Alex Agnew (born 22 December 1972) is a Belgian stand-up comedian and hard rock

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

. According to the Nigel Williams autobiography "Had ik maar een vak geleerd" ("If Only I'd Learned a Proper Trade"), Alex was already an established comedian in Belgium since at least the 1999–2000 season. This is somewhat contradicted by the 2011 show "Larger than Life", celebrating "the best of Agnew 10 years on stage". Undisputedly however, he attained nationwide fame when he became the first Belgian to win the prestigious

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

''Leids Cabaret Festival'' in February 2003. After this initial success he has been performing in comedy shows like ''De Bovenste Plank'' and ''Comedy Casino'' on the Belgian television channel Canvas. Agnew is the son of an English father, footballer John Agnew, and a Flemish mother. He is influenced by action movies, superheroes, comic books and a great variety of music, ranging from Tom Jones and musicals to heavy metal and the new-age music his sister played. His "rock 'n' roll comedy" (as he himself calls it) is mostly a mix of

blue comedy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...

and the production of sound effects, similar to

- Moroccan comedian

Najib Amhali Najib Amhali ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⵊⵉⴱ ⴰⵎⵀⴰⵍⵉ; born April 4, 1971) is a Moroccan-born Dutch stand-up comedian and actor. Life Najib Amhali (born Najim Amhali) was born in Nador Nador ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⴷⵓⵔ) i ...

. Besides his comedy activities, he is also the lead vocalist of hard rock band ''Diablo Blvd''. His first solo comedy show, "KA-BOOM!", spanned the whole 2005–2006 season. Early 2007 Agnew kicked off his new show, "Morimos Solamente". He toured Belgium with the show "More Human than Human" in the 2009–2010 season. After filling up the Antwerp

Sportpaleis The Antwerps Sportpaleis ( eng, Antwerp's Sport Palace), also called Sportpaleis Antwerpen, Sportpaleis Merksem or simply the Sportpaleis, is an arena in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a multipurpose hall where concerts, sporting events, festivals and f ...

5 times over throughout 2011 with his best-of show "Larger than Life" supported by

Steve Hughes Steve Hughes is an Australian-born thrash metal drummer, comedian and actor. Hughes has embraced the title "heavy metal humourist", as it aligns with his approach to comedy, music and life; the press have referred to this title and similar var ...

. In 2012 and 2013 he toured with his show "interesting times". On 16 September 2012 Agnew announced his "indefinite" retirement from stand-up comedy on his official website and Belgian public television. He cites his commitment to Diablo Blvd. as the main reason for his departure from the stage. In 2017 Agnew came back with a show that was appropriately titled "Unfinished Business". Right now he's writing material for his latest show "Be Careful What You Wish For" Agnew's wife runs a popular comedy club, The Joker, in Antwerp.

Shows

*KA-BOOM (2005–2006) *Morimos Solamente (2007–2008) *More Human than Human (2009–2010) *Larger than Life (2011) *Interesting Times (2011–2013) *Interesting Times: The Legend Ends (October 25,26 2013) *Unfinished Business (2016-2017) *Be Careful What You Wish For (2019)

Awards

1st in ''Leids Cabaret Festival'' (2003) (First Belgian winner)

References

External links

Alex Agnews Website

Alex Agnews MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnew, Alex 1973 births Living people Musicians from Antwerp Belgian male comedians Belgian satirists Belgian rock singers Belgian atheists Former Roman Catholics Belgian people of British descent