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About
Actor, writer, musician and of course comedian, with a record-setting six nominations for the Chortle Awards’ ‘Best Headliner/Club Comic’, Phil Nichol is one of the most energetic and original performers on the comedy circuit. He began as part of comedy rock group Corky & the Juice Pigs, alongside fellow drama school students Greg Neale and Sean Cullen, The trio were nominated for the Edinburgh Perrier Award in 1993 (Nicol’s first nod) and were most famous for their song Eskimo. The group split in 1997 and Nichol focused on developing his solo stand up career, performing at the Edinburgh Fringe almost every year, culminating in a second Perrier nomination for his 2002 show Things I Like, I Lick.
An onstage confrontation with Scott Capurro,and an accusation of homophobia then inspired a trilogy of confessional storytelling shows; Nearly Gay, The Naked Racist and Hiro Worship between 2005-7, the middle of which won him the (now renamed IF.com) Comedy Award. Nichol has performed at all but one Edinburgh Festival since, continuing to experiment with form and content in his stand up, whilst adding several acclaimed acting performances to his CV too, including a 2005 Stage Acting Award. His rediscovered joy of acting led to the Co-founding of The Comedians Theatre Company, appearances in London’s West End and several Television roles including playing Terry Gilliam in the acclaimed BBC programme Holy Flying Circus. He has also released a solo comedy music album Late Night Electric Watermelon and is appearing as a drag queen in Everybody’s Talking about Jamie before resuming a tour of his acclaimed 2017 Edinburgh stand up show Your Wrong.
Watch Phil Nichol in The Naked Racist
Canadian Phil Nicol’s explosive, chaotic energy sets his shows miles apart from the more commercial, safe, and observational. Get your sweaty thrills as he takes us through one recklessly wild journey through the streets of Amsterdam, and one hell of a full frontal climax.
Short Clips
See Phil Nicol Live
Phil Nichol is appearing in Everybody’s Talking about Jamie at London’s Apollo Theatre and alongside various dates at comedy clubs, will be touring stand up show Your Wrong later in 2018 with tickets available here.
Watch Nearly Gay
Fringe veteran Phil Nichol’s manically exuberant stage presence is the stuff of legend. Nearly Gay is a rollicking rollercoaster of comedy and song covering topics ranging from dumping your girlfriend to gay spiders.
Bio
Phil Nichol was born in Scotland but moved to Canada at an early age with his parents, who are devout born-again Christians. Whilst this meant they didn’t necessarily approve of his choice to go to theatre school (after being impressed by a performance of The Tempest aged 12) he does cite his mother, “a fount of laughter and fun”, as an inspiration for getting into comedy. He was active on the Toronto Improv scene, taught himself to play guitar and at 17, secured a 4 year training place at The School of Dramatic Art, University of Windsor, Ontario. There he met Sean Cullen with whom he went on to form Corky & the Juice Pigs.
Whilst touring various international comedy festivals with the band, he began to hone his own individual comic style, though by his own admission in his first solo gigs, “I died miserably…I had no material..I was just running on and yelling at people”! His determination to improve and succeed (alongside advice and support from other comedians such as good friend Brendan Burns), eventually led to him moving to the UK full time in 1998 and moving to headliner status in comedy clubs. His mainstream media appearances include walking off The Weakest Link naked when eliminated.
Considering the energetic passion of his performances and the workload he takes on between comedy, acting, music, directing, producing and seemingly anything else the takes his fancy, it’s no surprise that the most surprising thing the 27 year veteran finds about his career is “I’m still here, still working, still enjoying it, still laughing and still finding room for improvement.”