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About
The psychedelic whirlwind of madcap energy that is Tony Law first blew across the Atlantic from Canada and onto UK stand-up stages in the mid 90s. His early efforts yielded a Glastonbury Festival New Acts Award and led to tentative forays into the proving ground of the Edinburgh Fringe around the turn of the millenium. The uniquely freewheeling comic mind showcased in Tony’s semi-improvised live shows soon attracted the attention of Channel 4 executives and landed him the role of team captain on the topical vox-pop based panel show Does Doug Know?
While that first brush with TV stardom didn’t result in an enduring hit, it did increase demand for Tony as a live act, and he returned to the festival and touring scene emphatically. Tony soon became an Edinburgh institution, often taking on multifarious side-projects (the Stewart Lee-directed play Talk Radio; the ‘triple-act’ The Dinks; leading punters on walking tours of the city) alongside his gloriously inventive solo shows. Those shows have won multiple awards, and, along with cameos in some of the funniest TV of the past decade, earned admiration from Tony’s peers at the top table of UK comedy, all the while confounding any effort to pigeonhole this bubbling, cascading fountain of mirth. A recent foray into theatrical ice-skating illustrates the futility in trying to predict Tony’s next move. Jokesmith, improviser, dog-walker, puppeteer, fashionista, sporadically bearded time-travelling Shaman Clown from some joyous and confusing mystical future: Tony Law is all this and more.
Watch Tony Law: An Hour and Some of Tony Law
In which Tony mocks the mainstream style. Deemed ‘the most reasonable guy I know’ by Stewart Lee, see just how reasonable for yourself in a little over an hour.
Short Clips
See Tony Law Live
Tony doesn’t have any tour dates right now but make sure to check back here for any updates!
Watch Tony Law: Brainporium
Far from traditional stand-up, Tony presents a surreal stream-of-consciousness, full of offbeat tangents and inner monologue commentary. Expect stories on pirates, the perils of the misappropriation of another culture’s noise, and Gok Wan.
Watch Tony Law: Go! Mr Tony Go!
Mixing delightful, flawless twaddle, with some genuinely insightful forays into what it is that makes comedy comedy (or anti-comedy), Tony Law (that’s Mr Tony Law to you) presents a standuppy, sketchy, impro-ey, arty little comedy show for people who are already funny.
Watch Tony Law: Maximum Nonsense
A journey of gloriously off-beat, loud and ridiculous comedy from the king of tongue-in-cheek absurdity. Watch as this Canadian comic affectionately mocks and undercuts the conventions of stand-up as we know it.
Bio
Tony Law was born in 1969 and grew up on a farm near Lacombe in the Canadian province of Alberta. After becoming disillusioned with the constraints of his rural surroundings, Tony headed for Europe, home to his musical and comedy heroes, and began working as a tour guide, living in whichever country the work dictated, before settling in the UK.
After appearing on his first open-mic bill on a dare, Tony scooped a New Act Award at Glastonbury Festival, and began to develop the act that would take him to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in 2000.
In 2002, Tony was selected as one of the permanent team captains on the Channel 4 panel show Does Doug Know?, which ran for one season. In 2003, Tony appeared at the Fringe once again, this time as 1/3rd of The Dinks (alongside fellow Canadian Craig Campbell and Dan Antopolski). The Dinks show earned a sequel, which Tony performed alongside the solo A Tony Law Show at the 2004 festival. In 2006, Tony starred in the play Talk Radio (directed by Stewart Lee) alongside another solo show – The Dog of Time.
In 2008, Tony recorded a set for Comedy Central’s Comedy Store series, and appeared on ITV’s Comedy Cuts. Further TV work followed in 2009, when Tony featured in the CBBC comedy Scoop, the sketch show No Signal (for FX TV), and the first series of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle (BBC 2). Tony has since become a panel show regular, with appearances on Have I Got News for You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and also featured in The Alternative Comedy Experience.
Tony’s reputation as a legend of the Fringe has been sealed by a slew of awards. In 2011, his show GO MR TONY GO! scooped an Amused Moose (best of the festival) gong, while in 2012 Maximum Nonsense was awarded Best Show at the Chortle Awards.
In addition to festival and tour appearances, Tony has recently moved into the podcasting arena with The Tony Law Tapes (with John-Luke Roberts) and Tony’s Nonsense Hour, and onto the ice, with the comedy spectacular Tony Law and Friends in the Battle for Icetopia.