 |
 |
Steve Steen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 December 1954 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, voice actor, comedian, musician |
Steve Steen (born 26 December 1954) is a British television, radio and theatre actor and comedian, known for improvisational comedy works.
| |
|
Steve Steen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 December 1954 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, voice actor, comedian, musician |
Steve Steen (born 26 December 1954) is a British television, radio and theatre actor and comedian, known for improvisational comedy works.
Whilst a pupil at Clapham College in London, Steen became friends with Jim Sweeney, and they joined Oval House theatre club in 1972, performing improvised comedy. They wrote and performed in a show that parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year. Then they formed their own theatre company and wrote and toured its productions around the United Kingdom through the 1970s.
In the 1980s Steen and Sweeney moved into television production, appearing together for the first time on TV in the ITV children's show CBTV in 1981, followed by one of Channel 4's first comedies, Little Armadillos. In 1985 Steen appeared in the Ben Elton comedy Happy Families . [1]
Rory Bremner recruited them[ when? ] as resident support performers on his first sketch show for the BBC. In 1987 they starred as the Romantic poets Byron and Coleridge (Steen playing Byron) in an episode, entitled "Ink and Incapability", of the comedy series Blackadder the Third . [1]
Along with Sweeney, Steen appeared in the Channel 4 television improvisational show Whose Line Is It Anyway? for six episodes. He was a guest on the BBC's comedy panel game Have I Got News for You in 1992.
In 2000, Steen played the voice of cartoon gerbil El Nombre .
Steen had a major roles in Sweeney's award-winning play Danny's Wake, which was subsequently adapted into a sitcom for BBC Radio 4. Steen continued to play the character of Billy throughout the two series. He played the character of Liam in the radio of Any Bloke . He also starred as George Melly in BBC Radio 4's adaptation of the Melly's memoir Owning Up.
Steen has performed in improvisation theatre tours, and solo theatre shows playing Bill Bryson in three adaptations of his work by the writer and director Paul Hodson. He also performed in a one-man show about the American comedian John Belushi written by Hodson.
In 2005, Steen appeared at the National Theatre in London as Charles Dickens in Theatre of Blood, based on the 1970 cinema film of the same name.
Steen performs improvisation work with the Comedy Store Players, Paul Merton's Impro Chums, and Stephen Frost's Impro All Stars.
Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted, created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, action, story, and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script.
Whose Line is it Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy television series created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, presented by Clive Anderson, and produced for Channel 4 between 23 September 1988 and 4 February 1999. The programme's format was on a panel of four performers conducting a series of short-form improvisation games, creating comedic scenes per pre-determined situations made by the host or from suggestions by the audience. Such games include creating sound effects, performing a scene to different television and film styles, using props, and making up a song on the spot. The programme originally began as a short-lived BBC radio programme, before the concept was adapted for television.
Paul James Martin, known by the stage name Paul Merton, is an English comedian.
Peter Hugh Dennis is an English comedian, presenter, actor, impressionist and writer. He was a panellist in every episode of the comedy show Mock the Week (2005–2022).
The Comedy Store Players is a group of improvisational comedians who perform at The Comedy Store in London. The group first came into being in October 1985.
Richard Leslie Vranch is an English actor, improviser, comedian, writer and musician. He is known for providing the music for the British TV series Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Tony Declan James Slattery is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. His serious and comedic film work has included roles in The Crying Game, Peter's Friends and How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
Josie Lawrence is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and as Manda Best in EastEnders.
Michael McShane is an American actor, singer, and improvisational comedian. He appeared on the original British version of the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988–97) and went on to appear in films such as Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Richie Rich (1994), and Office Space (1999). McShane has also been involved in several Disney productions, including Tom and Huck (1995), the television series Brotherly Love (1995–97), Tower of Terror (1997), and A Bug's Life (1998). He also voiced the Revolting Slob in the Canadian-American variety television series Crashbox.
Michael James Dominic Sweeney is an English actor and comedian, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen.
Steven James Pemberton is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He was a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy Psychoville and the anthology series Inside No. 9. His other notable television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel, Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia.
Richard Fulcher is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, and Edward Sheath in the American series Jon Benjamin Has a Van. He has also appeared in Noel Fielding's more recent show, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. His other appearances include Unnatural Acts with Julian Barratt and Fielding of The Mighty Boosh and he starred in and wrote the TV series Snuff Box alongside Matt Berry.
Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp is an English actor, singer, and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series Balamory. He also played John Duggan in The Thick of It, Nigel in the sitcom Rev and appeared on many comedy panel shows. In September 2015, Jupp replaced Sandi Toksvig as the host of The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4.
Stephen Kehinde Amos is a British comedian and television personality. A regular on the international comedy circuit, he is known for including his audience members during his shows. He began his career as a compere at the Big Fish comedy clubs in South London, and has been nominated for Chortle's Best Compere Award three times in 2004, 2007 and 2008.
Mark Andrew Watson is an English comedian, novelist and producer.
Alan Marriott is a Canadian voice actor, voice teacher and dialect coach.
Lee Simpson is a British actor and comedian best known as a member of the improvisational group The Comedy Store Players.
The Suggestibles is a British improv comedy group, based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Ruth Bratt is an English actress and comedian. Bratt has appeared in the BAFTA award winning BBC2 series People Just Do Nothing. In 2022 she was at the Edinburgh Festival in "Starship Improvise" with the Mischief Theatre.
Katie Cariad Lloyd is a British comedian, actress, writer, and podcaster. A member of the improvisational comedy group Austentatious, the host and creator of Griefcast, and an improv teacher.