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Ben Van der Velde

Ben has been dizzying himself on the stand-up merry-go-round for the past five years. In that time, this has been said about him:

"a sharp and crafty gagsmith, with wittily obtuse takes on...an impressively wide range of topics...bringing flair and confidence to them all. " Steve Bennett, Chortle (November 2011)

"Whipsharp...with an air of mischievous mayhem...his hit rate is impressive, while his in-the-moment style creates a buzz of excitement in the room...a life-giving compere." Steve Bennett, Chortle (February 2009)

“Highly promising...an accomplished comic.” Time Out

"Ben compered my 400 capacity Live at The Regal club in Oxford, to a fairly rowdy Saturday night crowd there to see Jim Jefferies. He did an excellent, professional job and considering the crowd control involved I was impressed that he managed to get jokes in and get big laughs out of a drunk audience. Despite being a relatively young act I'd say he's definitely at a point that the larger chain clubs should be trying him out as a compere." Paddy Luscombe, FBS Productions

"exquisite comic timing...wonderfully clownish physical comedy." British Theatre Guide

"left the audience beaming from ear to ear with satirical quips and hilariously sinister tales." BBC 3 Counties

"a stunningly quick wit." Spoonfed

"Flaunted his razor-sharp wit to hilarious effect leaving the audience bent over double." Three Weeks

Stand-Up
Ben is currently resident MC for HaHaComedy Clubs in Peterborough and at the brand new St.James Theatre in London.  He has also served residencies for Really Lovely Comedy and the Free Beer Show where he has compered for top acts such as Omid Djalili, Reginal.D.Hunter, Sarah Millican, Tom Stade, Brendon Burns, Jim Jeffries and Andrew Maxwell. In 2011 he was named Comedy Cafe New Act of the Year and in 2012 hosted one of the Big Value Comedy Showcase shows at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as hosting the comedy tents at both Bestival and Festival No.6.   

His other live work includes:
Off the Kerb
Just the Tonic
Comedy Cafe
Christian Knowles Productions
BBC Club
Live at the Regal
Bottle Rocket Comedy
Laughter Lines
Jesterlarf
So Comedy
Kill For a Seat
Crack Comedy
Ed Sermon
Rob Riley
Just Fair Laughs
First Thursday at The Met
Comedy Club 4 Kids
Custard Comedy

You can check out a You Tube clip of him playing at the Brighton Komedia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mkj0tobS0A

Festival Shows
2012: Big Value Comedy Showcase – Lunchtime Club
2011: Attention Deficit Let’s Go Ride Bikes! (with Matt Richardson) Edinburgh Festival, Free Fesitval
2010: Sex and Hugs and Forward Rolls (with James Acaster and Andrew Doyle) Edinburgh Festival - Five Pound Fringe
2009: The Holy Trinity (with Andrew Doyle and Joleed Farah), Edinburgh and Leicester Comedy Festivals
2008: Andrew Doyle and Ben Van der Velde, Camden Fringe

Improvisation and Acting
Ben has been performing improvisational comedy for eight years, having begun as one of the founding member of The Oxford Imps (www.oxfordimps.com).   He has performed in over 100 shows with them, including four years at the Edinburgh Fringe (“the best improvised comedy that I have ever had the pleasure to witness." Three Weeks).

In 2009 he starred in improvised hit ‘Scenes from Communal Living’ alongside Rob Broderick of Abandoman and Carly Smallman for both its Edinburgh Fringe and London transfer run (“very funny, fresh and endlessly creative.” Time Out)
Ben has also performed for the West Yorkshire Playhouse and for award-winning company Parrot {in the} Tank at the Finchley Arts Depot and in a short film, ‘Mime Poker’ (http://vimeo.com/28217776) that made it all the way to the Cannes Film Festival.