Chris McCausland (born ) is a British actor and comedian. He is known to television audiences for his role as Rudi in the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...

show '' Me Too!'' He regularly appears at comedy venues around the UK, including

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

. McCausland is blind due to

retinitis pigmentosa Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may ...

Early life

McCausland was born in West Derby Village in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

but has lived in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

, near

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, since 1996, after moving there to study at

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

. He graduated in 2000, with a BSc Honours in

software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...

. After a spell as a

web developer A web developer is a programmer who develops World Wide Web applications using a client–server model. The applications typically use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in the client, and any general-purpose programming language in the server. is used f ...

, deteriorating eyesight prompted a change of direction, and he worked in sales for a number of years, during which time he first performed

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 ...

in 2003.

Stand-up comedy

McCausland first gave stand-up a go at a new act comedy night in

Balham Balham () is an area in south London, England, mostly within the London Borough of Wandsworth with small parts within the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. The area has been settled since Saxon times and appears in the Domesday Book as B ...

in July 2003. Within his first year of performing, he won the ''Jongleurs J2O Last Laugh'' competition, came runner up in the

Laughing Horse New Act of The Year Laughing Horse is a British comedy promotion company and venue operator. The company was established in the UK in 1998, and now operates venues in Aldershot, Brighton, Cirencester, Hitchin, London ( Brixton, Covent Garden, Lancaster Gate, Pad ...

and placed third in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

So You Think You're Funny So You Think You're Funny? (SYTYF) is an annual stand-up comedy competition for new acts. The competition began in 1988 in the United Kingdom. The finals are held every August at The Gilded Balloon during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Past wi ...

competition. Between 2005 and 2012, he took six stand-up shows to the Edinburgh Festival and in 2011 was awarded the Creative Diversity Award for comedy by a Channel 4-led panel of broadcasters which also included BBC, ITV and Sky. He has performed all over the world, including across

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, and regularly travels the UK playing the country's top comedy clubs. He appeared on the BBC's '' Live at the Apollo'' on 4 January 2018 and more recently on the 7th January 2022 he hosted the show.

Television

In 2014, McCausland fronted a national television advert for

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

, promoting the benefits of their new talking cash machines. Also in 2014, he starred in the

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

drama series '' Moving On'', alongside

Anna Crilly Anna Crilly is an English actress and comedian. Education Crilly was educated at Kent College, Pembury and attended Middlesex University, where she studied performing arts. Career She was a finalist in the "So You Think You're Funny" competiti ...

and

Neil Fitzmaurice Neil Simon Fitzmaurice (born 20 August 1969) is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Jeff, the love rival of protagonist Mark Corrigan, in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Peep Show''. He has written for a number of ot ...

. In 2012, he appeared alongside fellow comedians in

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

's Comedians Special charity episode of ''Celebrity

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

''. He appeared in three series of ''At The Comedy Store'' in 2008 for Paramount Comedy, and in 2010 and 2012 for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

. In 2011 he appeared in ITV's series ''Stand-up Hero''. In 2010, he featured in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's end of year spoof news review, ''Unwrapped with

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in va ...

''. He was also one of the principal characters in the

series '' Me Too!'', playing Rudi the market trader. Filmed in 2006, it aired on

and internationally until April 2016. On 20 August 2018, he appeared in the long running BBC soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

''. On 18 October 2019, he appeared on the BBC comedy panel show ''

Would I Lie to You Would I Lie to You? may refer to: TV * ''Would I Lie to You?'' (game show), British comedy panel quiz show that premiered in 2007 ** ''Would I Lie to You?'' (Australian game show), an Australian comedy panel quiz show based on the British version th ...

.'' Then, on 2 December 2019, he appeared on another BBC

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

comedy panel show, '' Have I Got News for You'' with his appearance also being shown on the extended version of the episode on '' Have I Got A Bit More News For You''. In February 2020, he appeared on an episode of ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'' on

. Despite his poor eyesight, Chris scored highly throughout the episode, playing by memory alone, and even correctly guessed the difficult end of game "Countdown Conundrum" before the sighted panellists. During the show, presenter

produced blindfolds for the other contestants and encouraged them to try playing without sight. On 15 January 2021, he appeared on the ''

'' one more time. In July 2022,

announced McCausland will present a four-part travelogue series, provisionally titled ''The Wonders of the World I Can't See''.

Personal life

McCausland lives with his wife Patricia and young daughter Sophie.

References

External links