Trevor Neal (born 1963, Dorchester, Dorset) and Simon Hickson (born 1962, Salford, Lancashire) are a British comedy duo (known as ''Trevor and Simon'' or ''Trev and Simon'') and are best known for a family-friendly version of anarchic alternative comedy on

BBC1 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, ...

Saturday-morning shows ''

Going Live! ''Going Live!'' was a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip ...

'' (1987-1993), and '' Live and Kicking'' (1993-1997).

Education

Trevor and Simon met as drama students at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

in 1981. Hickson was a year older than Neal. They first encountered each other at the drama department's Christmas show, in which Neal played a squirrel on a skateboard. In a podcast, the pair recount how comedian

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

taught Hickson Greek tragedy, and their Professor, David Mayer (father of

Lise Mayer Lise Mayer (born November 1959) is an American television and film writer, best known as, alongside Rik Mayall and Ben Elton, a creator and co-writer of the BBC comedy series '' The Young Ones''. Background and work Mayer was born in Chicago, Il ...

) introduced them to

Rik Mayall Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...

and

Adrian Edmondson Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter. He was part of the alternative comedy boom in the early 1980s and had roles in the television series ''The Young Ones (TV s ...

, who had been his students some years before. '' The Young Ones'' (written by Mayall, Lise Mayer and Ben Elton) was an early influence.

Career

Neal and Hickson initially performed as a trio together with Phil Dennison. They later appeared as a double act on the Manchester comedy circuit as Devilfishhornclub, performing at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival 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 1984, and promising “non-racist, non-sexist humour”. Following a suggestion by

John Hegley John Richard Hegley (born 1 October 1953) is an English performance poet, comedian, musician and songwriter. Early life He was born in the Newington Green area of Islington, London, England, into a Roman Catholic household. He was brought up i ...

, the duo were persuaded to relocate to London from Manchester. Later they were approached by a BBC producer for ''

Saturday Superstore ''Saturday Superstore'' is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin, and John Craven. The s ...

'' who "said they were looking for a double act to represent the new style of comedy, but for children”. Their appearances on Going Live would result in the creation of some well loved sketches and catchphrases, such as the Singing Corner's "Swing Your Pants" and "We don't do duvets." Trevor and Simon created a

crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

comedy drama

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, ''Strangeness in Space''. The podcast stars Trevor, Simon, and

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''Do ...

. Strangeness in Space is reminiscent of Red Dwarf, albeit with the pair's trademark absurd humour. The story concerns a fictional pop duo called Pink Custard (played by Trev and Simon) who are stuck in space orbiting the planet Mirth with Sophie (played by Sophie Aldred) and robot L.E.M.O.N as they encounter various bizarre creatures and situations.

References

External links

BBC Guide to Comedy – Simon Hickson

BBC Guide to Comedy – Trevor Neal
* * {{IMDb name, 1051121, Trevor Neal British comedy duos British podcasters Alumni of the University of Manchester