices without installing anything onto them. This prospect excited Steve and Sam, and also comedian Dara O'Briain with whose backing the TV show got greenlit.
In 2013 Steve started working with Ginx TV, and from 2014 to 2016 he was promoted to guest host for some of their programming.[1] Also during 2014–2016 Steve was a contributor to and infrequent guest host of Videogame Nation, contributing segments such as Steve McNeil's Weird Video Game Segment and various presenter head-to-head competitions.[9]
In 2014 Steve McNeil and Rob Sedgebeer were invited to the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture to demonstrate the power of virtual reality, by showing a volunteer a film of a rollercoaster journey whilst asking them to hold a tray with plastic glasses as still as possible. Following the success of their appearance they were asked back as part of the 2015 Royal Institution Summer Programme, and developed the show WiFi Wars[10] where audience members compete against each other across retro classics including Pong (which also featured as the closing section of Go 8 Bit live shows), Asteroids, Pac-Man, Frogger, Galaxian, Track & Field and more. WiFi Wars has had an Annual Lecture every July since, and in their 2016 Lecture Steve and Rob Sedgebeer broke the Guinness World Record for Most People Playing a Single Game of Pong with 286 players.[11] WiFi Wars continues to have a place at the Royal Institution with regular Debug live shows where new games and technologies are tried out with the audience.
On 18 September 2015, a new podcast launched which featured McNeil as part of its four-man group. Game Friends launched to number two on iTunes 'Games and Hobbies' chart, as well as 'videogames'.
Also in 2015, he was nominated for a Games Media Award for his podcast Twomorewhiteguys, as well as Videogame Nation which Steve contributed to.[12]
Dara O'Briain's Go 8 Bit was first shown on Dave in 2016, and featured Steve and Sam Pamphilon as Team Captains each joined by a guest comedian, hosted by Dara O'Briain and with video-games journalist Ellie Gibson as commentator. Before each game the audience voted on which team believed they would win, using Rob Sedgebeer's technology from the live shows. Additionally, each live show was rounded off with an audience game of Pong, as the live shows had, although this was not broadcast. The program ran for three series and was joined by companion show Go 8 Bit: DLC[13] for Series 3 where Steve and Sam would interview the guests in more detail about their relationship with video games. Three series of Go 8 Bit were made, before in September 2018, McNeil discovered on Twitter that the show had been cancelled.[14]
The success of the soon-regular WiFi Wars live shows combined with uncertain prospects of Go 8 Bit led to the creation of The Video Game Game Show Show[15] by Steve McNeil and Rob Sedgebeer, taking the audience participation of Rob's technology and having top comedy acts be team captains and perform short interstitial sets. Launched on 24 October 2017, the show currently has a monthly residency at The Phoenix pub in Oxford Circus. Notable team captains have included James Acaster, Phil Wang and Ed Gamble amongst others.
In July 2017, Steve featured on an episode of gaming podcast That King Thing where he spoke about how Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit came about, as well as some of his own experiences in gaming.[16]
Following previous streams on Twitch with fellow Ginx TV host Chris Slight, Steve started his own channel on 17 October 2017.[17] It became sufficiently successful for him to commit to streaming as an income source, and on 22 May 2018, McNeil fulfilled the requirements to become Twitch Partner. He was nominated in the UK eSports Awards 2018 for Streamer of the Year.
In March 2018, as a reward to supporters on Patreon, he began a new podcast called Let's Do A Gaming![18] where he talked about games and gaming with a guest on each episode from the worlds of video games or comedy.
In September 2018, it was announced that Steve had written his first book; on 19 April 2019 Hey! Listen!: A Journey Through the Golden Era of Video Games was released by the publishers Headline Publishing Group. The book focuses on the history of video games starting with the humble origins of games like Pong, through arcade cabinets and eventually home consoles, leading up to Sony's launch of the groundbreaking PlayStation. The book covers not only games but their developers, artists and writers who poured endless energy (whilst making some hilarious mistakes along the way) into satisfying a generational desire for new and unique, but also accessible, entertainment.[19] Alongside his book release, Steve wrote several monthly gaming articles for Wireframe Magazine, which he stills continues today.
After two and a half years of streaming on Twitch and YouTube, Steve did his final solo streams on the platforms on 12 August 2020 and 30 May 2020.
However, he did return briefly with WiFi Wars alongside his tech sidekick Rob Sedgebeer for a Captain Morgan themed version of the show called Who's the Captain Now? on YouTube in September and October that year which included guests going 1v1 against each other; and to Twitch on 31 December (2020) for a New Year's Eve edition of WiFi Wars called "#FU2020" to welcome in the new year with a variety of guests from comedy and gaming – in support of the Miscarriage Association and Alzhemier's Society, two charities which are very close to Steve & Rob's hearts and Deaf Rainbow UK, a charity whose BSL sign interpreters were seen throughout the show. The final amount raised was £3,225.33 (including gift aid).[20]
In 2021, Steve worked with brands such as TikTok and Ubisoft as a Creative Consultant for his expertise in accessible, entertaining gaming content.
At TikTok, he helped produce their "Game Together" series which saw him liaison with stakeholders in multiple parts of the organisation/cross-functional teams to deliver a pilot series of engaging, entertaining gaming shows on their emerging live platform and advising on ways in which the live content ecosystem may wish to grow in the future. He also helped produce Ubisoft's YouTube series, gTV which was launching in the UK to help build on the success of their French and German iterations, whilst ensuring an authentic UK voice.[21]
After a 9-month break, on 14 September 2021, Steve returned to Twitch again, but alongside King Rob with their regular WiFi Wars shows; Quiz Night, tabletop gaming show Game Over Board (with a guest) and The Video Game Game Show Show. They have since put all these shows on hiatus apart from WiFi Wars and Game Over Board. Monthly supporters of WiFi Wars on Patreon[22] also get a first play of any news games which get added to the shows.
In April 2022, Steve hosted a weekly podcast called during Comics Made Easy, alongside Chris Slight, Alex Lolies (aka BoardgameYogi) & Javier Jarquin. Starting in late April 2022, the show aimed to help listeners get into the Marvel Comics and DC Comics Universes without it feeling overwhelming.[23] After three episodes (including the pilot), Steve said during WiFi Wars' November 2022 Patreon stream, that the podcast would not return despite enjoying creating it.
On 30 May 2022, Steve & Rob hosted a special edition of WiFi Wars named WiFi War Child in aid of War Child (charity), raising funds for the ongoing war in Ukraine. The show included guests such as James Acaster, Scroobius Pip, Ashens and Mark Watson which lasted four hours and raised £4,479.31.[24]
The following week, on 4 June, Steve hosted a pilot gameshow for The Yogscast gang called YogOff!,[25] alongside regular WiFi Wars guest Alex Lolies (aka BoardgameYogi) co-hosting while Rob ran the WiFi Wars tech. The show seemed popular with the Yogscast regulars, Steve & Rob hope to make this a regular monthly show.
On 31 October, Steve deactivated his personal Twitter account along with Comics Made Easy and McNeil & Pamphlion's profiles. He remains active on WiFi Wars' account.
December 2022 saw Steve take on the role of Assistant Producer for Lost Voice Guy's Christmas Comedy Club special on ITV. He also helped write the script for the show. WiFi Wars also made their fourth appearance on The Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures, showcasing a "Super Recogniser" (created by Rob) to help identify faces of suspects in a criminal lineup.
Dara Ó Briain is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as Mock the Week, The Panel, and The Apprentice: You're Fired!. In 2009, the Irish Independent described Ó Briain as "Terry Wogan's heir apparent as Britain's 'favourite Irishman'".
Iain Lee is an English former broadcaster, writer, and television presenter and stand-up comedian who hosts the phone-in talk show The Late Night Alternative on "pay to view" Patreon.
Gregory Everett Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his guest appearances on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He has also voiced the titular character on the U.S. version of Bob the Builder: Project: Build It in series 10 to 14.
Michael Ian Black is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Viva Variety, Stella, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Michael & Michael Have Issues, and Another Period. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, he was the puppeteer and voice actor for the Pets.com sock puppet dog, and played a supporting character on the TV series Ed. Since 2008 he has written a number of books, including several for children.
Benjamin Jacob Fogelnest, known professionally as Jake Fogelnest, is an Emmy and WGA Award nominated writer, comedian, former radio personality, and satirist.
Edward Cathal Byrne is an Irish actor and comedian. He has presented the British television shows Just for Laughs and Uncut! Best Unseen Ads, has been a guest on numerous television panel games and has appeared on a number of television cooking shows.
Sandeep Parikh is an American writer, director, actor and producer of comedy. He is best known for his co-starring role as Zaboo on the award-winning web series The Guild. He is the founder of Effin Funny Productions, a content company focusing on alternative stand-up comedy and the creation of original web series The Legend of Neil, available online.
The Best Show with Tom Scharpling is a combination music, call-in, and comedy Internet radio show/podcast hosted independently by Tom Scharpling since 2014, which previously aired on New Jersey-based radio station WFMU from 2000 to 2013. The show's slogan is "three hours of mirth, music, and mayhem."
Brendon Michael Walsh is an American stand-up comedian and podcaster originally from Philadelphia.
Impractical Jokers is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, Impractical Jokers premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderloins: James "Murr" Murray, Brian "Q" Quinn, Sal Vulcano, and formerly Joe Gatto. Starting with the tenth season, the series also airs concurrently on TBS.
Charles Duncan Trussell is an American actor and stand-up comic, known for his podcast The Duncan Trussell Family Hour. He appeared on and co-created the 2020 Netflix series The Midnight Gospel, and starred alongside Joe Rogan in the SYFY series Joe Rogan Questions Everything.
Nerdist Industries, LLC is part of the digital division of Legendary Entertainment. Nerdist Industries was founded as a sole podcast created by Chris Hardwick but later spread to include a network of podcasts, a premium content YouTube channel, a news division, and a television version of the original podcast produced by and aired on BBC America.
Jayde Pricilla Gail Adams is a British comedian, actress, writer and opera singer from Bristol. She is the winner of the 2014 Funny Women Award.
Headgum is an American podcasting network founded in 2015 by Marty Michael, Amir Blumenfeld, and Jake Hurwitz. The latter two – known collectively as comedy duo Jake and Amir – built upon the success of their podcast If I Were You to launch the network, with the show serving as its flagship program. Before founding Headgum, Michael sold advertising space and branded content for CollegeHumor. Headgum has studios in Los Angeles and New York and, as of March 2019, hosts 57 shows, 34 of which are ongoing. Headgum also features an active YouTube channel and presents Headgum Live!, a series of live shows featuring podcast hosts from the network.
Michael Donovan Mitchell is an American actor, comedian, and writer best known as a member of The Birthday Boys sketch comedy group. He is also known for his role as Randy Monahan on the Netflix series Love, and Cowan in the Amazon Prime Video film The Tomorrow War. He currently co-hosts the podcast Doughboys, which reviews and discusses chain restaurants.
Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit is a British comedy panel game show, hosted by comedian Dara Ó Briain, co-starring video game journalist Ellie Gibson, and premiered on Dave on 5 September 2016. The show's format is themed around two teams – English comedians Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon as team captains, along with a guest member for each team – competing in a series of rounds against each other for points through various video games. Games featured in the programme ranged from past classic, modern releases and indie games, as well as a specially designed round themed on a particular game. The winner of each episode is the team to secure the most points after five rounds, with the number of points determined by an audience vote.
Kinda Funny is an online entertainment company that produces videos and podcasts on video game culture, film, television, and comics.
Alice Fraser is an Australian comedian, writer, podcaster, and actor.
The Horne Section is a British musical comedy band, appearing sporadically on radio, television, podcast, and stage. Led by frontman and comedian Alex Horne, the band mix music with comedy and specialise in comedy/spoof songs as well as performing a wide variety of genres including jazz. The band is made up of professional musicians, including two childhood friends of Horne, and first performed together in May 2010, with the current line-up finalised during 2012. The Horne Section have performed at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as touring the UK, and celebrity guests at their shows have included Harry Hill, Simon Amstell, Jimmy Carr, Tim Minchin, Josie Long, Al Murray, and John Oliver as well as musicians including Neil Hannon and Suggs. Their BBC Radio 4 series – Alex Horne presents The Horne Section – ran for three series from 2012 to 2014. The band have also released five albums of songs which are available via the group's Bandcamp page.
Nicholas Wiger is an American comedian, improviser, podcast personality, and television writer. He is the co-host of the popular weekly podcast Doughboys, which reviews chain restaurants with guests and includes additional segments centered around snack food and related topics. He is also the co-host of Get Played, a podcast about video games.
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.
