Christopher Widdows (born 7 December 1968) is an Australian stand-up comedian and actor primarily known by the stage name Steady Eddy. Born with

Cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

, his disability became a key part of his comedy, hence his performing moniker. Steady Eddy's mainstream career began in 1992 with appearances on popular Australian TV programs like

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's ''

The Midday Show ''Midday'' (commonly referred to as ''The Midday Show'') is an Australian award-winning daytime television program, based on the variety format that aired on the Nine Network on 11 February 1985 until 27 November 1998. The show aired, like its ...

'' and

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

's ''

Tonight Live with Steve Vizard ''Tonight Live with Steve Vizard'' was a nightly Australian comedy chat show broadcast on Seven Network in Australia, featuring live musical performances. Synopsis It was a one-hour live studio based show broadcast nationally 5 nights a week f ...

,'' becoming a frequent personality throughout much of the nineties and early naughts. He was one of the first differently abled performers to be featured prominently in Australian mainstream media.

Stand-up comedy

He began performing stand-up in 1991, with his first Australian stand-up tour kicking off in 1993 with "Ready Steady Go!". The performance recording won the

ARIA Award The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

for Best Comedy Release. He followed up in 1994 with “Quantum Limp”, which won him the Young Australian Achievers Award at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

. Steady performed internationally throughout the nineties including at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, the Austrian Comedy Festival in Vienna, 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 ...

and the LA Comedy Store. In 1999, Steady Eddy served as Master of Ceremonies for the national tour by Australian band

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

. As of 2016, he has been part of the musical-comedy duo The Jingo Brothers, with Steady Eddy and Jolly Jingo performing a mix of skits, stand-up, original songs and covers with

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 ...

saying "critics compare them with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore".

Film & TV

Across his career, he has appeared in numerous film and television productions, including a 1994 episode of ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera which broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 5 November 1993, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,058 episodes were p ...

'' titled "There Was a Crooked Man". That same year he made his big screen debut in

Ben Lewin Ben Lewin (born 1946) is an Australian director. Early life and education Ben Lewin was born in Poland. As a child, he emigrated with his family to Melbourne, Australia. At the age of six, he contracted polio which has caused him to use cru ...

's romantic-comedy

Paperback Romance ''Lucky Break'' (released in the United States as ''Paperback Romance'') is a 1994 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Ben Lewin, about a woman with polio who breaks her leg and is treated normally for the first time in her life. Actress ...

(also known as ''Lucky Break'' in the US) with

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

and

Rebecca Gibney Rebecca Catherine Gibney (born 14 December 1964) is a New Zealand actress known for her roles on Australian television in ''The Flying Doctors'', ''Halifax f.p.'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Winter (TV series), Winter'' and ''Wanted (2016 Aus ...

. In 2004, Steady Eddy co-starred as Trevor in the Australian-made comedy, '' Under the Radar'', alongside Nathan Phillips,

Chloe Maxwell Chloe Maxwell is an Australian model and television presenter who appeared as the "Jeans West Girl" in a Jeans West campaign. She was discovered by chance during an ''A Current Affair'' story, featuring a model recruiter who claimed they coul ...

and

Clayton Watson Clayton Watson (born 23 March 1977) is an Australian producer, actor, writer, and director. He grew up in the Australian outback on a sheep station close to Morgan, a small town in South Australia. He is best known for his breakthrough role as Ki ...

. He appeared as a character playing himself in the 2007 ABC TV miniseries ''

Bastard Boys ''Bastard Boys'' is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queens ...

''.

Discography

Albums

Awards and nominations

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. , - ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, ''Ready Steady Go!'' , Best Comedy Release , , -

Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the

Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...

), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Steady Eddy won four awards in that time. (wins only) , - , rowspan="2", 1993 , rowspan="4", Steady Eddy , Comedy Performer of the Year , , - , rowspan="3", New Wave Comedy Performer of the Year , , - , 1994 , , - , 1995 , , -