4Laughs_Jamie_Glazebrook

Points: 0

Educational background

I studied English at university, and the discoveries from that time still pop up. Dickens is still an acme of comic character and scene. When I was doing Shirley Ghostman, I found a dramatic monologue by Browning called 'Mr Sludge - The Medium', which is brilliant on the question of just how self-aware these guys are. I did a paper on theatrical farce - especially early Ayckbourn and Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy. Besides that, I did a bit of acting and I wrote music for a couple of plays: I wasn't very good at either but learnt a lot from the experience.

Comedy Career Path

Before I worked in TV I was a choral singer. (This is not a joke.) I sang in a cathedral choir for a couple of years - singing Evensong pretty much every day - then came to London and worked as a freelancer. After quite a bit of scratching around, I was lucky enough to get a job running on a show for TLC called 'History's Turning Points'. It was ultra low budget - the early days of cab-sat - so I had to do a bit of everything, from making tea to painting sets, finding locations, casting extras. I was lucky to work for three directors who were very patient with me. Then again we were attempting to recreate the Korean War in the New Forest, so everyone's patience was tested a little.


Career high

The last few shows I've worked on and the people they have brought me into contact with.

Career Low

Probably finding out that a Friday night show I made called 'Pub Ammo' - lowbrow but made with loving care - was scheduled so late by Channel Five that it had strictly speaking become more of a Saturday morning show.

Comedy favourites (Performers, TV programmes, films etc)

Larry Sanders, Wonderfalls, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Alan Partridge, Duck Soup, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Big Lebowski, Team America. The Laurel and Hardy where they carry the piano up all those stairs. And most of Werner Herzog's leading men, whether it's Klaus Kinski, Bruno S., even Timmy Treadwell... more tragic heroes than comedy performers, but profoundly funny still. He had to protect the bears, man.

Current Project

Series 2 of THE IT CROWD. We did our first record in front of a live audience on Friday, and I'm very excited about how things are going. Graham Linehan, the show creator/writer/director, is a phenomenon - he's got so much enthusiasm and passion, and he's a fountain of funny ideas. There's real integrity there too.

Comedy Influences

When my comedy favourites become my comedy influences I'll be happy. But obviously the most direct influence is from the people you work with, especially when you see them doing their thing. A recent example might be Ric Cantor, who directed 'Man Stroke Woman'. I love the way he shot the show - it's very simple and immediate, not flashy at all. He puts so much effort into getting a distinctive look - we used Cooke film lenses on our DigiBeta camera, which was quite unusual. And he gets brilliant performances out of that cast.

My Web Address:

The IT Crowd