About
Renowned for his insightful social commentary and cutting edge humour, double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee (2007 & 2011) Andrew Maxwell is a must-see for any live comedy fan. Always adept at making shrewd, balanced and very funny political observations, Maxwell was one of the first comics at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival to react to the riots in England and the Arab Spring and evolve his act accordingly to rave reviews and the festival’s most sought after award nomination.
Star of JOHN BISHOP’S ONLY JOKING on Sky, BBC’s LIVE AT THE APOLLO, host of the BBC3 EDINBURGH COMEDY MARATHON & series regular on Sky’s WALL OF FAME, Andrew’s comedy style impressively thrives on both stage and screen. As well as many sell-out shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe throughout his career, Andrew has also performed at The Amnesty / Channel Four Secret Policeman’s Ball (alongside Eddie Izzard, Chevy Chase and Dylan Moran), Glastonbury, Kilkenny’s Cat Laughs, The HBO US Comedy & Arts Festival in Las Vegas (alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock), and made several appearances at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.
Andrew has earned much industry respect, having won and been nominated for several major awards including the Time Out Live Award for Best Stand-up, and the Chortle Award for Best Contribution To The Live Comedy Circuit. Andrew’s recent appearances on BBC’s HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU, ITV2’S CELEBRITY JUICE, the Dave Channel’s ARGUMENTAL, BBC2’s MOCK THE WEEK and R4’s THE NOW SHOW, have cemented his reputation as one of the country’s most sought after comedians.
Watch Andrew Maxwell: Showtime
Exploring political and personal disasters of recent years with absurd characters, mischievous improv and a healthy dose of bigot baiting, Dublin born Maxwell is one of those class stand-ups who’s stylistic simplicity only heightens their skilful aplomb.
See Andrew Maxwell Live
Andrew has various UK live dates coming up in 2018. Details and ticketing info can be found here.
Short Clips
Bio
Growing up as a Protestant in Dublin, with a sense of being different from, but not at odds with, his neighbours, Maxwell tried stand-up comedy for the first time in 1992 aged 18 at his local club, the now infamous Comedy Cellar at The International Bar. Within a couple of years of gigging in Ireland he began to play the stand up circuit over in Britain, soon taking warm-up slots on TV shows such as Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, and They Think It’s All Over. In 1995, Andrew was spotted by the producers of BBC’s Sunday Show and signed up for series two as a co-presenter. In his role as roving reporter on the show Andrew enjoyed many pleasures and a few misfortunes including spending an evening as a male escort, reporting on The Miss World Contest from Sun City South Africa, bungee jumping in the French Alps and a night out with the lads in Newcastle.
Andrew’s passion has always been performing at the Edinburgh fringe, saying “I love spending a month a year in Edinburgh. I love doing shows to a comedy-literate crowd. It’s the reward for doing the comedy circuit the rest of the year.” Maxwell’s earliest appearance at the Festival was in the 1995 sell out show ‘Young Gifted and Green’ , as part of an Irish comics package alongside Ed Byrne and and Kevin Hayes. The show was so successful that it led to them taking the it to Australia for an outstanding five week run. Andrew has since performed his critically acclaimed solo shows every single year at the Fringe for the past 18 years. The early 2000’s saw his screen presence continuing thrive, and he was voted the “King of Comedy” on the Channel 4 reality TV show of the same name, as well as a Funny Cuts special for E4 called Andrew Maxwell – My Name Up In Lights in 2006. Other appearances in more recent years have racked up, including ONE NIGHT STAND for the Dave Channel, Sky Atlantic’s DON’T SIT IN THE FRONT ROW hosted by Jack Dee, numerous appearances on Sky Atlantic’s comedy series, the Edinburgh smash hit SET LIST, Dave Channel’s ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG’S BIG ASK, and a part in Sky Atlantic’s first original comedy series, MORGAN SPURLOCK’S NEW BRITANNIA, alongside Shappi Khorsandi and Ruby Wax. His four part Radio 4 series ANDREW MAXWELL’S PUBLIC ENEMIES was commissioned in 2012 with producer Sam Bryant and recorded in 2013.
Andrew has also presented and authored the BBC3 documentary CONSPIRACY COACH TRIP: 9/11 which aired around the 10 year anniversary of the Twin Towers attack. A three part CONSPIRACY ROAD TRIP series began airing on BBC3 in 2012 with the first episode focusing on the 7/7 Bombings and the second on Creationism. The third episode on the subject matter of UFOs attracted much off screen drama and media attention. In 2014 Maxwell featured in Drunk History shown on Comedy Central, a light hearted show in which comedians get outrageously drunk before attempting to recount historical events. The same year he also became the narrator of Ex on the Beach, an MTV reality based television series, and has narrated every series since the show’s launch. Andrew has recorded numerous Live DVDs of his standup with 2Entertain and is also founder member of popular ALTITUDE comedy festival staged in the Alps every Spring.