Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith (born 1954) is a British alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London. Perhaps ironically, he describes himself as a "semi-professional" comedian.

He was just one of the people who was a stand-up performer in the alternative comedy scene in the Eighties. He still performs today in much the same manner, regularly attending the Edinburgh Fringe comedy festival, although has several 'serious' writing titles under his belt, including stage plays such as An Evening with Gary Lineker.

In addition to stand-up comedy, such as his recent hit Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen, he is also a radio presenter on such BBC Radio 4 programmes as Excess Baggage and Loose Ends, although also fulfills a "rent-a-comedian" role on some television comedy panel games (he recently was one of the Grumpy Old Men in the television series of that name).

He attended the University of East Anglia, where he undertook one of the pioneering creative writing courses under Malcolm Bradbury. In 1977 he stood for Student's Union President on a "don't vote for me" platform, and finished second out of nine candidates.

His comedy is best described as observational comedy with a strong flavour of the absurd, although he's an expert at telling one-liner jokes. He also would venture into extreme comedy, sometimes stripping off during his performances and, during his Edinburgh shows, taking the entire audience out of the theatre for a guided tour of the Scottish city.

He recently almost died from alcoholism which has made him into a tee-total, an experience which he turned into a poignant comedy monologue entitled Arthur Smith's Last Hangover.