Tim Renkow (born 1989,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

) is an American actor, writer and

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 ...

. He plays the leading role of Tim in the TV series '' Jerk'', which he also co-wrote.

Early life

Renkow was born in

, and grew up in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

. He later attended art school in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

Career

Beginnings

In Memphis, at the age of 19, Renkow began performing stand-up comedy. He continued in this activity in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, before moving to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to study creative writing in 2012. He participated in the ''

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the ...

'' Student Comedy Award Final at 2013's

Edinburgh 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 2014, Renkow performed his debut show, ''At Least Hell Has Ramps'', and was nominated for ''Chortle'''s Best Newcomer Award. Renkow's first television appearance was in 2016, in an episode of BBC Comedy Feeds, ''A Brief History of Tim.'' In 2017, Renkow appeared in four episodes of ''Bobby & Harriet Get Married'',

Bobby Mair Bobby Mair is a Canadian stand-up comedian based in London, England. Mair has appeared on ''The Hour (Canadian TV series), The Hour'', ''Russell Howard's Good News'', ''Sweat the Small Stuff'', ''Virtually Famous'', ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', ' ...

and Harriet Kemsley's comedic TV series about their wedding.

2019 - present: ''Jerk''

In February 2019, Series 1 of Renkow's television series, ''Jerk'', was released by

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

. It was subsequently replayed on BBC One, and its approval for a second series was announced in September 2019. The series largely built on the characters established in ''A Brief History of Tim''. The show's second series aired in 2021. In April 2019, Renkow performed a one-man show at London's

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

entitled ''Tim Renkow Tries to Punch Down''. In 2021, Renkow was announced as a member of the UK jury for the BAFTA Breakthrough Initiative. He appeared in an episode of BBC's Live At the Apollo Series 16.

Personal life

Renkow has

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 ...

. In September 2020 he married fellow comedian Spring Day.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Renkow, Tim American male comedians Living people American actors Male actors from Mexico City People with cerebral palsy American actors with disabilities 1989 births