Mike Gunn's history is as interesting
and entertaining as his comedy. As a child the young Gunn was more
interested in doing projects on implements of torture than playing
football. A misspent youth and a series of grim jobs cultivated his
cynical outlook on life and a perverse desire led him to the world of
stand-up. A self-confessed pessimist, he describes himself as "not a
natural choice for a career in laughter".
His lugubrious comedy has been described as 'drier than a dead man's
bones'. He has a rare ability to walk close to the line of what
audiences find acceptable and yet still remain likable and funny. His
reputation for being a bit unfriendly, a touch dark and even sexist is
really not true. In real life he's loving, warm and philanthropic.
Just a bit misunderstood.
Early in his career Mike was supporting the likes of Jo Brand
and Alan Davies. He now headlines at all the top comedy venues
in the UK and is rapidly reaching cult status on the circuit. He has
performed internationally, taking his talent to Hong Kong, Ireland,
Holland, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia and to
Australia at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where
he completed a five-week sell-out season. He also had the dubious
honour of being the first comic to ever play in Kuantan, East Malaysia
Television appearances include The Gas (CH4), The Comedy
Store (LWT), Live At Jongleurs (CH5), and Al Murray's
sit-com 'Time Gentlemen Please'. He has also been a regular
contributor for The Guardian. He has written for Time Out,
The List, The 11 O'clock Show (CH4) and even Match of
The Day Magazine.
Mike made his debut solo performance at the Edinburgh Festival
where he adopted the character of a funeral director with his show 'Good
Grief' and received rave reviews. In August 2003 he returned to
the festival with a provocative new show: "Uncut". A departure
from stand-up, Mike's latest show documents the true story of his
previous triumphant career as a registered heroin addict. 'Uncut' lays
bare and intimately explores Mike's life before, during, and after ten
years of top-notch, premier league drug addiction. Clean now for 17
years, this show shares the why's and how's of getting totally messed
up and reveals some of the darker moments of addiction alongside some
of the very, very funny things that happen. "Uncut" is a funny and
moving story of addiction told by a successful comedian with a
somewhat sordid, utterly bizarre and completely hysterical past life.
On the face of it, it's not a funny subject but Mike likens being an
addict to "treading on a rake and getting bashed in the face…time
after time. That's funny as long as it's not you that's doing it." His
inimitable laconic style prevails throughout a show which is a
fascinating, uplifting, disturbing, poignant and extremely frank story
from the comic who has done it all.
The show received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival and aided by
a grant from the Arts Council, Mike has developed the show for
a teenage audience and plans to perform it in theatres and arts
centres, as well as in schools and universities around the UK. Gunn is
confident that UNCUT can be a far more effective tool for raising drug
awareness in schools than the hitherto more conventional "anti-drug"
lecture. See
www.mikegunn.co.uk for more information on the show.
"Piercingly funny…Fiendishly funny as
dry as a dead mans bones" The List
"Mike Gunn will make you die laughing" The Guardian
WHAT THE PRESS HAVE SAID ABOUT
“UNCUT”
“This show has to be the anti-drugs campaign’s best act, courtesy of
the comedy circuit’s most vivid raconteur” The Stage
“Wit as sharp as a needle… the performance packs a real punch…The idea
of using stand-up in educational contexts is intriguing, this
provocative piece could work very well in schools because it neither
preaches nor patronises, sweetening the pill with healthy doses of
irreverence. A funny, chilling comedy lesson.” The Evening Standard
“By turns shocking, uproariously funny and deeply thought-provoking”,
What’s On London
“One of the 10 leading stand-ups in Britain” Independent on Sunday
“Critics Choice” The Guardian
“This is an absorbing show, darkly funny but educationally sobering”
The Scotsman
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