Guy Browning (born 1964 in Chipping Norton) is a humourist,

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

and film director. He wrote the ''How To...'' column in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' from 1999–2009. Before that he wrote about

office politics Workplace politics is the process and behavior that in human interactions involves power and authority. It is also a tool to assess the operational capacity and to balance diverse views of interested parties. It is also known as office politics and ...

and

social climbing A ''parvenu'' is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb ''parvenir'' (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something). Origi ...

Early life

Browning was educated at Magdalen College School and

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

. He started out in the comedy duo Dross Bros with

Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benjam ...

. The two fell out and Browning went into advertising with Darcy Macius Benton Bowles where he was responsible for the line "Delicious Meaty Chunks in a Nutritious Gravy". He went on to become the Creative Director of the Added Value Company before setting up his own business, Smokehouse, in 1997 which organises interactive events all over the world.

Radio

Browning is a regular on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

, e.g. ''Small Talk'' (2003) and ''

Weak at the Top ''Weak at the Top'' is a situation comedy originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and 2006. It revolves around a businessman anti-hero, John Weak (Alexander Armstrong), whose main attributes are summed up in the words "randy, sexist, and dr ...

'', which ran for two series in 2005/6 starring

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

. The fictional John Weak works for Smokehouse, the name of Guy Browning's real business.

Writing

Browning combines a serious career as a business writer with books such as ''Innervation: Rewire Yourself for the New Economy'' (2003) and ''Grass Roots Management'' (2002), with humorous columns, such as "Weak at the Top" in ''

Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a privately held media company headquartered in London. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and previously on ...

''. His books collecting his ''Guardian'' columns, ''Never Hit a Jellyfish with a Spade'' and ''Never Push When it Says Pull'', were bestsellers. His work has been translated into eight languages. He published ''How to be Normal'' in 2014 and ''The British Constitution: First Draft'' in 2015. In June 2009, Browning began directing his first film, ''

Tortoise in Love ''Tortoise in Love'' is a 2012 British romantic comedy film. The story follows a microbiologist turned stately home gardener who enlists the help of his village in an attempt to woo a Polish au pair he has fallen in love with. First shown at th ...

'', set in and around Kingston Bagpuize. On 24 May 2012, the village of

Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, England, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the ...

decamped en masse to view the premiere of ''Tortoise in Love'', as part of the opening of the newly refurbished Leicester Square in London. The film had a UK release in July 2012 and went on to be released in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He writes the Sidestroke cartoon in the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' with Janet Brown.

Personal life

Browning lives in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

with his three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, Guy English male comedians 1964 births Living people People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford