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About Matthew Highton
Having made a name for himself on the circuit as an extraordinary stand-up storyteller, Matthew Highton’s comedy shows are renowned for their imagination, anarchy and hilarity. Taking his solo performances around the world, from Edinburgh to Australia, Matthew Highton has performed at some of the UK’s biggest festivals including Glastonbury, Bestival and Latitude as well as appearances on BBC Three, Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.
As well performing his solo stand-up, Matthew Highton was director, writer and collaborator for the 2018 Chortle award winning Weirdos Collective. He is also co-founder of the live, improvised, Time Out Critics Choice comedy show, Comedians Cinema Club which has now grown to house residencies in London, Brighton and LA, with its own series of widely-regarded podcasts. Alongside his live comedy, Matthew Highton’s debut short film ‘Santageddon’, which stars some of the best names in the UK comedy circuit, was officially selected for festivals worldwide, including the Leeds International Film Festival and the Glasgow Short Film Festival.
With a keen eye for the abstract and wowing audiences with gripping flights of fancy, this affable Northerner is one of the most unique and stimulating performers working on the comedy circuit today.
WATCH MATTHEW HIGHTON: INSUFFICIENT MEMORY
Offering an uplifting escape from the modern day trudgery, comedian Matthew Highton invites you to celebrate the small moments and memories that makes us who we are. Musing on love, life, death and dementia through storytelling (and a sprinkling of surrealism), Highton encourages us to relish in the hilarities of life, even in its darkest moments.
Reviews and Awards
Matthew Highton’s Comedian’s Cinema Club has won a Chortle nomination for Best Music & Variety Show 2016.
‘Highton has the storytellers gift’
Chortle
‘Wonderful’
The Guardian
‘Fascinating in parts, moving in others, and there’s plenty to laugh at too’
Time Out London – Critic’s Choice
‘Highton is captivating. His story is one you’ll want to listen to until the end’
Adelaide Now
‘Disorientating, bizarre and rather brilliant’
Broadway Baby
‘Warm, intelligent and beautifully written’
The List
Matthew Highton Tickets
Information on comedian Matthew Highton’s upcoming gigs and shows can be found here
Can’t wait to see him live? Stream his full show now
Biography
Originally from Saddleworth in Oldham, Manchester, Matthew Highton made the move down south to London and performed his first gig back in 2008. It was at the Camden Head (then the Liberties Bar) and he told Fringe Pig:
“Grainne Maguire invited me along after chatting to her a week before when I was scoping it out. I was absolutely nervous as hell, adrenaline shaking my legs apart. The mic lead fell out as soon as I picked it up, my material went out of the window in place of desperate improv, but got it together and as far as first gigs went, I did just fine. Rob Broderick (who was there), told me years later that Ed Sheeran was in the audience. I think I changed his life and career.”
Just 2 years later, Matthew Highton was taking his debut show Incidental Combobulations to the Edinburgh Fringe, returning almost every year since with an impressive array of solo’s including Shadowed Vaguery, End of the Road, It Came From The Mud, Good Luck Sleeping Jerks, I, the Universe and most recently Insufficient Memory.
Through his love of film, gaming and pop culture, Highton has also become the resident host across all of the Belgium Comic Cons and has performed at conventions including EGX, MCM’s London Comic Con part of the critically-acclaimed stage adaption of cult TV show, Knightmare Live.
Matthew Highton’s current projects include writing and performing for the Beano as well as directing on their upcoming Sky project, writing scripts for Channel 4’s Mashed and co-hosting a radio show with fellow comedian Tony Law. As co-creator of Comedians Cinema Club, (bringing together the UK’s best comedians and forcing them to improvise their way through movies), Matthew Highton has seen his comedy visions go from strength to strength, with Comedians Cinema Club receiving a nomination for Best Music & Variety Show 2016 by Chortle and being hailed as Time Out Critics Choice every month since February 2015.
It’s been a wonderfully varied road so far. So how does Matthew Highton feel about where his career is at, right now? He told British Comedy Guide:
“All in all, I think it’s doing pretty well. It’s hard to gauge sometimes, I don’t think there’s ever a point where you don’t want to be doing more. But I look at the things I’m involved with/producing and feel extremely happy.
I’ve been with CCC [Comedians Cinema Club] since the beginning. Eric got me in as soon as he had the idea for it and we nurtured it and grew it together, bringing on a load of talented regulars as we went, who also just brought new things to it and made it so much more fun and better.
We’ve done so many incredible gigs through it, it’s at the BFI for Jeebus’ sake and we’ve started podcasting a lot, and that’s growing and reaching people who can’t get out to the live shows. It’s in London, LA and Brighton monthly and heads around the country, been on Radio 4 and been nominated for awards. For a still newish show, that’s pretty damn good. What I’m saying is it’s been a hell of a fun ride and it’s nice how well people respond to it and I’m very proud of it…
Weirdos has gone from a cripplingly brutal alternative night to selling out the main room of the Leicester Square Theatre, making loads of incredible shows, videos and audio sitcoms (podcams), but that’s largely down to a magnificent director (that’s me) and not to do with an achingly large load of talented people. As for Solo stuff, I performed to eight people on Tuesday and forgot what I was doing mid-way… so you know, all good stuff!”
Get More Matthew Highton
Want more of Matthew Highton? You’re in luck – his full stand-up comedy special is available to watch on NextUp – a digital comedy club where you can stream instantly over 120 comedy specials from some of the exciting names in comedy. Oh, and there’s a 7 day free trial.