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Dominic Holland

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Dominic Holland
Born
Dominic Anthony Holland

(1967-05-06) 6 May 1967 (age 57)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)comedian, author, broadcaster, blogger
Years active1991 – present
SpouseNicola Elizabeth Frost[1]
Websitehttp://dominicholland.co.uk/

Dominic Anthony Holland[1] (born 6 May 1967)[1] is an English comedian, author and broadcaster. He also performs at corporate functions. He won the Perrier Best Newcomer Award in Edinburgh in 1993. He has made numerous guest appearances on many television and radio shows. His series called "The Small World of Dominic Holland" for BBC Radio 4 won a Comic Heritage Award.[2] Holland has also published three novels as well as umpteen articles, columns and short stories. He has written for many fellow stand-up and TV performers. Since recently he became known as a blogger. The Sunday Times described him as "The UK’s master of observational comedy" and the Daily Telegraph noted that "he is a top notch stand up who everyone should see". Bob Monkhouse called him "Britain's funniest not yet famous comedian".[2]

Personal life

Holland was born in London, England. He is the son of Teresa (née Quigley), a nurse from Ireland, and John Charles Anthony Holland, a teacher who was from the Isle of Man.[1][3] Holland is Catholic.[3] He attended secondary school at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Kensington. Then he studied textile management at Leeds university[4] where he met his wife, Nikki, who is a photographer. They have four children: Sam, Harry (who are twins), Paddy, and Tom Holland, who is an actor.[5][6]

Career

Stand-up Comedy

Holland started doing stand-up comedy in 1991 making his debut at The Comedy Café on Rivington Street, London. He quickly established himself on the comedy circuit and in 1993 was briefly managed by Eddie Izzard. Holland went to the Edinburgh Festival for the first of five appearances on the fringe. This was his first one man show and it won him the Perrier Best Newcomer award and a raft of good notices. Later in the autumn of 1993, Holland supported Eddie Izzard on his national tour. In 1994, Holland returned to Edinburgh with a new show.

In 1996, his show at the Edinburgh festival was nominated for the Perrier Award, along with an illustrious list of Dylan Moran (winner), Bill Bailey, Rich Hall, Al Murray, Armstrong and Miller.

Holland returned to the Edinburgh festival in 2006[7] and continues to tour the UK today.

In October 2012 Holland recorded at the Court Theatre in Tring his first stand up DVD - "Dominic Holland is aLIVE in Tring" which is available via his website.[8]

TV

Holland made his TV debut appearance in 1993 on Central Television’s, "Lafter Hours" with Harry Hill. He was a team captain for two series of Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment for Channel Five – with Graham Norton hosting in 1998. In 1999 and 2000, Holland appeared twice as a guest on Have I Got News for You, They Think It's All Over – and in 2000 on The Royal Variety Performance.[9] He has appeared on Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive. He has been a regular panellist on the daytime debate show The Wright Stuff.

In addition, Dominic Holland has made numerous guest appearances on such television shows "The Clive James Show", The Brian Conley Show, The Des O'Connor Show, "The Stand Up Show", "Edinburgh Nights", "Best of Edinburgh", and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He has participated in Richard and Judy Show as well as Boom Bang-a-Bang and "the National Lottery Draw Show".

Holland is involved with the first animated British sit-com. "The Wild World of Warren" is being produced for ITV by Baby Cow Productions, six episodes are being made and Holland has written two of these, along with Simon Nye and David Quantick.[10]

Radio

"The Small World of Dominic Holland" is a radio programme written and presented by Dominic Holland. While it revolves around his stand-up, it also includes sketches. One series of the show was commissioned in 2000. This was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4[11] and won a Comic Heritage Award. It has been repeated on BBC 7.[12]

His second radio series on R4 was called "Holland's Shorts" - a series of comic monologues written and performed by Holland.[13]

His recent appearance on BBC R4 was in February 2011 on The News Quiz, hosted by Sandi Toksvig.

"Hal" is a sit-com commissioned by BBC Radio 4, starring Hal Cruttenden. Holland has co-written the series and will appear also as Doug.[14]

Film

Holland debuted in 1982 in a small role of "schoolboy" in Channel 4 movie "P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang". In 1998 he played "Bob" in "The Young Person's Guide to Becoming a Rock Star: Episode 6 "Shifting the Units". In 1999 he appeared as "Cello Player" in "Tube Tales". In 2006-2007 Dominic Holland participated in three episodes of "Annually Retentive"

Holland has written four screenplays – three of which have been sold to producers – but as yet, have not been made in to films.

Writing

Holland has written material for Bob Monkhouse, Lenny Henry, Harry Enfield, Des O'Connor, Clive Anderson and many others.

Holland has published two comic novels, "Only in America"[15] and "The Ripple Effect".[16] He has recently published his third novel, "A Man’s Life" as an e-book.[17]

He has also published many short stories. Holland wrote a column for The Guardian for two years called "Funny Money".[18] and many columns and articles for a number of newspapers and magazines. He now writes his own blog.

"Eclipsed"

Dominic is the father of Tom Holland, one of the most promising young English actors.[19] In 2008-2010 Tom played the title role in Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, London to rave reviews (for example, Elton John called Tom’s performance “astonishing” and said that he was “blown away” by it[20]), and it was during this time that it occurred to Holland that his young son might eclipse him in show business. When Tom Holland was cast in the starring role of Lucas (alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor) in the film The Impossible directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and based on a true story that took place during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, his dad began a blog called Eclipsed,[21] chronicling the lives and differences between father and son. The blog ran at Dominic Holland's official site from March 2011 until December 2012 concluding when The Impossible premiered in Los Angeles.

In January 2013 Holland published on Amazon an e-book called "How Tom Holland Eclipsed His Dad".[22] This book is "affectionately written by a dad who is slightly more proud than he is bemused... It is an extraordinary true story and a complete fluke".[23][24]

Corporate engagements

Holland writes speeches for notable celebrities working on the corporate circuit. He works extensively as an after-dinner speaker and awards host on engagements throughout the world.[2][21].

Books

  • How Tom Holland Eclipsed His Dad, (true story) Amazon.co.uk, 2013, ASIN: B00B0XBSG6
  • A Man's Life (novel) Smashwords, 2012, ISBN 9781301463633
  • The Ripple Effect (novel) Flame, 2003, ISBN 0-340-81987-1; ISBN 978-0-340-81987-6
  • Only in America (novel) Flame, 2002, ISBN 0-340-82128-0; ISBN 978-0-340-82128-2
  • Sit-Down Comedy (contributor to anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003, ISBN 0-09-188924-3; ISBN 978-0-09-188924-1
  • Ha Bloody Ha: Comedians Talking (contributor, ed William Cook) Fourth Estate 1994, ISBN 1-85702-180-0; ISBN 978-1-85702-180-6

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Richard and Margaret Povey of Jersey, Channel Islands, UK:Information about Dominic Anthony Holland". Familytreemaker.genealogy.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  2. ^ a b c “Dominic Holland” Knight Hall Agency
  3. ^ a b "Dominic Holland - The Moaning News". Themoaningnews.moonfruit.com. Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  4. ^ “Q&A: Stand-up comic Dominic Holland” Guardian, 10 August 2002
  5. ^ “Lifting the lid: Dominic Holland” The Telegraph, 1 November 2002
  6. ^ “Scoot-aaargh! Kiddie's scooter + Dominic Holland = broken leg” Evening Standard, 24 July 2012
  7. ^ “Dominic Holland (review)” List.co.uk, 8 August 2006
  8. ^ “Dominic Holland is aLIVE in Tring” Dominic Holland's Official Site, 20 December 2012
  9. ^ “Royal Variety Performance” Royal Variety Performance official website, London Dominion, 5 December 2000
  10. ^ “The Wild World Of Warren” The British Comedy Guide
  11. ^ “The Small World of Dominic Holland” epguides.com, 19 March 2008
  12. ^ “The Small World of Dominic Holland. Episode Guide” BBC Home, 14 April 2008
  13. ^ “Holland's Shorts” BBC Home, 26 September 2006
  14. ^ “I've Got a Radio Four Series” Hal Cruttenden's Official Site, 26 December 2012
  15. ^ “Only In America” Googlereads
  16. ^ “The Ripple Effect” Googlereads
  17. ^ “A Man's Life” Smashwords, 26 December 2012
  18. ^ “Funny Money” Guardian, 2003 - 2004
  19. ^ “Why we're watching… Tom Holland” Guardian, 22 December 2012
  20. ^ “Elton John 'blown away' by Billy Elliot fifth birthday" (Video with John's interview and fragments of Tom Holland‘s performance) BBC News, 1 April 2010
  21. ^ a b “Eclipsed” Dominic Holland's official site
  22. ^ "How Tom Holland Eclipsed His Dad" Dominic Holland's official site
  23. ^ "How does it feel when your child eclipses your achievements before he's reached adulthood?" Independent, 16 January 2013
  24. ^ “I'm so envious of my son, the movie star! British writer Dominic Holland's spent 20 years trying to crack Hollywood - but he's been beaten to it by a very unlikely rival” Daily Mail, 11 February 2013

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