Photograph
copyright Lawrence McNamara 2006, however feel free to use this photo in any publicity
blurb for Neil McFarlane
Neil
McFarlane
Neil
McFarlane has been performing on the Scottish comedy circuit for four years, and
people are now quite regularly paying him to do so. Otherwise he refuses to vacate
the stage. Lately he's also been gigging in the north of England, inspiring widespread
panic. He writes all his own stuff (as far as he knows), has never considered
dyeing his hair or changing his name, and is still wondering what happened to
Level 42.
Relentlessly
and unspeakably middle class, Neil has given up claiming in his act that he comes
from Glasgow because he actually comes from Bearsden, which is a posh suburb of
that city and therefore doesn't count. He has a reasonable day job, comes from
a very secure and stable background with a good education and a high standard
of living, and his parents are both still alive and happily married - all of which,
from the perspective of artistic integrity and creative angst, are matters of
intense irritation to him.
Neil reached the Scottish semi-final of the
BBC New Comedy Awards in 2001, so technically that means he's been on the telly
(for the 7 people who had BBC THREE at the time). If you really want to stretch
the point, he's also been on 15 to 1 twice, and has the dubious honour of being
the only contestant in the show's history to have been told off by William G.
Stewart for slouching. He has never had a review, and yet he suspects he is under
surveillance...
Neil
is available for support or compère work and has had all his jabs. Allow
him to gently divert you from the horrific truth of your own existential plight,
and to occasionally use the word 'seepage'.
Background
University of Alabama,
August 1996 - June 1997: 1st and 2nd Gentlemen in Othello; Balthazar in The Merchant
of Venice; 15 comedy sketches, originally performed by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie;
three stand-up gigs, featuring material by Woody Allen, Lenny Henry and Billy
Connolly.
First
Open Spot: Blackfriar's Comedy Club, Glasgow, September 1999. Now gigging
regularly on the Scottish circuit, and occasionally further afield. Wholly original
material.
Support
(10-25 mins): Offshore Comedy Club, Glasgow
Crazy Ape Comedy Club, Glasgow
Reg Anderson's Comedy
Cellar, Christie's, Edinburgh
Canvas Comedy Club, Arta, Glasgow
Vigorous
Lime Comedy Club, Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow
Queen Margaret Student Union, Glasgow
University
Glasgow University Postgraduate Research Club
Madcap Comedy
Club, The State Bar, Glasgow
Jongleurs Scottish Talent Showcase, Edinburgh
Fringe 2001
Bruce Morton Presents, The Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow
Bruce
Morton Presents, The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
Fred MacAulay Presents,
The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
The Empire Laughs Back, The Empire, Belfast
Fin McCool's, Edinburgh
The Comic Club, Blackfriars, Glasgow
Craic at
the Sac, Cul de Sac, Glasgow
Aberdeen North College Student's Union
The
Comedy Module, Solid Rock Café in the West, Glasgow
Carnegie Hall,
Dunfermline
Stirling Comedy Club
The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh
The Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow
The Live Floor Show (rehearsals), BBC Scotland,
at The Stand Glasgow
Abertay University Union, Dundee
The Comic Club at
the Brunswick Hotel, Glasgow
The Comic Club at The Duke, Dennistoun, Glasgow
The Laughing Horse Comedy Club, Richmond, London
The Laughing Horse Comedy
Club, King's Cross, London
Monty's, Dunfermline
Bonkerz, Altamont Springs
Holiday Inn, Florida
Spirit Aid Laugh for Peace, Stand Comedy Club, Glasgow
Cobb's Comedy Club, San Francisco CA
Brainwash Comedy Club, San Francisco
CA
Jongleurs, Glasgow
XS Malarky, Bar XS, Manchester
The Iguana, Manchester
Wildcat @ The Blue Cat Café, Manchester
Laugh @ The Union, Strathclyde
University Student Union
Rawhide, Liverpool
Compère
Work: Vigorous Lime Comedy Club, Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow
Bulbous
Fish Comedy Club, Strathclyde University, Glasgow
Angel Eye Scotland (Purple
Vision), Edinburgh. (Compèring for Jason Byrne)
Crieff Hydro Hotel
Staff Social Club, Perthshire
The Comedy Coop, O'Neill's Merchant City, Glasgow
The Comedy Module, Solid Rock Café West, Glasgow
Red Raw, The Stand
Comedy Club (Edinburgh)
Madcap Comedy Club, The State Bar, Glasgow
Fringe
1999: Performed in profit-share production Scotland 2010: An Independent Country?
Sketch and music.
Fringe 2000: Performed in and co-wrote Tone Dead, comedy
play with music, at Gilded Balloon.
Extra
Work and Small Film/TV Roles: One Life Stand (feature, Elemental Films)
Vids (TV Series, Ideal World for Channel 4)
Leonard (Stella Maris Films for
Scottish TV)
Something Else (lo-budget sitcom pilot, supporting role)
Other
work: Regular weekly comedy quiz, Reasonable Neil's Cocktail Therapy,
at Queen Margaret Union,
Glasgow University.
Regular contributor, The
Fred MacAulay Show, BBC Radio Scotland (producer Nick Astor).
BBC
New Comedy Awards 2001: Semi-finalist, Glasgow
BBC New Comedy Awards 2003:
Regional Finalist (Scotland)
Jongleurs Stand and Deliver Competition: Regional
Finalist (Scotland)
Accents:
Broad Scots, Received Pronunciation, London / South East, Upper Class English,
Manchester, Belfast, Dublin, comedy German, comedy French, comedy Italian, comedy
Middle East, Russian / Eastern Europe, Deep South USA, New York (Jewish, Italian,
standard), California.
