Frankie Boyle
| Frankie Boyle | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Francis Martin Patrick Boyle |
| Born | 16 August 1972 Pollokshaws, Glasgow, Scotland, UK |
| Medium | Stand-up, television |
| Years active | 1995-present |
| Genres | Black comedy, Observational comedy, Improv comedy |
| Subject(s) | Scottish culture, Current events |
| Notable works and roles | Mock the Week stand-up comedian |
| Website | www.frankieboyle.com |
Francis Martin Patrick "Frankie" Boyle[1] (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and former newspaper columnist, well known for his pessimistic, often controversial dark humour. He is a permanent panellist on Mock the Week and has made guest appearances on several popular panel games including Have I Got News For You, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie To You?, You Have Been Watching and Argumental, as well as writing for Jimmy Carr's show Distraction and Sean Lock's TV Heaven, Telly Hell.
Early life
Boyle was born in Glasgow and went to Saint Convals Primary School in Pollokshaws then Holyrood R.C. Secondary School on Dixon Road on Glasgow's South side. After leaving school, he attended Aston University for a year before leaving and starting a BA in English at the University of Sussex. Whilst doing a teacher-training course in Edinburgh at the age of 23, he began stand-up routines in October 1995 at university student unions, leaving his education course.[2]
Personal life
Boyle currently lives in Glasgow with his partner, Shereen Taylor, and has two children: a daughter (born 2004) and a son, (born October 2007). He admits that his career has caused him to neglect his family.[3] He is a recovering alcoholic and former drug user, who is now teetotal.[4]
Career
Humour
Boyle is known for his morbid sense of humour, which plays on negative images of society (particularly his country of birth, Scotland), celebrities and politicians. The BBC panel show Mock The Week has featured his below the belt humour, as the panel are required to comment humorously on various news stories from the British media. Boyle is a regular on the show and a prolific contributor to each episode, although he has frequently courted controversy with his material. He has been referred to as the 'dark heart of Mock the Week' by host Dara Ó Briain.
Journalism
It was reported on 24 October 2008 that Boyle was to begin a weekly column in the Daily Record, a Scottish newspaper.[5] On 26 June 2009, he reported via his MySpace profile that he had quit his newspaper column as "they refused to print any Michael Jackson jokes." This message was followed by the article he wanted to be printed, which contained dozens of Jackson-based jokes referring to the singer's health, childhood and paedophile charges.[6]
Live Shows
In October 2007 Boyle embarked on a long stand-up tour of the UK, playing over 100 dates and enjoying a sold-out run that was extended through until December 2008. Boyle plans to quit stand-up before he turns 40, and has stated that he has written his final tour and plans to do more TV work after this.[7] Boyle intends to perform his final tour between March and December 2010.
DVD
On 10 November 2008, his first DVD was released, featuring a stand-up performance given at London's Hackney Empire and some additional material.
Writings
On 1 October 2009, Boyle's first autobiographical book titled My Shit Life So Far will be released.
Podcasts
On 13 July 2009 Boyle's first podcast was released. Titled Mock the Week Musings, the podcast is a recording of Boyle testing the material he has written for Mock the Week to a London audience. Boyle comments on his material throughout and can be heard saying "That's out" or "Shit" about jokes that fail to get a laugh. The podcast contains material that Boyle knows won't make the final edit of Mock the Week due to its shocking nature: thus the podcast carries an explicit content warning. The podcast has been top of the iTunes podcast chart since its release.
TV appearances
| TV Show | No. of Ep |
|---|---|
| They Think It's All Over | 4 |
| 8 Out of 10 Cats | 7 |
| Mock The Week | 54 (ever-present) |
| Would I Lie To You? | 3 |
| Have I Got News for You | 2 |
| News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald | 2 |
| The Charlotte Church Show | 1 |
| Live at the Apollo | 2 |
| You Have Been Watching | 3 |
| Argumental | 3 |
Video Game appearances
Boyle can be found performing parts of his recent tour in the comedy club in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned. [8]
In Popular Culture
On 25 August 2009, BBC News reported that a group called the Paisley Young Team had hacked the website of Tayside Police on 20 August and posted a photograph of Frankie Boyle alongside one of his jokes[9].
Trivia
Frankie is also one of 6% of the world's population to suffer a nickel allergy. This allergy also makes him allergic to British coins due to their nickel content, and was brought to light on an episode of Have I got news for you where Boyle was a guest.
References
- ^ "For a long time, having to do a stand-up gig would ruin my day". edinburgh-festivals.com. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
- ^ EXCLUSIVE: BOYLE-ING POINT! By Rick Fulton dailyrecord.co.uk (Mar 3 2006)
- ^ "Frankie Boyle: I'll quit comedy in two years". Nowmagazine.co.uk. 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "Frankie Boyle: I've done cannabis, ecstasy and LSD". Nowmagazine.co.uk. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ Star comic Frankie Boyle is new Daily Record columnist (24th October 2008)
- ^ Frankie Boyle's MySpace (26th June 2009)
- ^ "Boyle:I'm Quitting Stand up ''Chortle.co.uk''". Chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ^ "Review - Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned". Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8219797.stm "'Frankie Boyle web-hack' probed". Source: BBC News. 25th August 2009.
External links
- frankieboyle.com - Official website
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Frankie Boyle's column in the Daily Record
- Upcoming gigs
- Frankie Boyle live review