Andrew Iain Mackenzie Taylor (8 September 1978 – 18 November 2010) was a British comic, writer and director.

Early life

Born in Crewe, Cheshire, his family moved to Camberley, in Surrey, when he was still a baby. Taylor attended Royal Grammar School in Guildford and was a member of the Surrey Youth Theatre. Taylor was diagnosed with bipolar schizoaffective disorder at the age of 15. He worked as an accounts assistant for a firm of

quantity surveyor A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Ce ...

s in

Chobham Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England. The village has a small high street area, specialising in traditional trades and motor trades. The River Bourne and its northern tributary, the Hale, ...

, Surrey.

Career

He started his comedy career in the sketch and improvisational group Wayward Council. He co-founded ''Phone Book Live!'', in which guests attempted to be funny by reading from a

telephone directory A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that ...

. Performers included

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and

Maureen Lipman Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespea ...

; proceeds from ''Phone Box Live!'' were donated to the mental health charity Mind. Taylor was diagnosed with bipolar

schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder (SZA, SZD or SAD) is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal thought processes and an unstable mood. This diagnosis is made when the person has symptoms of both schizophrenia (usually psychosis) and a mood disorder: ...

at the age of 15. He turned his suicide attempt in 2008, in which he slipped into a drug-induced coma in the

Komedia Komedia is an arts and entertainment company which operates venues in the United Kingdom at Brighton and Bath, and a management and production company Komedia Entertainment. Beyond hosting live comedy, the venues also host music, cabaret, the ...

comedy club in Brighton, into an acclaimed show, ''No Straightjacket Required'', at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He performed the show again at the Fringe in 2010, alongside his new show, ''Joy''. Taylor participated in " Warning: May Contain Nuts", a project launched 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 ...

to use comedy to increase awareness of mental illness. He performed an abridged version of ''No Straightjacket Required'', which ''The Independent'' described as "his remarkable true story about struggling with mental illness and his suicide attempt manages to be both unflinchingly candid yet consistently entertaining."

Death

Taylor died on 18 November 2010 at the age of 32 after taking an overdose of drugs. His funeral took place on 8 December at St Michael & All Angels' church in

Pirbright Pirbright ( ) is a village in Surrey, England. Pirbright is in the borough of Guildford and has a civil parish council covering the traditional boundaries of the area. Pirbright contains one buffered sub-locality, Stanford Common near the nati ...

, near Woking, Surrey.

References

External links

13 Questions with Mackenzie Taylor
at BBC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Mackenzie 1978 births 2010 deaths English male comedians Drug-related suicides in England People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford People with schizoaffective disorder People from Crewe 2010 suicides