David Geoffrey Earl (born 20 March 1974) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

actor and comedian, best known for his comedy character Brian Gittins. He has featured in several projects associated with

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

, most notably as Kevin "Kev" Twine in the comedy-drama ''

Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name ar ...

'', and in smaller roles in '' Extras'', '' After Life'' and the film '' Cemetery Junction''. Earl also works frequently with comic

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programme ...

. Together they co-wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Rovers'', and the comedy series ''

The Cockfields ''The Cockfields'' is a British television sitcom created by Joe Wilkinson and David Earl, and produced by Yellow Door Productions for Gold. It aired over two series from 12 November 2019 until 12 November 2021, including a Christmas special, ...

''. They also host three podcasts called ''Gossipmongers'', ''Chatabix'' and ''My New Football Club''. He also co-wrote and starred in the feature film

Brian and Charles ''Brian and Charles'' is a 2022 comedy drama film directed by Jim Archer, in his feature debut, from a screenplay by David Earl (actor), David Earl and Chris Hayward, who also star in the film. A feature-length adaptation of the trio's 2017 sh ...

where he plays an isolated inventor who builds a robot.

Early life

Earl was born in

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...

on 20 March 1974. Before undertaking acting roles, Earl worked as a gardener and as a van driver, delivering building tools.

Comedy career

One of Earl's earliest online videos featured him playing a character called Graham, which he sent to a friend who showed it to

and

Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, actor, director, presenter and writer. Alongside Ricky Gervais, Merchant was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office'' (2001–2003), and ...

. They liked the video and Gervais asked Earl to play an obsessive fan, based on the character from the video, who talks to

Andy Millman The British television sitcom '' Extras'' centres on the main characters of Andy Millman, Maggie Jacobs and Darren Lamb, in addition to several more recurring characters. Main characters Andy Millman Portrayed by Ricky Gervais, Andrew "Andy" ...

in a pub in an episode of ''Extras''. Around this time Earl played Tony Queen in the film ''The Penalty King''. Earl went on to create a number of online videos in character as Brian Gittins and played this role in the film ''Cemetery Junction''. In 2012 a sitcom pilot entitled ''Gittins'' was broadcast on

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 ...

. In the pilot Gittins works as a taxi driver: previously the character had been a cafe owner and this discrepancy is highlighted in an episode of the podcast ''Flatshare Slamdown'', in which Earl appears as Brian. He releases regular ''Brian Gittins and Friends'' podcasts. Another of Earl's characters is Steve "Cumbo" Cumberland, who features in a number of online videos, including a Channel 4 ''Comedy Blaps'' series, co-written with

Brett Goldstein Brett Goldstein (born 17 July 1980) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for writing and starring as Roy Kent in the Apple TV+ sports comedy series ''Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which he received the Primetime Emmy ...

. In 2011, Earl was revealed to be the person behind the popular Twitter account of Dr Peter Thraft, a supposed sex therapist.

Personal life

Earl has three children and lives in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Filmography

Podcasts

''The Brian Gittins Show''

A live radio show hosted on Spreaker from 2012-2017, where Brian played the role of 'the worst radio presenter in the world'. Callers would Skype in from around the world, and these included David Edwards and Charles Petrescu.

''Brian Gittins and Friends''

Brian, David Edwards and Charles Petrescu have a chat with various comedians. It started in 2016, with guests including John Kearns,

Lolly Adefope Ololade "Lolly" Adefope (born 14 September 1990) is a British stand-up comedian and actress, specialising in character comedy. She is known for playing the role of Fran in the Hulu comedy series '' Shrill'', and as Kitty, the ghost of a Georgia ...

, and

Scroobius Pip David Peter Meads (born 3 August 1981), known professionally and personally as Scroobius Pip (Dave), is an English actor and podcaster as well as a former spoken word poet and hip hop recording artist from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. He first g ...

''Gossipmongers''

In 2019, David Earl,

and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called ''Gossipmongers'', a weekly podcast where listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In 2020 Poppy was booted from the podcast by Joe and David.

''Chatabix''

In 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called ''Chatabix'', a daily weekday podcast recorded very early in the morning.

''My New Football Club''

In 2021, David Earl and Jon Beer began a podcast called ''My New Football Club''. A weekly podcast about David becoming a new fan of

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

.ITV Westcountry

References

External links

Official website
*
David Earl
on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, David British male film actors British male television actors 20th-century births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)