Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner is one of the funniest personalities in British comedy.

He is well known for his work with fellow comedian and writer David Baddiel, including a number one pop single. Hif first stand-up gig was in 1987 and just 1 year later he made his first Television appearance. In 1990 he co-wrote and starred in the comedy variety show Packet Of Three on Channel 4 but continued to see his reputation as a stand-up grow. He won the 1991 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, beating Jack Dee and Eddie Izzard. From 1995 to 1998 Skinner had his own chat show on BBC One, After a short break the show found a new home at ITV in 1999, where it ran until late 2005. He often works with best friend and ex-flatmate David Baddiel, notably on the popular late night entertainment show Fantasy Football League, from 1994 to 2004 and on Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned from 2000 to 2005. The two also collaborated for the football song Three Lions, along with the Lightning Seeds and the England national football team for Euro 96, and re-released it for the 1998 World Cup. The song reached #1 in the UK charts both times. Skinner and David Baddiel covered the 2006 FIFA World Cup by podcast for The Times. The podcasts received a nomination for the 2007 Sony Radio Academy Awards.

Television & Radio Work

In 2001, he released his autobiography Frank Skinner by Frank Skinner, which became a bestseller. The accompanying TV show, Frank Skinner on Frank Skinner was recorded and shown on ITV in 2001. He has appeared in a number of self-written sitcoms, including Blue Heaven (1994) and Shane (2004). From March 2009, Skinner started to present the Saturday Morning Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio with his co-hosts Emily Dean and Gareth Richards who was replaced by Alun Cochrane in June 2011. The show is produced by Avalon Television. After an initial 12-week stint proved very popular with the listeners, Skinner's contract was extended until summer 2010. In January 2012, he took over as host of BBC show Room 101.

Recognition

In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In February 2006, he received an honorary degree from the University of Central England, (now Birmingham City University). In 2007, he performed a new live stand-up tour, his first for 10 years, starting at a warm-up gig at the Swindon Arts Centre, continuing through to the Edinburgh Festival for 2 weeks at The Pleasance, the venue where he won the Perrier Award. Skinner can play the Banjo ukulele and in 2010, he contributed Ukulele parts to a song by Fairport Convention called Ukulele Central which featured on their album Festival Bell. He is the host of Frank Skinner's Opinionated, broadcast on BBC 2 on Friday evenings. Starting in late 2010, Skinner has a regular column in the newspaper The Times. A British comedy legend, Frank Skinner is a great presenter and hilarious keynote speaker.