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Paul Tonkinson

TIME OUT Award Winner

Feb-Fri 5th

For someone who first shot to fame as the “funny one” on the early shift on Sunday mornings as host of BBC 2's originally titled The Sunday Show back in 1996, the fact that he is still going strong today is testament to the brilliance and diversity of the thin faced comedian and the timeless quality of his comedy.

Once described as the "bastard son of Ken Dodd", Paul Tonkinson is a shameless and a self-confessed professional northerner but more unforgivably is also a celebrity Manchester United supporter and regular appears as one of the talking heads on numerous football chat and tribute shows. That head also gets a fair bit of exposure on those other never-ending I Love ...., the Greatest Ever ... and Do You Remember ... shows so beloved of modern TV programmers.

Paul Tonkinson Live in Birmingham UK

Paul Tonkinson | MySpace Video

See Paul Live on Michael McIntyre's Comedy show

But the complete Paul Tonkinson is a star in his own right and a true master of comedy in all its different guises - on stage, in character, on screen, on air, compere or host. Whatever he chooses to do or be at any given time, Paul Tonkinson never fails to make his audience roar with laughter.

Comedian Paul Tonkinson first emerged on the stand-up circuit back in 1992, when he scooped the Time Out New Act of the Year Award. He completed the Time Out double when the London entertainment bible named him as their stand-up comic of the year in 1997.

Now a veteran of the stand-up, cabaret and corporate comedy circuits, Paul built on his Sunday Show success in 2001 when he landed the job as host of The Big Breakfast, standing in for Johnny Vaughan.

His other television credits include Premier League All Stars for Sky One, Raw Soup on ITV, two series of Take The Mic for Channel 4, Comic Relief Does Fame Academy for the BBC, Liquid News and even a time on the sofa on GMTV..

Moving into radio, he became the first breakfast show presenter on Xfm's Manchester station when it was launched in March 2006. Like every good northerner who so loves their roots, he moved to London for another show with Xfm's flagship London station in 2007 the following year.

He then moved across the capital to host his own show, the even more originally titled Paul Tonkinson Show for BBC London as well as pieces for Radio 4’s seminal comedy news shows Loose Ends and The Week Ending.

But it is stage as a stand-up comedian that Paul Tonkinson is most at home. A master of mimicry and particular amusing accents, he takes his audience on a guided tour of Britain, using his observational skills - and those funny voices to find humour in almost every region in the UK and further afield. He also shares the mind-boggling image of losing his virginity to his friend's sofa - and subsequently getting banned from his house - and offers some amusing ideas on the differences between male and female logic and behaviour. Sadly he has been known to spoil it all by talking about football and Manchester "****ing" United.

Among the people top comic Paul Tonkinsonwould apparently like to meet are such legendary statesmen as
Nelson Mandela Dalai Lama. Larry David. Richard Pryor, marathon runner Emil Zatopek, Paul Thomas Anderson, and predictably Ryan Giggs

.What the Comics said

"It was being ripped apart by Paul Tonkinson at the Auckland Comedy Festival 2008 that made me want to be a stand-up comedian. Would love to play on the same bill as him - just not sat in the front row again!" - Stevie Gray, September 2009

What the Critics said

"Brilliant" - The Independent

“Very funny” - The Mirror