Addison Cresswell (28 June 1960 – 23 December 2013) was a British comedy talent agent and producer. He was notable for finding many stand-up "alternative" comedians at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and at other venues, promoting them and finding spots for them on television and radio over a 30-year period from the 1980s. He has been called "one of the most influential people in British comedy", "arguably the most powerful man in UK comedy" for two decades and "the Darth Vader of the Fringe".

Early life

Cresswell was born in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. General Register Office index of births registered in July, August, September 1960 – Name: Addison L. Cresswell District: Kensington, London Volume: 5C Page: 1732. His father, Peter Cresswell, was the dean of arts at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His younger brother,

Luke People *Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known as ...

, became a founder of the dance and percussion group Stomp. He was educated at St Luke's Primary School (Brighton),

Longhill High School Longhill High School is a co-educational secondary school for 11 to 16 year-olds, which is located in Rottingdean, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. History The school was officially opened in 1964, although took its first intake in 1963. The s ...

(Rottingdean), and

Brighton Polytechnic The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, where he studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

and was the student entertainments officer. As Ents Officer at Brighton Polytechnic, he booked bands such as U2,

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

, Joy Division, New Order and

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

. He was able to live off the money he made.

Career

He first visited the Edinburgh Fringe in 1982 with Tony Allen. He founded 'The Comedy Boom' with club promoter and comedian Ivor Dembina (who he'd viewed as a rival) in Edinburgh in 1987. It was the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's first venue for

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

. They found the venue - the Abercraig Lounge - simply by walking round Edinburgh. The landlord was initially sceptical, but they persuaded him to show them the basement function room and knew it was going to work. The performance poet and comedian John Hegley was Cresswell's first client. He founded a production company called Wonderdog with Paul Merton and Julian Clary who he had met at 'The Comedy Boom'. His client list went on to include:

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perri ...

, Jon Richardson,

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

, Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr,

Kevin Bridges Kevin Andrew Bridges (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series '' Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines. He has appeared on many television panel shows including '' Would ...

and

Rich Hall Richard Travis Hall (born June 10, 1954) is an American comedian, writer, documentary maker and musician, first coming to prominence as a sketch comedian in the 1980s. He wrote and performed for a range of American networks, in series such as ...

. He was behind '' Live at the Apollo'', which was hosted for the first two series and the first episode of the third by Jack Dee and ''

Stand Up for the Week ''Stand Up for the Week'' is a British television comedy series that was shown on Channel 4, featuring stand-up comedy performances reflecting topical events. The show began in June 2010 with a six-episode series aired on Friday nights, moving t ...

'' on Channel 4 Television from 2010. He founded and ran the

Off the Kerb Off The Kerb Productions is a British talent agency company that mainly works with comedians. The company was owned by Addison Cresswell. The company is responsible for many comedians, including Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Jeremy Hardy, Jo Brand, Alan ...

talent agency in 1982 and in 1991 co-founded the independent TV and radio production company,

Open Mike Productions Off The Kerb Productions is a British talent agency company that mainly works with comedians. The company was owned by Addison Cresswell. The company is responsible for many comedians, including Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Jeremy Hardy, Jo Brand, Ala ...

, with comedian Jack Dee. He organised the Channel 4 Comedy Gala annually in support of Great Ormond Street Hospital. "He liked the idea of being a Svengali figure, like Brian Epstein with The Beatles," said Dembina, but "he wasn't a greedy person. And the thing people forget about Addison is what a brilliant designer he was. He created the most eye-catching posters". He helped his client

secure a BBC contract worth £18m. When Ross became involved in the Sachsgate controversy, and lost the prime-time TV slot, it was taken over by Live at the Apollo, a show produced by Cresswell's TV production company, which helped to launch another of Cresswell's clients, Michael McIntyre.

Death

Cresswell died of a heart attack on 23 December 2013 at the age of 53; Cresswell is survived by his wife, Shelley.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cresswell, Addison 1960 births 2013 deaths Alumni of the University of Brighton British talent agents Burials at Highgate Cemetery People from Brighton Edinburgh Festival Fringe 20th-century British businesspeople