Michael James Wozniak is a British comedian, writer and actor. He portrays Brian in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Man Down'' and is a member of the team that makes ''Small Scenes'' for

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' ...

Early life

Wozniak was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, was raised in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and has a twin sister. He has Polish and Welsh ancestry.

Education

Wozniak was educated at

Portsmouth Grammar School The Portsmouth Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Portsmouth, England, located in the historic part of Portsmouth. It was founded in 1732 as a boys' school and is located on Portsmouth High Street. History In 1732, ...

. He studied Medicine at

St George's, University of London St George's, University of London (legally St George's Hospital Medical School, informally St George's or SGUL), is a University located in Tooting in South London and is a constituent college of the University of London. St George's has its o ...

and worked as a doctor for several years before pursuing comedy.

Career

Wozniak worked doing live

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

starting in the late 1990s, and began

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 2007. He won the Amused Moose Laugh-Off contest 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 ...

in 2008. He was nominated for the comedy newcomer award the same year. Wozniak performed at the

Adelaide Fringe The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, i ...

in 2009. Wozniak was nominated for the Edinburgh Best Comedy Show in 2013 but lost to Bridget Christie.

Television

Wozniak's first major role in television came when he was cast in the series ''Man Down'' in 2013 alongside

Greg Davies Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Greg in ''We Are Klang'', Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'', Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'', the Taskmaster in '' Tas ...

, who created and starred in the show. He played strait-laced financial adviser Brian, a friend of Davies' character. In 2015, he wrote

physical comedy Physical comedy is a form of comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any ...

''Ruby Robinson'' for Sky Arts. It starred

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe A ...

and a troupe of acrobats. Wozniak appeared and came second in series 11 of '' Taskmaster'', which started broadcast in March 2021. He has a long history with ''Taskmaster'', having won the original Edinburgh Fringe version of the show in 2010.

Film

In 2016, Wozniak played the role of Josh in Alice Lowe's ''

Prevenge ''Prevenge'' is a 2016 British comedy film, comedy slasher film written by, directed by and starring Alice Lowe in her list of directorial debuts, directorial debut. The film also stars Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak, Jo Hartley, Mike Wozniak, Gemma Wh ...

''. Wozniak made his directorial debut with a

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

entitled ''Sump'', released in 2017 and screened at various film festivals. The film has a 14 minute run time and features a character named Sally, played by

Jeany Spark Jeannette "Jeany" Spark (born 7 November 1982) is an English actress, known for portraying Linda Wallander in the British television series '' Wallander''. The actress has also had significant roles in the comedy series '' Man Down'' and the dram ...

, whose husband is trapped in a cave with others. In 2022 Wozniak played the alien Gordan in the science fiction comedy film '' We Are Not Alone''.

Podcasts

On his ''St. Elwick's Neighbourhood Association Newsletter Podcast'', Wozniak plays the role of host Malcolm Durridge. The show focuses on the neighbourhood association newsletter of St Elwick's, a fictional ward of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, forced through budgetary cuts to change from a printed edition to the "cheapest alternative": a podcast. Wozniak also appears frequently in different roles on the '' Beef And Dairy Network Podcast''. In 2021, he started ''Three Bean Salad Podcast'' with

Henry Paker Henry Paker is a British comedian, writer and illustrator. Paker has been described as “the man behind many of your favourite tv shows” with writing, performing and acting credits that include 8 Out of 10 Cats, Mock the Week, Comic Relief, ...

and

Benjamin Partridge Benjamin Partridge (born 1986) is a Welsh comedy writer, performer and producer. He created the '' Beef And Dairy Network Podcast''. Career Partridge's professional writing career began when he was awarded the BBC Radio Comedy Writers Bursary i ...

Radio

Wozniak has appeared frequently in Tim Key's Late-Night Poetry Programme as a character called Jiffy, notably in the episodes "Accountancy" and "Cuisine". The show is an anarchic comedy series where

Tim Key Timothy David Key (born September 1976) is an English poet, comedian, actor, screenwriter and radio personality. He is best known for playing Alan Partridge's sidekick Simon in '' Mid Morning Matters'', '' Alpha Papa'', and '' This Time'', as ...

plans to recite poetry above the

Norwegian fjords This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords. Fjords See also * List of glac ...

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Acting and writing filmographySt. Elwick's Neighbourhood Association Newsletter Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wozniak, Mike British people of Polish descent British stand-up comedians Living people Actors from Oxford Writers from Oxford Male actors from Portsmouth Writers from Portsmouth 1979 births