Mark Watson is a comedian, author, sports pundit and husband. He was born in 1980 and according to life expectancy for his socio-economic group and Body Mass Index, will die in 2056.
2002
He did his first gig in 2002 and the same year won the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Competition. It was then discontinued, securing Mark as the all-time champion of humour. Also that year he was runner-up in the aggressively titled So You Think You’re Funny? After that he stopped doing formal competitions and concentrated on being competitive in general.
2003
He disappeared for the whole of this year; the mystery has never been cleared up.
2004
In 2004 he published his first novel, Bullet Points. It was Commended in the Commonwealth Writers’ Prizes. Also that year he performed his first, and so far best, 24-hour show.
2005-6
In 2005 his first Edinburgh show, 50 Years Before Death and the Awful Prospect Of Eternity, was nominated for the Perrier Best Newcomer. A year later he won the first ever if.comeddies Panel Prize in recognition of being stupid enough to do a 36-hour show and a show about writing a novel, in addition to main show I’m Worried I’m Starting To Hate Almost Everyone In The World. Also in ’06 he was nominated for the Barry Award in his first appearance at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and became obsessed with Australia; he got married to his beloved, Emily; and he advertised Pot Noodle, dressed as a miner. This has been the dullest paragraph so far but it picked up a bit at the end there.
2007
In 2007 he recorded his first Radio 4 series, Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better, with collaborators Tim Key and Tim Minchin. He and Key were to link up again, together with Alex Horne, in oddball quiz show We Need Answers which is now being developed by the BBC. His third and so far best Edinburgh show Can I Briefly Talk To You About The Point Of Life? sold out every night and he published his second novel, A Light-Hearted Look At Murder. He began the online environmental group Crap At The Environment. He became a regular on Mock The Week. He did his first 24-hour show in Melbourne and what may turn out to be his last in Edinburgh. He did a two-week run at the Sydney Opera House. Gosh, he did all kinds of things in 2007! You don’t know the half of it!
2008
So far this year he has completed a 37-date tour of Britain and a three-month Australasian tour which included sell-out runs at the Melbourne and New Zealand Festivals, and Best Show awards at both the Adelaide and Sydney Festivals. In Melbourne, he performed for the first time his version of Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ lecture, to an audience of 1500 people.
The second series of Mark Watson Makes The World Substantially Better for Radio 4 show went out this summer, as well as Spike’s Lookalikes, a four-part sitcom which Mark wrote, staring Ardal O’Hanlon and Doon Mackinchan. He returned to Edinburgh with his sell out fourth solo show “All the Thoughts I’ve Had Since I Was Born”, record the pilot of We Need Answers, and launched his first non-fiction book Crap At The Environment by sheepishly reading some bits of it in some shop or other. In September, Mark recorded his first DVD at The Bloomsbury Theatre, London.
What’s next for this thin, industrious and amusing man? Keep reading this site to find out!
Personal
- Left-handed.
- Thin. Tall, but doesn’t look it because of poor posture.
- Birthday, the day before Valentine’s Day, is the same as popular musicians Phil Collins and Robbie Williams.
- Oldest of four. Has twin sisters.
- Lifelong supporter of Bristol City and a passionate defender of the values, traditions and heritage of football.
- A regular on Radio Five’s Fighting Talk, whose fans (on the Facebook group) rate him their sixth favourite ever player. Also often seen on Mock The Week, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and so on.
- A decent man, surprisingly quiet off stage.
- A fan of many bands and musicians, a vigorous opponent of many more. Lovingly built-up record collection was destroyed by thieves in 2006 during his honeymoon, but he fought back and now carries his iPod everywhere, with the library logged on a computer and the two items never in the same room, like members of the Royal Memory travelling in separate cars.
- Enjoys wine. Reads books.
- Pessimistic, but experimenting with optimism.
Mark’s Biog can be downloaded here (PDF)
“ONE OF THE VERY FINEST, MOST JOYFUL SHOWS ON THE FRINGE… WONDERFUL STUFF”
The Times
“ONE OF THE STRONGEST SHOWS ON THE FRINGE… THIS SHOULD PILOT HIM INTO BRITISH COMEDY’S PREMIER LEAGUE”
Evening Standard
“HE’S SIMPLY EXHILARATING”
Daily Telegraph
“HIS EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH-OCTANE SHOW IS A JOYFUL STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS JOURNEY…IT’S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF A COMIC WHOSE BRAIN WORKS SO FAST, YOU KNOW THEY’LL ALWAYS HAVE THE PERFECT COMEBACK. BUT IN FACT WATSON IS SUCH A LIKEABLE CHARACTER THAT NO ONE WANTS TO HECKLE – THEY’RE TOO INTERESTED IN WHAT’S COMING NEXT.”
Observer
“WATSON MANAGES TO DO A STAND-UP ACT FUELLED BY RESENTMENT, RAGE AND RUDENESS, AND STILL COME ACROSS AS ENTHUSIASTIC, POLITE AND DECENT. JOYOUS STUFF.”
Independent on Sunday
“READING THE PHONE BOOK? PAH. WATSON COULD MAKE BINARY CODE A SHOW-STOPPER…HE CRAMS EVERY MOMENT WITH HIS DRY HUMOUR.”
Metro
“THE EXPERTLY-TOLD ROUTINES MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD, THE UNDERLYING ETHICS MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER. THANK GOD – OR NEAREST EQUIVALENT – THAT HE’S NEVER ACHIEVED THAT CHILDHOOD DREAM OF COMMENTATING ON SPORT, AND CHOSE TO COMMENTATE ON LIFE INSTEAD.”
Chortle
“HE IS IN THE EDINBURGH SUPER-LEAGUE…HE PERFORMS WITH TORRENTIAL ENERGY: IF A TORNADO COULD BE BUMBLING AND LOVEABLE WHILE BLOWING THINGS AROUND, THE EXPERIENCE WOULD BE SIMILAR TO A MARK WATSON STAND-UP SET.”
Guardian
“WATSON GETS FIVE STARS BECAUSE HE IS ONE OF THE FRESHEST, FUNNIEST, MOST LIKEABLE AND ENTERTAINING COMICS”
Metro
“A BREATHLESSLY DELIVERED STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS ROUTINE THAT’S AS QUICK-WITTED AS IT IS UTTERLY FRIVOLOUS”
Telegraph
“THE HIGHEST ACHIEVER THE EDINBURGH FRINGE HAS SEEN THIS DECADE…A HUGE COMIC PRESENCE. HE STOOD OUT RATHER IN THE WAY YOU IMAGINE JOHN CLEESE OR PETER COOK MUST HAVE DONE IN THEIR DAY.”
Times
“IF ANYONE CAN TURN A ONE-HOUR EDINBURGH SET INTO A TWO-HOUR WEST END SPECTACULAR, IT IS MARK WATSON…WHILE OTHERS MIGHT BE DAUNTED BY THEIR EXTENDED THEATRICAL DEBUT, THIS SKINNY STREAK OF ENERGY TAKES IT IN HIS STRIDE.”
Evening Standard
