Matt Berry

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This article is about the English entertainer. For the Canadian aviator, see Arthur Massey Berry. For the city named for the aviator, see Matt Berry, Edmonton.
Matt Berry

Born May 2, 1974 (1974-05-02) (age 34)
Bromham, Bedfordshire, England

Matt Berry (born May 2, 1974 in Bromham, Bedfordshire) is an English actor, writer, comedian and musician known for his charming style and deep, rich, booming voice.

Contents

[edit] Comedy

Berry is perhaps best known for either his portrayal of the fictional '80s actor Todd Rivers, who is himself playing the part of Dr. Lucien Sanchez, in the British television comedy series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.[1] or as Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh. Bainbridge is an eccentric, sinister tycoon/explorer and nemesis of Howard Moon[2] [3] Berry first met The Mighty Boosh while performing at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, where they were resident in 2000.[4] He can be seen in a small cameo performance in the The Mighty Boosh Live DVD.[5]

Matt Berry as Dixon Bainbridge.
Matt Berry as Dixon Bainbridge.

Berry wrote and starred in the comedy show Snuff Box on BBC Three with Rich Fulcher, whom he met during the filming of the first series of The Mighty Boosh.[6][7] Fulcher co-starred as Bainbridge's lackey, Bob Fossil.[8] The Series 1 DVD of Snuff Box was due for release on 28 January 2008 but has been delayed until 16 June 2008.

In October/November 2006, Berry joined his Garth Marenghi colleagues in the Garth Marenghi spin-off Man to Man with Dean Learner for three out of the six episodes in the series.[9]

Berry stars as Douglas Reynholm in the second series of The IT Crowd.[10] He was nominated as Best Male Comedy Newcomer in the 2007 British Comedy Awards for this role, but lost out to James Cordon for "Gavin and Stacey".

On 5 November 2007 he starred alongside Simon Farnaby and Boosh regular Rich Fulcher in The Golf War on E4.[11]

In 2008 he became the face of Adult Swim's spoof charity appeal "Save the Workers".[12]

[edit] Music

As a musician, he composed all music for Snuff Box[13] as well the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera, which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade.[14] AD/BC was a half-hour parody of overblown musicals in general and Jesus Christ Superstar in particular, telling the story of the innkeeper who allowed Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus to sleep in his manger. AD/BC was broadcast in December 2004 and featured Fulcher and The Mighty Boosh stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. The DVD was released in the UK on 19 November 2007.

Berry also composed music for the BBC 2 Steve Coogan comedy Saxondale and appeared in the first and third episodes of the second series of the show.[15] Berry also composed the theme song for the Channel 4 sketch show Blunder.[16] He is also credited on The Peter Serafinowicz Show.

He has released two albums: "Jackpot" in 1995, and "Opium" in 2005.[17] He toured with Jonas 3 in 2006 and 2007.[18] He revealed in the first issue of Bearded Magazine that he is producing and collaborating on new material with sixties soul singer Geno Washington and is recording a third album that was expected to be released near the end of 2007,[19] but has failed to materialise.

His touring band is comprised of members of Brighton-based experimental rock group Jonas 3.[20] They are George Baldwin (bass), his brother Charlie (drums) and Andy Vickery (guitar). Grant Sav also plays keyboards for Matt Berry, but is not in Jonas 3. Fulcher has joined Berry on stage for several appearances to sing and dance to the Snuff Box theme. Geno Washington has also joined Berry onstage at London gigs for encores of the 'Snuff Box' theme.

In October 2007, he provided a brand new track Cream Pie to Bearded Magazine for readers to download for free[21], followed by a cover of Blur's Sing in November 2007.

Matt Berry And His Band played out the Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe Christmas special with a rendition of Ronnie Hazlehurst's theme tune for 1980s British sitcom Sorry!, which starred Ronnie Corbett.

His second album "Opium", usually only available from his Myspace page, is now widely available on Amazon.com

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • He currently plays Dr. Tridion in the online promotion for Smart Cars.
  • Berry currently provides the voice overs for Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show [1]
  • In The Mighty Boosh episode 'Mutants', Berry calls one of the mutants Ayoade, (after Richard Ayoade) who originally played Dixon Bainbridge in the pilot episode and radio show.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Darkplace actor biographies
  2. ^ .The Mighty Boosh credits at IMDB
  3. ^ The Mighty Boosh News Updates, March 31, 2004
  4. ^ Interview with Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher
  5. ^ The Mighty Boosh Live credits at IMDB
  6. ^ Official Snuff Box site
  7. ^ Snuff Box at twitchfilm.com
  8. ^ The Mighty Boosh episode cast at IMDB
  9. ^ Man to Man with Dean Learner episode guide
  10. ^ The IT Crowd 2.0
  11. ^ "27.09.2007". Retrieved on 2007-10-20. 
  12. ^ Save the Workers Campaign. adultswim.co.uk. Adult Swim (2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
  13. ^ Matt Berry on the Music of Snuff Box
  14. ^ AD/BC: A Rock Opera
  15. ^ Saxondale
  16. ^ Bloomsbury Theatre
  17. ^ Matt Berry 2007 tour
  18. ^ Matt Berry tour dates
  19. ^ Bearded Magazine
  20. ^ Jonas 3 at Channel 4 Music
  21. ^ Bearded Magazine
  22. ^ Monkey Trousers DVD
  23. ^ The Devil's Chair IMDB page
  24. ^ Super Furry Animals, "Runaway"

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Cast and crew
Characters
See also
Languages