Chris Addison

Made a household name for his role in The Thick Of It Chris Addison is both one of the sharpest comedians on the live circuit and an astute writer and performer – and yes, he’s also the Direct Line advert guy.

Now settling comfortably into his seat on Mock The Week as Russell Howard’s unofficial replacement, Addison began his TV career alongside Gail Porter in a comedy show about the web in 2000. Yes, that was before Youtube, Facebook and even that old Myspace thing existed.

Addison’s stand-up roots go back much further though, with his first award coming in 1995 when he won the City Life Comedian Of The Year, a local stand-up award for the North West of England.

A full-time stand-up career duly followed and Addison was nominated for a Perrier Comedy Award for his debut solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1998 and has been nominated a further two times, for Civilisation in 2004 and Atomicity in 2005. However Addison could be considered one of the great modern comedians to have never scooped the top prize in comedy.

Always interested in politics, Addison co-wrote and co-starred in the political radio satire The Department, along with John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman for BBC Radio 4, which ran for two years.

Addison’s stint in Armando Ianucci’s political bombshell of a show The Thick Of It as character Oliver Reeder came mid-way through his radio 4 show run, playing as junior advisor to the Secretary of State, and subsequently Special Adviser in the second series of the show.

Addison reprised his role for the film of the TV Series, In the Loop, where he played Toby, which was of a similar vein to his TV character counterpart.

Throughout 2012 however Addison has been more well known for his Direct Line adverts. He is though one of the best stand-up acts SSP has seen over the years and always worth watching if he happens to be performing in a town near you.

DVD releases to mention: Live, 2011