Кристофер Аддисон: Комик, актер және режиссердің өмірі мен мансабы

British comedian, writer, actor, and director

Christopher David Addison (born 5 November 1971) is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4. In addition to stand up, Addison played Ollie Reeder in the BBC Two satire series The Thick of It and Toby Wright in its spin off film In the Loop, starred in the Sky Living comedy drama Trying Again and appeared in three episodes of series 8 of Doctor Who. He also co created and starred in the BBC Two sitcom Lab Rats. On radio, he previously hosted the weekly comedy news satire show 7 Day Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live from 2009 to 2010. In 2020, he co created the FX parental comedy series Breeders starring Martin Freeman.

Addison was born in Cardiff, Wales, to English parents and moved back with his parents to Worsley, Salford, England, when he was four. On the BBC Radio 4 programme Chain Reaction, he stated that he considers himself a middle class Mancunian. At MGS rather than playing cricket he played the game podex. This was followed by the University of Birmingham, where he studied English Literature with the original intent of becoming a theatre director. After his directing plans did not work out, he drifted into comedy as an alternative creative outlet. In 2005 he won the City Life Comedian of the Year Award, a stand up competition in the North West of England.

First broadcast in 2004, Addison co wrote and co starred in the political satire The Department, along with John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman. It ran for 14 episodes over three series on BBC Radio 4, ending in 2006. In August 2005, Radio 4 aired The Ape That Got Lucky, Addison's adaptation of his 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show of the same name. This programme featured fellow comedians Geoffrey McGivern, Jo Enright and Dan Tetsell. On 8 May 2006, The Ape That Got Lucky won the gold award in the comedy production category at the Sony Radio Academy Awards. In 2006, Addison recorded Chris Addison's Civilization, again for Radio 4, based on his Edinburgh Fringe show of 2004; this again featured McGivern, Enright and Tetsell and was aired in four parts over the summer. He has been a panellist on three of Radio 4's comedy panel games: Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive, first appearing in 2006, Just a Minute, first appearing in 2007, and The Unbelievable Truth, first appearing in 2009. Addison hosted a series of the Radio 4 comedy series 4 Stands Up, which showcases up coming and established comedy talent. As host, Addison performs a short opening set and introduces the acts, in the style of a compère at a comedy club. The first episode was broadcast on 2 April 2009. On 10 May 2009, Addison hosted the Sunday Night Show on Absolute Radio in place of fellow stand up comedian Iain Lee who was away due to being on his honeymoon. Addison hosted 7 Day Sunday, a satirical news show on BBC Radio 5 Live along with his co hosts Sarah Millican and Andy Zaltzman. The first episode aired in January 2010. Addison presented the second series of the show until February 2011, when he was replaced by Al Murray. He is also good friends with Geoff Lloyd on Absolute Radio and has made a few appearances on Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show.

From 2005 to 2012, Addison appeared in the BBC television satirical comedy series The Thick of It as Oliver "Ollie" Reeder, Junior Advisor (later Special Advisor) to the Secretary of State (Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship). He appeared in all of the four series, as well as the two specials 'Rise of the Nutters' and 'Spinners and Losers'. Addison also featured in the film spin off of The Thick of It, titled In the Loop, playing Toby Wright, a character very similar to his part in the television original.

In July 2008, BBC Two aired Lab Rats, a sitcom starring Addison and co written with Carl Cooper. Lab Rats featured cast members Jo Enright, Geoffrey McGivern and Dan Tetsell, with whom Addison had worked previously on the radio adaptations of his one man shows The Ape That Got Lucky and Civilisation. Lab Rats was a return to the traditional, joke heavy, studio based sitcom format that has fallen out of fashion in recent times in favour of the single camera sitcom. Addison has also made an appearance in children's television show Horrible Histories. In August 2014, it was announced that Addison would make a guest appearance in the two part series finale of the eighth series of Doctor Who with his former The Thick of It co star Peter Capaldi, who plays the Twelfth Doctor. His character, Seb, first appeared in the mid series episode "The Caretaker" and then appeared in further episodes including "Dark Water" and "Death in Heaven".

In 2013, he began working as a director on Armando Iannucci's HBO sitcom Veep. He directed 13 episodes. In 2016, he won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. Alongside directing, he also served as executive producer in 2015. For this work on Series 3, he and the other producers on the show received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. They won the award for Series 4 and 5. In 2020, sitcom Breeders premiered on both US TV channel FX and Britain's Sky One. Breeders was co created by Addison, main co star Martin Freeman and comedy writer Simon Blackwell and is based on Freeman's own experience as a parent. Addison directed fifteen episodes.

Addison directed the 2019 comedy The Hustle, starring Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway, a remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), which in turn was a remake of Bedtime Story (1964). Addison is set to direct Ralph Fiennes playing George Frederick Handel in a period comedy drama, Hallelujah.

From 2003 to 2005 Addison wrote a fortnightly finance column for The Guardian titled "Funny Money". On alternate weeks, when the column was not written by Addison, writing duties passed to fellow stand up Dominic Holland. Addison has written two books, both published by Hodder and Stoughton: Cautionary Tales for Grown Ups in 2006 and It Wasn't Me: Why Everybody is to Blame and You're Not in 2008. In 2011 and 2012 he appeared in a range of Direct Line adverts as a Direct Line representative alongside difficult customers, played by fellow comedic performers Alexander Armstrong, Amelia Bullmore and Lorna Watson. On 9 April 2011 he was part of the Comedy Takeover on TV channel Dave, where he presented and selected the shows. In 2011 he took part in three shows of the 16 date Uncaged Monkeys tour along with Brian Cox, Robin Ince, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Dara Ó Briain. In July 2013 he received an honorary degree from the University of Birmingham. In February 2016 Addison took the speaking role of Smith, an Englishman, in the French opera L'Étoile at The Royal Opera House, London. Addison became a Patron of Social Enterprise UK in 2017.

Addison currently lives in Bromley, South East London, with his wife and two children: a boy and a girl. As of March 2020, he was a member of the Labour Party.