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About
Well known on the comedy circuit as one of the UK’s best character comedians as Anna Mann, Colin Hoult’s live shows have received a loyal following and great critical acclaim. A creative machine, Colin nurtured his cult following, performing a new live show every year at the Edinburgh Festival between 2009 – 2011. His first, Carnival of Monsters, an original tragi-comic character sketch show presided over by a sinister Ringmaster, was hailed for it’s fun and frenetic escapism, and was later picked up by the BBC who broadcast a two series version for Radio.
Nominated for Best sketch or Character Act at the 2010 Chortle awards, Colin Hoult’s TV credits include being a regular in Russell Howard’s Good News for BBC Three, Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder for ITV and working with Ricky Gervais in Derek (ITV) and Lifes Too Short (BBC). He is also known for being one half of the double act Colin and Fergus, and proud winners of the prestigious Writers Guild Award for Comedy.
First seen in A Sketch Show for Depressives, his latest creation and most loved character to date Anna Mann has been given her own Sky Arts Valentines Short, and is currently enjoying another theatrical outing in his latest show – How We Stop the Fascists. To coin one of Anna’s catchphrases, the beauty of this character creation is that ‘..it’s actually incredibly clever’ – even when it is being gloriously silly!
Watch Anna Mann’s Stand-Up Special
Colin Hoult as the delightful luvvie Ms Anna Mann gives us a show designed to put down your black dog at last…or at least chuck him a bone. In this series of tightly-written sketches centred around a therapy group we meet a wound-up PE teacher, a German documentary filmmaker, and a hopeful yet hapless local government candidate.
Short Clips
See Anna Mann Live
Colin’s latest Anna Mann show is touring the UK in 2018 following its Edinburgh and London runs. Details and venue info can be found here.
Bio
Nottingham born Colin first tasted the joy of comedy at the age of four doing a goofy duet of You Are My Sunshine with his friend, Chantelle, with his mum hailing him as a natural thesp. Colin took the decision to train in Drama and it was at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre (where Steve Coogan, Jenny Eclair, Graham Fellows and John Thomson all cut their comic teeth) that he met his double act partner Fergus Craig. The pair honed their act in unusual surroundings, when they were included in a group of students sent off to stage a play in Tanzania. After touring the college circuit with their material, they later went on to storm the Edinburgh Festival with an inspired send-up of an awful theatre in education troupe (who play schools, hospices and mobile libraries) and in 2004 won the Writers Guild for Comedy award.
The following year saw Colin returning to his theatrical roots where he played Jonathan Miller in the stage play about British comedians Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Pete and Dud: Come Again. The plays success saw it performed in Edinburgh, London and New Zealand.
In 2009 Hoult performed his solo show Carnival of Monsters at Edinburgh Festival to great critical acclaim, followed quickly after with by his next two shows Enemy of the World and Inferno. As well as live stand-up, his particular knack for character comedy has translated well to Radio too, with credits for the BBC in House on Fire, Out to Lunch, Rudy’s Rare Records, Agatha Christie‘s Crooked House, Regressed, 28 Acts In 28 Minutes and The Milk Run.
In 2013 Colin’s acting talents made the mainstream when he landed a recurring role as the geeky Vampire in series 5 of Being Human. In the same year he appeared as a life coach in the BBC’s Life’s Too Short starring Warwick Davis, written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. He has notably played various roles in the hit comedy Murder in Successville (BBC3),including Ian McKellen, David Tennant, and Piers Morgan and has also made appearances in Count Arthur Strong, Porridge, Red Dwarf, Nurse, Revolting, Drunk History, Benidorm, and many more. Recently featuring as Anna Mann on The Russell Howard Hour, his latest show places the eccentric actress at the centre again in How We Stop the Fascists, hailed as one of the top reviewed shows of the year for 2017.