Neil Cole (born 1 March 1972) is an English

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

presenter,

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

broadcaster and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Early life

Cole was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

in 1972, and attended King Edward Grammar School in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. He studied English and French Literature at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Stand-up comedy

As a comedian, Cole was half of successful but short-lived stand-up

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases f ...

, Hitchcock's Half Hour, which won the coveted

Hackney Empire New Act of the Year The NATYS: New Acts of The Year Showcase, previously known as The Hackney Empire New Act of the Year, is an annual industry showcase that promotes new waves of emerging Comedy and Variety acts. It ran at the Hackney Empire Theatre from 1988 until ...

competition in 1998. They supported

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

and

Ennio Marchetto Ennio Marchetto (; born 20 February 1960 in Venice) is an Italian comedic live entertainer whose performances feature quick-change artistry, impersonations and his trademark bi-dimensional paper costumes. He is also known as The Living Paper Ca ...

in West End Theatres, and appeared on BBC1's ''The Stand Up Show'', BBC Radio 4's '' Loose Ends'' and contributed to Channel 4's ''

The Eleven O'Clock Show ''The 11 O'Clock Show'' is a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4 which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran between 30 September 1998 and 8 December 2000, most notably hosted by Iain Lee a ...

'' before splitting up in 2000. Cole returned to the stand-up circuit as a solo comic in February 2007, and supported

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

on his UK Tour over the summer 2007, as well as MCing live music events at the Royal Albert Hall. In March 2010, Cole's debut hour-long solo stand-up show – "Neil By Mouth" – premiered at the

Glasgow International Comedy Festival Glasgow International Comedy Festival is a comedy festival in Glasgow, Scotland. The comedy festival started in 2002 and is held annually in March in venues across the city. The festival is supported financially by Glasgow City Council and since ...

, and ran throughout 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 August 2011, at Cabaret Voltaire. He was one of the first UK comedians to perform at the improvised stand-up phenomenon Set-List, in Edinburgh and subsequently in London. Cole was a founder member of London sketch team The Pros From Dover alongside Phil Whelans and Richard Glover, and occasionally still guests with them.

Television

Cole was the series writer for ''

Ultimate Rush ''Ultimate Rush'' is a 2011/2012 documentary television series produced by the Red Bull Media House in association with Matchstick Productions, and marketed as a combination of stupendous action sports endeavour, coupled with a cinematic-approach ...

'', an adventure sports documentary series produced by

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

Media House. He is also the live reporter and host for

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...

. Other work includes hosting a show about roller-coasters for

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

called ''Man Vs Ride'' and hosting Red Bull Race Day 2019. He produced and reported for

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

World Series by Renault The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. T ...

and

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

. Before that, Cole presented the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

during 2008–2010. He has previously worked for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

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 ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

Extreme Sports Channel The Extreme Sports Channel is a pay television channel that was launched from Amsterdam on 1 May 1999. The channel broadcasts in over 60 countries and 12 languages, and covers extreme sport and adventure sports which include surfing, skateboardi ...

, The Audi Channel and

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. He has reported on location from major international events, including the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, the

Race of Champions The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rall ...

, the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

, the

and

World Cup Skateboarding World Cup Skateboarding (WCS), sometimes referred to as World Cup of Skateboarding, is an international skateboarding organization that hosts the World Championships of Skateboarding series and other skateboard competitions. Overview Focusing on ...

. Cole has also hosted (and often associate-produced) further shows including: * (for MTV) ''Select MTV, Euro Top 20, mtv:new, World Chart Express, MTV News'' and his own weekly live music and chat show, ''The Fridge''. * (for AXN) ''AXN Road Trip'', ''Shakedown'' (also shown on

ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...

and

Men & Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Briti ...

, twice nominated for a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Award 2006 & 2007). * (for ITV2) ''Bedrock''.

Acting

Cole won the Best Actor award at the Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival 2016 for his role as Pete in British comedy horror feature film ''Stag Hunt'', starring alongside

Mackenzie Astin Mackenzie Alexander Astin (born May 12, 1973) is an American actor. Early and personal life Astin was born on May 12, 1973, in Los Angeles, California, the son of actress Patty Duke and actor John Astin. His brother is actor Sean Astin. He at ...

. Recent work includes character roles in the Dark Ditties series on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

. He also played a Radio DJ in feature film '' Borrowed Time'' and Captain William in feature film Richard the Lionheart: Rebellion In theatre, Cole recently played Meatball in the World Premiere of Lesley Ann Albiston's new play ''A Slice of Eel Pie''. He has appeared in leading roles including: Puck in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', Hal in '' Loot'', Nero in ''

Britannicus Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus (12 February AD 41 – 11 February AD 55), usually called Britannicus, was the son of Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. For a time he was considered his father's heir, but that ...

'', Wilson in ''

The Ruffian on the Stair ''The Ruffian On the Stair'' is a play by British playwright Joe Orton which was first broadcast on BBC Radio in 1964, in a production by John Tydeman. It is an unsympathetic yet comedic one-act portrayal of working class England, as played out ...

'', Willie in '' Blue Remembered Hills'', Mephistopheles in '' Dr Faustus'', and various characters in Mamet's ''

Edmond Edmond is a given name related to Edmund. Persons named Edmond include: * Edmond Canaple (1797–1876), French politician * Edmond Chehade (born 1993), Lebanese footballer * Edmond Conn (1914–1998), American farmer, businessman, and politician ...

''. He has played The Darkness in cult comedy ''Umbrage Swain and the Magical Diamond of Ramtutiti'' in London's Off-West End.

Radio

After several years hosting various shows on London 104.9 Xfm (including breaking new Scandinavian bands like Peter, Bjorn & John and

The Concretes The Concretes are a Swedish indie pop band from Stockholm, composed of eight members. History The Concretes began with Victoria Bergsman, Maria Eriksson, and Lisa Milberg. Since their formation in 1995, they have grown into an eight piece band. ...

in his feature Northern Xposure), Cole was the daytime DJ for

NME Radio NME Radio is a radio station operated under ''NME'' magazine branding, that broadcast an alternative music format. It first began broadcasting on 24 June 2008 and ceased on 25 March 2013. The station was then revived in 2018 on NME's website. Ther ...

from launch until summer 2009. He has also guest-starred in two

Sapphire & Steel ''Sapphire & Steel'' is a British television supernatural sci-fi/fantasy series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. ...

audio plays, '' All Fall Down'' and '' Dead Man Walking''.

References

External links

Official site

Spotlight CV

Review on Chortle
*
2011 Interview with The Humourdor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Neil 1972 births People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford Living people Male actors from Bristol English male film actors English male comedians English male television actors Actors from Chelmsford Alumni of the University of Bristol