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 Hod ...
'' (1987-1993), and ''
Live and Kicking'' (1993-1997).
Education
Trevor and Simon met as drama students at
Manchester University 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 taught Hickson Greek tragedy,
and their Professor, David Mayer (father of
Lise Mayer) introduced them to
Rik Mayall and
Adrian Edmondson, 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 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. 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 HicksonBBC Guide to Comedy – Trevor Neal*
* {{IMDb name, 1051121, Trevor Neal
British comedy duos
British podcasters
Alumni of the University of Manchester