Timothy Mark Vine (born 4 March 1967) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter best known for his one-liners and his role on the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television sitcom that has aired on BBC One since 2006, and has 12 series making it the second longest running British sitcom (in series) behind the longest running sitcom worldwide, Last of the Summer Wine. It sta ...

'' (2006–2014). He has released a number of stand-up comedy specials and has written several joke books. From 2004 to 2014, Vine held the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the most jokes told in an hour; each joke had to get a laugh from the audience to count towards the total, and he set the new record with 499 jokes. In both 2010 and 2014, he won the award for best joke at the

Edinburgh Festival 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 ...

and was the runner-up for the three years in between.

Early life

Timothy Mark Vine was born in the

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, south-west of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to ...

suburb of London on 4 March 1967, the son of Diana (née Tillett), a housewife and occasional doctor's receptionist, and Guy Vine (died 2018), a lecturer in civil engineering at North East Surrey College of Technology. He is the younger brother of broadcaster

Jeremy Vine Jeremy Guy Vine (born 17 May 1965) is an English television and radio personality, presenter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known as the host of his BBC Radio 2 lunchtime programme which presents news, views, interviews with live guest ...

and the older brother of artist Sonya Vine. He was educated in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, attending Lynton Prep in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

, Aberdour School in

Burgh Heath __NOTOC__ Burgh Heath ( or, especially amongst older residents, ) is a residential neighbourhood with a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name. Immediately north of Upper Kingswood on the A217 road, it adjoins part of Banstead t ...

, and

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orp ...

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Career

Stand-up

Vine's stand-up act consists primarily of a series of quick-fire one-liners and

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s, along with silly songs and a bagful of props. Vine and a security guard from his office job in Croydon started doing open mic nights as a hobby. During 1991, Tim Vine regularly honed his routine at the Comedy Café in London, adding other clubs throughout 1992. He came second in the Hackney Empire New Act competition in 1993. Vine quit his job to go on tour as a support act for

Boothby Graffoe Boothby Graffoe is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 223. It is situated approximately south from the city and county town of Lincol ...

, who later wrote additional material for The Sketch Show. Vine became a regular on the London comedy circuit by 1994, trying a variety of comedy styles. He realised one-liners were a good way forward after the audience's positive reaction to his joke: "So I went to the doctors. He said, 'You've got hypochondria'. I said, 'Not that as well!'" Vine built up this repertoire, before making his first TV appearance on

BBC One 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, ...

's '' Pebble Mill''. In 1996, Vine met

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom '' Not Going Out'', being a team captain on th ...

at the Comedy Lounge in Kingston-Upon-Hull. Mack was competing in The Gong Show, where up to ten comedians try to last for a full five minute slot, hoping to beat the Gong and not get voted off by the public. Mack inadvertently did a couple of Vine's jokes, to which the audience shouted "Tim Vine". When Mack came off stage, he asked a man who Tim Vine was, and got the reply "He plays here quite a bit." The man was Tim Vine. The pair later worked together on The Sketch Show,

and

Let's Play Darts ''Let's Play Darts'' is a charity sports show hosted by Gabby Logan. The show sees celebrities team up with professional darts players to play five rounds of darts before announcing a winner. The winner from each quarter-final episode goes throu ...

for

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

. The comedian has regularly appeared at the

, with shows such as ''The Tim Vine Shambles'' and ''The Tim Vine Fiasco'' (1995) - which won him the Perrier Newcomer Award - then ''Tim Vine Flat Out'' (1998), ''I'm Vine Thanks'' and ''Tim Vine and the Minotaur'' (1999). In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, he had a large advertising hoarding erected featuring his name and image, with a small sub-heading "...is not appearing at this year's Edinburgh Festival." Vine appeared at the

Pleasance Courtyard The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University S ...

for the first two weeks of the 2008

performing a show entitled ''Punslinger''. He appeared at the Christian festival,

Spring Harvest Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational evangelical conference and gathering in the United Kingdom that started in 1979. The festival arose in the late 1970s at a time when evangelicalism was growing in the UK and there was uncertainty as to ...

, in 2007, 2008 and 2013 alongside John Archer at

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 2011, ...

and

Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National ...

, and at the

Cambridge Theatre The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". Design and construction It was de ...

in May 2007 for a show entitled ''Tim Vine, Live in Concrete''. Tim Vine Punslinger

Vine's UK comedy tours include ''Current Puns'' (2006) and ''Punslinger'' (2008). In July 2008, he recorded a performance at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, com ...

in London, which was released as a new DVD entitled ''So I Said To This Bloke...'' on 27 October 2008. His third tour, ''The Joke-amotive'', took place during February and March 2010, with a DVD of the show released in November 2011. Vine's ''Tim Timinee Tim Timinee Tim Tim to You'' tour recording was released in 2016, followed by ''Sunset Milk Idiot'' (2019). Vine's support act is usually

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

's comedy magician John Archer. In a

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Welsh radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the 'Radio 4 Wales' opt-out service (previously the Welsh Home Service). Radio Wales b ...

interview with

Behnaz Akhgar Behnaz Akhgar ( fa, بهناز اخگر; born 21 June 1980 ) is an Iranian- Welsh weather presenter currently working for BBC's Wales Today. She broadcasts the morning and weekend bulletins with Sue Charles, and acts as a relief presenter for ...

(12 October 2021), Vine revealed that he had intended to perform a new stand-up show at the 2020

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 ...

but this was delayed until at least 2022 due to the

covid pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

. Many of Vine's jokes have been falsely attributed to

Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and Magic (illusion), magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red Fez (hat), fez when performing. He ...

, many being in Cooper's style; the West End show about Cooper actually features some of Vine's jokes.

Panto

*2005/2006 - Dandini in ''Cinderella'' (

New Wimbledon Theatre The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Grade II listed Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J. B. Mulholland. Built on the site of a large hous ...

) with

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for '' The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churchills'' in 1969, and for ''Vani ...

, Richard Wilson, Naomi Wilkinson,

John Barrowman John Scot Barrowman (born 11 March 1967) is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in ''Doctor Who'' and '' Torchwood'', and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowv ...

, Peter Duncan. *2006/2007 - Silly Billy in ''

Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Co ...

'' (

Richmond Theatre The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like It''. One of ...

) with

John Challis John Spurley Challis (16 August 1942 – 19 September 2021) was an English actor. He had an extensive theatre and television career but is best known for portraying Terrance Aubrey "Boycie" Boyce in the long-running BBC Television sitcom ''Only ...

Sue Holderness Susan Joan Holderness (born 28 May 1949) is an English actress on both stage and screen having had appearances in '' Bless This House'' (1974), '' The New Avengers'' (1977), ''Canned Laughter'' (1979), ''The Sandbaggers'' (1980), ''The Cleopatr ...

Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for ...

. *2009/2010 - Muddles in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (

). *2010/2011 - Jangles in ''Sleeping Beauty'' (

) with

Anita Dobson Anita Dobson (born 29 April 1949) is an English stage, film and television actress, and singer. She is best known for her role from 1985 to 1988 as Angie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. In 1986, she reached number four in the UK Si ...

replacing

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...

who was unwell. *2012/2013 - Wishee Washee in ''Aladdin'' (

). *2014/2015 -

Buttons A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood ...

in ''Cinderella'' (

) with Linda Gray,

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as '' Game for a ...

Wayne Sleep Wayne Philip Colin Sleep (born 17 July 1948) is a British dancer, director, choreographer, and actor who appeared on the BBC series '' The Real Marigold on Tour'' and ITV's '' The Real Full Monty''. Early life Sleep was born in Plymouth, D ...

. *2016/2017 - Idle Jack in ''Dick Whittington'' (

) with

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment. For many years, she was most noted as the c ...

. *2019/2020 -

in ''Cinderella'' (Fairfield Halls, Croydon) with

Ore Oduba Ore Oduba (born 17 November 1986) is a British television and radio presenter who has also worked as an actor. He is best known for winning the fourteenth series of BBC One's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2016. He presented the CBBC news program ...

, Cat Sandion.

Music

Vine's musical talents, aside from the comedy songs in his act, include playing the guitar, bass, piano and drums. He occasionally plays the drums at his church. He was in several bands, including alongside his brother

Jeremy Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...

in The Flared Generation, which ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' magazine described as "the most unfashionable punk band in the country. Vine has released three novelty music albums, ''Pretend Popstar - Fake Hits'', ''Dance Floor Gridlock'' and ''Angus Crunch and the Nepali Flautist''. Vine is a huge

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

fan, and has been since Elvis died in 1977; he has a picture of the rock and roll legend in every room at home. The megastar was Vine’s Specialist Subject on

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. It began in 2002 as a one-off special, expanding to the current arrangement of 10 episodes, broadcast during December ...

and his inspiration for performing to ''

Viva Las Vegas ''Viva Las Vegas'' is a 1964 American musical film directed by George Sidney and starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. The film is regarded by fans and film critics as one of Presley's best films, and it is noted for the on-screen chemistry b ...

'' on '' Comic Relief Does Fame Academy''. In August 2019, Vine’s ''Plastic Elvis'' tribute act was a sell-out at the Edinburgh Fringe. On 6 January 2020, Plastic Elvis was the Dictionary Corner Guest on

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...

, plugging the 2020 UK tour, which was later postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and rescheduled for autumn 2021 through spring 2022. Although promotional material states "This is NOT a stand up comedy show", Vine's regular support act comic/magician John Archer plays Big

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

. David Martin, who wrote four of the show’s Elvis numbers, sings a duet with Plastic. Music is performed by The High Noon Band (UK) with backing vocals by Josie Quinn Abraham. In May 2020, when the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

was cancelled due to the

, Vine competed in the ''Isolation Song Contest'' representing

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

with his home-filmed, self-composed entry ''Room Mania''. John Archer also made several appearances in shots from his own house. The event raised around £40,000 for the homeless charity

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

, Refuge (which supports female domestic abuse survivors) and

The Trussell Trust The Trussell Trust is an NGO and charity that works to end the need for food banks in the United Kingdom. It supports a network of over 1,200 food bank centres to provide emergency food and compassionate, practical support to people in crisis, wh ...

food banks.

Podcasts and YouTube

In December 2007, Vine launched his first

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 choosin ...

, 'Tim Vine Celebrates'. The first episode "Tim Vine Celebrates... Christmas" was released for free on 19 December and includes many previously unheard jokes and humorous songs, as well as an array of comedy characters, mostly voiced by himself. In autumn 2019, Vine premiered his YouTube channel ''Tim Vine TeleVisual (TVTV)'', releasing a short video of sketches every Monday evening for over a year. Additional videos include ''Recreating

Columbo ''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC fr ...

'', predominantly filmed in Vine’s home during the

pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...

. Vine reprised his Columbo on Countdown, dressing as and impersonating the dishevelled detective in his guest spot (3 February 2022). Further instalments, based on season one, form part of Vine’s YouTube channel content for 2022. Similarly, Vine also contributed scenes to the 2020 international project ''Jaws We Make'', along with over 100 other superfans of ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

''. The entire movie was recreated using a variety of amateur/professional production methods and released on YouTube to celebrate the blockbuster’s 45th anniversary. The previous year, ''

'' was Vine’s Specialist Subject on his second ''

'' appearance.

Television

Tim Vine’s first TV appearance was on

‘s Pebble Mill in 1994. In autumn 1995, Vine hosted

morning quiz ''Housemates'', featuring an endgame called ''Up The Garden Path''. The show ran for one season of 25 episodes. Vine was the first man to appear on Channel 5, alongside

Julia Bradbury Julia Michele Bradbury (born 24 July 1970) is an Irish-born English television presenter, employed by the BBC and ITV, specialising in documentaries and consumer affairs. Her passion is the outdoors and more recently following her cancer diagn ...

and the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and ...

, when the network launched on 30 March 1997. The following day, game show '' Whittle'' premiered with Vine as host for two seasons March–June and September–December. From May to August 1997, Vine presented the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

game show ''Fluke'' which he devised. The warm-up comedian was

. Tim hosted ''Fort Boyard Takes on the World'' in 2004. From 2001 to 2004, Vine co-wrote/starred in both series of ITV's '' The Sketch Show'' with

. Additional material was written by Vine’s good friend and tour support act, John Archer and, on occasion,

and Tim’s sister Sonya Vine. From 2006 to 2012, Vine played Timothy Gladstone Adams in Lee Mack’s

sitcom ''

''. He returned for a cameo in the Christmas 2014 episode and the series 7 finale as Lee's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

. Since 2009, Vine has made appearances on ''

'' as a guest in Dictionary Corner. In 2012, Vine hosted one series of teatime game show '' Don't Blow the Inheritance'' for ITV. Vine faced “The Beast”

Mark Labbett Mark Andrew Labbett (born 15 August 1965), also known by his professional nickname The Beast, is an English quizzer and television personality. Since 2009 he has been one of the "chasers" on the ITV game show '' The Chase'' as "The Beast" and ...

on '' The Chase'' in 2012 and 2021 (series 11, episode 10). Replacing Mark Williams, Vine portrayed

Sebastian Beach Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years. Inspiration Beach's name was inspired by B ...

in the second and final season of BBC One’s comedy ''

Blandings Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth), home to many of his family and the setting for numerous tal ...

'' (2013-2014), based on the books by P. G. Wodehouse. In 2014 and 2015, Vine appeared in the revival of ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show '' Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse—from 8 Ja ...

'' as resident comedian alongside

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programme ...

. In 2017, he appeared in two episodes of ''Tim Vine Travels Through Time'' on

. Regular cast members included

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...

Mandeep Dhillon Mandeep Dhillon (born 21 December 1990) is a British actress who has appeared in stage, television, film and radio productions, including the BBC Three comedy series ''Some Girls'' and '' Fried''. She featured in the British romantic comedy ''F ...

Marek Larwood Marek Ryan Larwood (born 2 June 1976) is an English comedian and actor. He is best known for the BBC Three sketch show ''Rush Hour'' and for being one third of the comedy trio '' We Are Klang''. Early life Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Larwood lived ...

and John Archer. Special guests included Emma Bunton and

, the latter starring with Vine in the 2019/2020 ''Cinderella'' panto at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. In mid 2018, Vine was a celebrity contestant in 10 episodes of '' Taskmaster'' series 6, on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

. His improvisations included measuring a piece of string with a plastic lobster. In autumn 2018, Vine hosted ITV quiz show ''Football Genius''. Tim Vine has participated in several

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

charity competitions. In '' Comic Relief Does Fame Academy'' Vine performed his pop hero

’s hit ''

'' (2007) and on ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The program ...

'' (2013), Vine was talked out of Elvis and given

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

’s ''

Rock Your Body "Rock Your Body" is a song by American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake from his debut studio album, '' Justified'' (2002). The Neptunes (consisting of Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams) wrote and produced the song. The song features backgroun ...

'', making it to the final. In 2015, he was runner-up in ''

'', losing out to

. Vine returned in 2016 to win it, beating Mike Tindall in the final. For the 2021 telethon, Vine’s contribution was ''Joke In A Box'', entertaining military personnel who had assisted medical centres during the

. For 2022, Vine competed against

Kiri Pritchard-McLean Kiri Louise Pritchard-McLean (born 1986) is a Welsh comedian and writer. She has performed for several consecutive years at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and won five Chortle Awards. Career Pritchard-McLean is the director and writer for sketc ...

in ''One Red Nose and Their Dog'' with training shown on ''

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker ...

'' (6 March) and the finale broadcast on Comic Relief night (18 March). Filmed at

Penrhyn Castle Penrhyn Castle ( cy, Castell Penrhyn) is a country house in Llandygai, Bangor, Gwynedd, North Wales, constructed in the style of a Norman castle. The Penrhyn estate was founded by Ednyfed Fychan. In the 15th century his descendent Gwilym a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, this is a variation on the long-running televised competition '' One Man and His Dog''.

Radio and audiobooks

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's ...

airs ''The Tim Vine Chat Show'', where members of the audience are interviewed, having filled in a form before the show if they wish to be considered for selection. Vine presented one series of four episodes in July 2016, and a Christmas edition on 26 December 2016. A second series of six episodes was broadcast in September and October 2017. Additional Festive and Summer specials aired in 2018 and 2019. The series and specials are available on

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is a walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tabl ...

and via audiobook (released April 2020). ''The Tim Vine Christmas Chat Show'' 2021 was recorded on 30th November at The CryerArts Centre, airing 23 December. In 2017, ''Tim Vine Travels Through Time'' was broadcast on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

, before moving to

for two televised episodes. Vine’s ''Punslinger'' audiobook is slightly shorter than the DVD version, as some of the visual jokes are omitted.

Books

In 2003, Vine contributed to the ''Sit-Down Comedy'' book, but his first book was released in 2010 entitled ''The Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book'' containing over 1,000 jokes and puns. Then, in 2011, Vine released a second joke book entitled ''The Not Quite Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book'', specifically for children. * 2010 - ''The Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book'' * 2011 - ''The (Not Quite) Biggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book: Children's Edition'' * 2013 - ''The Tim Vine Bumper Book of Silliness: Daft Jokes, Crazy Pictures, Utter Nonsense''

Awards

BAFTA

Vine's ensemble series '' The Sketch Show'' won the BAFTA for Best Comedy Programme in 2002.

Fringe awards

In August 2010, Vine won the prize for the funniest joke of that year's Edinburgh Fringe, following a public vote from a judged shortlist. His winning joke was "I've just been on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. I'll tell you what, never again." On 25 August 2011, Vine won the prize for the second funniest joke at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. His joke was "Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many different levels." He was beaten by

Nick Helm Nicholas Tristan Phillip Helm (born 1 October 1980) is an English comedian, actor and rock musician known for his comedic confrontational delivery. His routines have been described as "brash and bullish". Many of his performances begin with him ...

. In 2012 Vine again came second with the joke "Last night me and my girlfriend watched three DVDs back to back. Luckily I was the one facing the telly." He was beaten by

Stewart Francis Stewart Francis is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer. In addition to his work in Canada and the US, he frequently tours in the UK and appears on British television. Both of Francis' parents are British. Francis was born in Saint Joseph's ...

. In 2013 Vine came fourth with the joke "My friend told me he was going to a fancy dress party as an Italian island. I said to him 'Don't be Sicily'." The winner was Rob Auton. Vine won the award for the second time in 2014 with the joke "I decided to sell my Hoover... well it was just collecting dust."

World record

On 7 October 2004, Vine broke the

for the most jokes told in an hour with 499, beating the previous record of 362 by Estonian Erkki Kolu. Each joke had to get a laugh from the paying audience to count towards the total. The record was subsequently broken on two occasions by Anthony Lehmann and Korukonda Ranga Rao, but Guinness later decided both performers had breached guidelines by using cue cards, so Vine was reinstated. He held the record until November 2014, when Australian comedian Taylor Goodwin, inspired by Vine, told 550 jokes.

Personal life

Vine lives in Banstead, Surrey. He is a practising

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

, and has performed at

Christian festivals. Vine is a supporter of football team Sutton United FC, stating that the first of the team's games he attended was an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

match against

Middlesbrough FC Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional football club in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium ...

during the 1987–88 season. He is also a keen

darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

fan, having attended several

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

tournaments along with

. Some of these were televised, such as the 2011 World Championships when both Vine and Mack appeared in the crowd. He also plays darts in his spare time. On 31 December 2020, during a live

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

broadcast, Vine scored 170 in darts in front of a large online audience.

Filmography

Television

Guest appearances

In quiz show celebrity specials, Vine often plays for Cure Parkinson's, because of his father, Guy Vine, who died with the illness in August 2018.

Stand-up DVDs

*''Live'' (29 November 2004) *''Live – So I Said To This Bloke...'' (27 October 2008) *''Punslinger Live'' (22 November 2010) *''The Joke-a-motive Live'' (21 November 2011) *''Tim Timinee Tim Timinee Tim Tim to You'' (28 November 2016) *''Sunset Milk Idiot Live'' (25 November 2019)

Feature-length films

Vine has made two films, though these have not yet been widely released – ''Library Altitude Zero'' and ''FearMoth''. The latter was shown at the Brighton film festival in 2017. ''FearMoth'' was added to the ''Tim Vine Televisual'' YouTube channel on 14 April 2020, during the UK’s first Covid lockdown, around the time Vine’s ''Plastic Elvis'' tribute would have toured.

References

External links

*
Tim Vine
official website
The British Sitcom Guide
on ''Not Going Out'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Vine, Tim 1967 births English Christians English Anglicans English male comedians English television presenters Living people People from Cheam People educated at Aberdour School People educated at Epsom College 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians