Lee Evans (comedian)

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Lee Evans

Lee Evans in 2004 outside the Metro Radio Arena
Born 25 February 1964 (1964-02-25) (age 48)
Avonmouth, Bristol, England
Medium Stand up, Film
Nationality British
Years active 1983–present
Spouse Heather Nudds (m. 1984–present)
Website offthekerb.co.uk

Lee Evans (born 25 February 1964)[1] is an English[2] comedian, writer, actor and musician.

Contents

[edit] Personal life

Lee Evans was born in Avonmouth, Bristol, England to an Irish mother Shirley and a Welsh father, Dave Evans, a nightclub performer.[3][4] He left Bristol at the age of 11 and then went to The Billericay School in Billericay, Essex. After a spell as a boxer and two years at Thurrock art college in Essex, he followed his father into entertainment. In his teens he moved to Scarborough, North Yorkshire and also played drums in a punk rock band called The Forgotten Five.[5]

On 22 September 1984, he married Heather Nudds[6] with whom he has a daughter, Mollie (born 1994). They live in Billericay.[7]

[edit] Stand-up comedy

Evans rose to fame during the 1990s with loud, hot, sweaty, energetic stage performances and physical observational comedy. His slapstick humour has led to comparisons with Norman Wisdom, though Evans does not regard Wisdom as an influence.[8] In his earlier work, he used a dysfunctional character called Malcolm to illustrate unusual characters. In 1993, Evans won the Perrier Comedy Award for his work at the Edinburgh Festival.[9]

Evans' sweatiness drenches him on stage. During most of his headlining performances, he often takes an intermission, during which he has a quick shower and changes into a different suit. He has also said that his suits are regularly thrown away after three performances, mainly because of the sweat, with dry-cleaners refusing to handle them.[10]

In November 2005, Evans broke the world record for a solo act performing to the biggest comedy audience, playing to 10,108 at the Manchester Evening News Arena.[11]

Evans toured the UK in Autumn 2008 with his brand new stand-up act entitled "Big". During his "Big" tour he performed in front of over 500,000 people on 59 dates.[12] This was scheduled to involve the first ever performance by a comedian at the O2 Arena in London until Chris Rock announced dates that would take place at the venue prior to Evans. The DVD was filmed at the O2 arena and was released on 24 November 2008 and it became the best selling comedy DVD in the UK for Christmas 2008 selling over 1,000,000 copies.[13][14]

Evans also appeared on the Channel 4's Comedy Gala for Great Ormond Street Hospital on 30 March 2010. He was the last act on stage and he received a comedy award and auctioned it to the audience.

Evans toured the UK again in 2011 with a new stand-up act entitled "Roadrunner", with 50 dates starting with Bournemouth in August, running until November in Cardiff. He appeared at the Wyvern theatre, Swindon on 10 June to test his new material (reading from notes) for the "Roadrunner" tour. He then sold out Bristol's Colston Hall for 3 nights to perfect his routine in July. The tour visits most of the UK’s major cities, plus two nights in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, and includes four nights in Wembley Arena and four in the O2 Arena, meaning around 100,000 seats in London alone. Tickets went on sale Friday 15 October 2010 at 9 am.[15] Evans sold £7,000,000 worth of tickets the first day they went on sale and ticket sales currently stand at 267,909.[16] Due to popular demand, there have been a further 17 dates added to the tour in Bournemouth International Centre, Brighton Centre, Capital FM Arena, Wembley Arena, National Indoor Arena, The O2, Echo Arena, Motorpoint Arena, Odyssey Arena and The O2 (Dublin). This will bring the tour up to 67 dates in 14 cities which is 8 more than the record breaking tour of 2008.[17]

[edit] Tours

[edit] Big (2008)

# Date City Country Venue
Big Tour
1 2 September 2008 Nottingham England Capital FM Arena
2 3 September 2008
3 4 September 2008
4 5 September 2008
5 6 September 2008
6 8 September 2008 Cardiff Wales Cardiff International Arena
7 9 September 2008
8 10 September 2008
9 11 September 2008
10 12 September 2008
11 13 September 2008
12 14 September 2008
13 18 September 2008 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena
14 19 September 2008
15 20 September 2008
16 21 September 2008
17 25 September 2008 Bournemouth Bournemouth International Centre
18 26 September 2008
19 27 September 2008
20 28 September 2008
21 29 September 2008
22 30 September 2008
23 3 October 2008 London The O2 Arena
24 4 October 2008
25 5 October 2008
26 6 October 2008
27 7 October 2008 Brighton The Brighton Centre
28 8 October 2008
29 9 October 2008 Birmingham National Indoor Arena
30 10 October 2008
31 11 October 2008
32 12 October 2008
33 15 October 2008 Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
34 17 October 2008 Birmingham England National Indoor Arena
35 19 October 2008 London The O2 Arena
36 October 2008 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
37 22 October 2008 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
38 23 October 2008
39 24 October 2008
40 25 October 2008 Newcastle England Metro Radio Arena
41 27 October 2008 Aberdeen Scotland Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
42 28 October 2008 Newcastle England Metro Radio Arena
43 30 October 2008 London Wembley Arena
44 31 October 2008
45 1 November 2008
46 2 November 2008
47 4 November 2008 Brighton The Brighton Centre
48 5 November 2008
49 6 November 2008
50 7 November 2008
51 8 November 2008
52 9 November 2008
53 10 November 2008
54 12 November 2008 Manchester Manchester Evening News Arena
55 13 November 2008
56 14 November 2008
57 15 November 2008
58 16 November 2008
59 18 November 2008 London Wembley Arena

[edit] Roadrunner (2011)

# Date City Country Venue
Roadrunner Tour
1 24 August 2011 Bournemouth England Bournemouth International Centre
2 25 August 2011
3 26 August 2011
4 27 August 2011
5 28 August 2011
6 29 August 2011
7 1 September 2011 Brighton The Brighton Centre
8 2 September 2011
9 3 September 2011
10 4 September 2011
11 5 September 2011
12 6 September 2011
13 8 September 2011 Nottingham Capital FM Arena
14 9 September 2011
15 10 September 2011
16 11 September 2011
17 12 September 2011
18 14 September 2011 London Wembley Arena
19 15 September 2011
20 16 September 2011
21 17 September 2011
22 18 September 2011
23 19 September 2011
24 22 September 2011 Birmingham National Indoor Arena
25 23 September 2011
26 24 September 2011
27 25 September 2011
28 26 September 2011
29 28 September 2011 London The O2 Arena
30 29 September 2011
31 30 September 2011
32 1 October 2011
33 6 October 2011 Sheffield Motorpoint Arena Sheffield
34 7 October 2011
35 8 October 2011
36 9 October 2011
37 10 October 2011 London The O2 Arena
38 11 October 2011
39 13 October 2011 Glasgow Scotland Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
40 14 October 2011
41 15 October 2011
42 17 October 2011 Aberdeen Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
43 18 October 2011
44 20 October 2011 Newcastle England Metro Radio Arena
45 21 October 2011
46 22 October 2011
47 23 October 2011
48 25 October 2011 Dublin Ireland The O2
49 26 October 2011
50 28 October 2011 Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Arena
51 29 October 2011
52 2 November 2011 Liverpool England Echo Arena
53 3 November 2011
54 4 November 2011
55 8 November 2011 Manchester Manchester Evening News Arena
56 9 November 2011
57 10 November 2011
58 11 November 2011
59 12 November 2011
60 15 November 2011 Cardiff Wales Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
61 16 November 2011
62 17 November 2011
63 18 November 2011
64 19 November 2011
65 20 November 2011
66 21 November 2011
67 22 November 2011

[edit] VHS/DVD/Bluray releases

Title Released Notes
Live At Her Majesty's Theatre 10 October 1994 Live at London's Her Majesty's Theatre
Live From The West End 30 October 1995 Live at London's West End Theatre
Live – Different Planet Tour 1996 Live at London's Lyric Theatre
Live In Scotland 16 November 1998 Live at Edinburgh's Playhouse Theatre
Wired And Wonderful – Live At Wembley 25 November 2002 Live at London's Wembley Arena
XL Tour 2005 – Live 28 November 2005 Live at Cardiff's International Arena
Big – Live At The O2 24 November 2008 Live at London's O2 Arena
Roadrunner – Live At The O2 21 November 2011 Live at London's O2 Arena
Roadrunner in 3D – Live At The O2 28 November 2011 Live at London's O2 Arena

[edit] Acting and other work

Evans has made a number of film appearances, most notably in Funny Bones, MouseHunt, There's Something About Mary (where he played an American posing as a Brit), The Fifth Element, The Ladies Man, The Martins and The Medallion. Evans also provided the voice for Zippo in the 2002 TV miniseries Dinotopia and Train in the 2005 film The Magic Roundabout.

From 1993–1994 Evans appeared in the Channel 4 late-night show Viva Cabaret!, both as a host and as a guest performer. In 1996, Evans starred in Channel 4 series, The World of Lee Evans. In 2001, he wrote a sitcom called So What Now?.

In 2004 he starred as a paranoid murder suspect in his first non-comic role in the film Freeze Frame. Although warned they may never grow back, he shaved his eyebrows (as well as his hair).

From 2004 – 2005 he played Leo Bloom in the London production of The Producers along with Nathan Lane, with whom he also starred in MouseHunt, in which they played brothers. In 2007 he appeared in the 50th anniversary production of The Dumb Waiter. May 2007 saw him star in the television drama The History of Mr Polly.

Evans is also a singer and musician as is shown on the Lee Evans XL Live Tour 2005. He can play a variety of instruments, including the mandolin, the ukulele, the guitar, the bass, the electronic keyboard, the piano and drums.

He also has his own production company that produces his stand up DVDs called Little Mo Films, named after his daughter whom he often refers to as Little Mo.

Evans appeared as Malcolm Taylor, a Welsh scientist employed by UNIT in a Doctor Who Easter 2009 special, entitled "Planet of the Dead".[18] In 2010 Lee ran the London Marathon with Tony Ground, he finished with a time of 4 hours 55 minutes 10 seconds.

Evans was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University on 24 November 2009.[19] This was followed by a second Doctorate from the University of East London on 9 December 2010.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television

[edit] Film

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Lee Evans I". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262968/. Retrieved 27 February 2008. 
  2. ^ Cook, William (30 August 2001). "No more crying for this clown". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4725381/No-more-crying-for-this-clown.html. 
  3. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6zEtZNBSD8#t=07m50s Lee Evans on "Opie and Anthony"
  4. ^ "Lee Evans Biography (1964–)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/55/Lee-Evans.html. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  5. ^ White, Jim (27 January 1996). "Oooh, er, cripes". The Independent (UK). http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/oooh-er-cripes-1325941.html. Retrieved 28 April 2008. 
  6. ^ "Lee Evans 2005 Interview". http://www.channelonline.tv/entertainment/comedy/features/lee%20evans.lpf. [dead link]
  7. ^ "Lee Evans (I) – Biography". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0262968/bio. Retrieved 27 February 2008. 
  8. ^ 'All I've ever felt on stage is pain', Daily Telegraph, 25 Oct 2004, "I saw his films as a kid. It surprises me because if you watch my act it's nothing like his really."
  9. ^ "if.comedy – Past winners.". if.comedy. http://www.if.com/eddies/past-winners.html. Retrieved 27 February 2008. 
  10. ^ "Lee Evans Interview". Daily Mirror (UK). 31 October 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QiTXF0uMcI. Retrieved 27 February 2008. 
  11. ^ "Comic Evans breaks crowd record". BBC News. 20 November 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4454572.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2008. 
  12. ^ "Lee Evans : Big On Tour 2008". Leeevansbigtour.co.uk. http://www.leeevansbigtour.co.uk/index.html. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  13. ^ "Lee's Big achievement: News 2008". Chortle.co.uk. 22 December 2008. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2008/12/22/8027/lees_big_achievement. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  14. ^ "Lee Evans sells a million DVDs". Chortle.co.uk. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2009/01/12/8110/lee_evans_sells_a_million_dvds. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  15. ^ "Lee Evans to Tour again in 2011". Chortle.co.uk. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/10/12/11920/lee_evans_to_tour_again#ixzz12Q4Tcrqu. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  16. ^ "Lee Evans breaks box office record". Chortle.co.uk. 17 October 2010. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/10/17/11948/lee_evans_breaks_box_office_records. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  17. ^ "Lee Evans announces extra tour dates". Leeevans2011tour.co.uk. http://www.leeevans2011tour.co.uk/. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
  18. ^ "All Aboard For Next Special!". BBC Doctor Who Website. 23 January 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/news/latest/090123_news_01. Retrieved 23 January 2009. 
  19. ^ "Essex comedian Lee Evans to get honorary degree". thisistotalessex.co.uk. 15 October 2009. http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/go/Essex-comedian-Lee-Evans-honorary-degree/article-1423432-detail/article.html. Retrieved 3 April 2010. 

[edit] External links

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