Marcus began his comedy career in Bristol whilst studying drama at University and soon won the BBC New Comedian of 1996. He has since emerged as a major comedy, writing and acting talent, performing in the UK and beyond and has become a regular voice on BBC Radio with an impressive list of TV and film credits.
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival has been a regular haunt for Marcus, and has seen him receive a great deal of critical acclaim over the years performing at almost every festival since 1996. In 2006 he previewed his sell out national tour Planet Corduroy and began a new daily topical show The Early Edition which has toured the festival curcuit. Marcus's 2007 Edinburgh show was The Late Edition. 2009 sees Marcus back at Edinburgh with a brand new show God Collar.
TV and radio
2005 saw the start of The Late Edition - Marcus's own live topical show on BBC4 - with 20 new shows at the end of 2007 and into 2008. TV appearances include Live from the Apollo (with Jack Dee), Have I Got News For You, The A-Z of Music and News Knight alongside Sir Trevor McDonald on ITV. Marcus Brigstocke's Trophy People was a documentary series following those who compete at the highest level in unusual hobbies - Scrabble champions, competative bell-ringringers, youth debaters and model airoplane builders and flyers. He also played the lead character in BBC3's Vacant Possession, one of the Twisted Tales series. Other acting work includes Adam Savage in Simon Nye's BBC 1 sitcom The Savages, and of course David Oxley (BA Hons) in We Are History, the cult success which has bought him to the attention of many an adoring fan and the odd angry archaeologist. In 2006 Marcus went to France for Excuse My French - he had 4 weeks to learn the language, almost from scratch, then performed stand up in French to crowds in Marseille and Paris.
Radio 4 has become a second home for Marcus as he is rarely off the 18.30 slot in one form or another. He is the regular angry young man on The Now Show with Punt and Dennis. He has written and recorded three series of Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off and 4 'specials'. The Museum Of Everything with long time writing and perfoming friends Danny Robins and Dan Tetsell is currently being developed for TV. Marcus played the head of a consultancy firm - Unthinkable Solutions as Ryan Packer in Think The Unthinkable.
Other recordings include Just a Minute, Newsquiz, The Today Programme, The Unbelievable Truth, 2000 years of Radio, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Despatch Box and the wonderfully silly 99p Challenge.
On film
On the big screen he has appeared in Richard Curtis' movie Love Actually as a Radio DJ interviewing the wonderfully jaded Billy Mack (Bill Nighy). He went to Berlin with Kevin Spacey to film Beyond The Sea - the life story of Bobby Darin. In Piccadilly Jim Marcus appears with Sam Rockwell and Tom Wilkinson as 'man having sex under stairs', a small but vital role and has recently filmed with Nick Moran in the forthcoming Telstar. He also played a desperately ambitious and tragically unable arts presenter in Neil Gayman's A Short Film About John Bolton.
Marcus now lives in South London, happily married to his university sweetheart, and may well be the proudest dad in the world. He is committed to non-violence and is an active campaigner for CND and 'Campaign Against Arms Trade'. He once had a #11 chart smash with DJ Dee-Kline's, Don't Smoke Da Reefa. Without wishing to scrape the barrel further it is worth saying that Marcus very briefly worked as a podium dancer, and also on an oil-rig in the North Sea (although not as a dancer). He is fanatical about snowboarding - so much so he has set up a stand up tour in the Alps. Marcus is the artistic director of the 2008 very first Altitude Festival in Meribel. He adores music and movies. Marcus can be seen and heard in venues across the country delivering his award-winning stand up, on screens large and small and on Radio 4 more frequently than the shipping forecast.
