Frederick MacAulay (born 29 December 1956) is a Scottish comedian. For 18 years, until March 2015, he presented a daily

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

radio programme ''

MacAulay and Co ''MacAulay and Co.'' was a daily magazine show on BBC Radio Scotland. The programme was presented by comedian Fred MacAulay with a different guest presenter each week, and featured a range of guests including journalists, musicians, comedians and ...

''. He has appeared on numerous TV shows.

Background

Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, MacAulay was educated at Killin Primary School, at Rattray Primary School and

Blairgowrie High School Blairgowrie High School is a high school in Blairgowrie, Scotland. Blairgowrie High School has 719 students (as of September census) from Blairgowrie and the surrounding area. The current head teacher is Beverly Leslie. History The school was ...

, both in Blairgowrie, and at

Perth Academy Perth Academy is a state comprehensive secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1696. The institution is a non-denominational one. The school occupies ground on the side of a hill in the Viewlands area of Perth, and is within the Pe ...

. In 1978 he graduated from the University of Dundee with an MA in accountancy and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

. He went on to work as an accountant in a number of companies, including the Cairngorm Chairlift Company in Aviemore. In 1984 he married Aileen; the couple have three children.

Work

MacAulay's first experience of

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

came at Bar Point in the "West End" of Paisley. He enjoyed vocal support from some close friends as he appeared alongside the established Glasgow comedian Bruce Morton. From there, in 1988 he performed at Mayfest festival in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, which burgeoned into a semi-professional career, including jobs as a warm-up act for TV programmes including '' Have I Got News for You'' and for comedians Paul Merton and Rory Bremner. His first on-screen appearance came on STV's stand-up programme ''The Funny Farm''. MacAulay became a full-time professional comedian in 1993. He also presented two series of the children's version of ''

Now You See It Now You See It may refer to: * Now You See It (American game show), ''Now You See It'' (American game show), a 1974–1975 game show, resurrected in 1989 * Now You See It (Australian game show), ''Now You See It'' (Australian game show), a 1985–1 ...

'' in 1994 and 1995 on ''

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

''. MacAulay has gone on to be a regular performer at the Edinburgh Fringe and at comedy festivals worldwide. He had presented BBC Radio Scotland's morning show from 1997–2015, and for BBC TV he hosted one series of the talk show ''McCoist and MacAulay'' (with retired footballer Ally McCoist), two seasons of ''Life According to Fred'' and

's coverage of '' Children in Need'' initially with ''

Hazel Irvine Hazel Irvine (born 24 May 1965) is a Scottish sports presenter. Early life Irvine was born in St Andrews, Scotland. Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an MA in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and compe ...

'' in 1998 and 1999 and subsequently ''

Jackie Bird Jacqueline Bird (née Macpherson, born 31 July 1962) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster, best known as a former anchor of the BBC Scotland national news programme ''Reporting Scotland''. Early life Jacqueline Macpherson was born on 31 J ...

'' from 2000 - 2002. He has appeared as a guest on comedy quiz programmes '' They Think It's All Over'', ''

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by a chairman. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody ...

'', '' The Unbelievable Truth'', '' Just a Minute'', '' QI'', ''

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History ''The News Quiz'' was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently, it was chaired by Barry Took from 1979 to 1981, Simon Hoggart from ...

'' and '' Mock the Week'', and made a return to ''Have I Got News For You'' as an on-screen guest. In 2009, he hosted a panel game on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

entitled '' I Guess That's Why They Call It The News''. In October 2018, MacAulay appeared in the Scottish episode of

HISTORY History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

's TV series ''Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate The English'' alongside host Al Murray. In 2020, MacAulay has been chosen to host Zoom interviews with Fringe celebrities for the Gilded Balloon's '35th' year. In 2001 he was elected the

Rector of the University of Dundee The rector of the University of Dundee is elected by the matriculated students of the University of Dundee. From 1967 (when the university gained independence from the University of St. Andrews) to 2010, the rector was automatically a full membe ...

and was formally installed in office on 3 May 2001. In 2007, he competed in '' Comic Relief Does Fame Academy'' and was the seventh to be eliminated. Fred currently hosts a Sunday Morning show on

Clyde 2 Clyde 2 is an Independent Local Radio station based in Glasgow, Scotland, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Glasgow and West Central Scotland. As of September 2022, the station has a week ...

between 10am and 1pm. The show is produced and broadcast from the station's Clydebank studios and carried on Greatest Hits Radio's network of locally branded Scottish stations. The show includes a top 10@10 feature and music from the 70s, 80s and 90s along with special guests.

References

External links

Official website

BBC biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Fred 1956 births Living people Alumni of the University of Dundee People from Perth, Scotland Rectors of the University of Dundee Scottish radio personalities People educated at Perth Academy People educated at Blairgowrie High School People from Thorntonhall Scottish male comedians