David Armand
Encyclopedia
David Armand is an English
comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include Fast and Loose (2011 TV Series)
, How Not To Live Your Life
, Pulling, The Armstrong and Miller Show
, Swinging, and Peep Show
.
He is one of the writers and stars of the hit CBBC comedy shows Sorry, I've Got No Head
, and Pixelface. He has also written for shows such asThe Peter Serafinowicz Show
and Katy Brand's Big Ass Show
.
Born David Whitehead in the Northamptonshire
town of Kettering
, he was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge
and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
. As a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Hollow Men
, he appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe
four times between 1999 and 2002, traveled to America as a participant at the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival in the Colorado
mountain resort of Aspen
, and to Canada
for a performance at Montreal
's 2005 Just For Laughs
festival. The troupe wrote and starred in their self-titled TV series for the American network Comedy Central
as well as two series for BBC Radio 4
.
He is well known for his mime
style interpretive dance of Natalie Imbruglia
's "Torn
" (in character as "Austria
n interpretive dance artist Johann Lippowitz"). A 2005 performance was broadcast by HBO Comedy and subsequently spread through the internet. The performance is often incorrectly labeled as "Karaoke for the Deaf".
He performed his famous dance on stage live with Natalie Imbruglia at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball
for Amnesty International
. The performance started with Armand dancing with Imbruglia singing live vocals backstage, then on-stage, and concluded with Imbruglia performing Armand's dance moves alongside him.
Utilizing the "Johann Lippowitz" alter ego, he has performed several other songs, including Paul Young
's "Wherever I Lay My Hat
". and "Don't Look Back in Anger
" by Oasis
.
Armand starred in BBC Three
sitcom, How Not To Live Your Life
as Eddie Singh
, the overenthusiastic former caregiver for the late grandmother of the show's leading character, Don Danbury (Dan Clark
). He has also appeared in several online BBC comedy sketches under the title This is Wondervision.
In 2011 he appeared on BBC2's improv show Fast and Loose
, where he performed an interpretive dance routine to a different song each week. Two cast members had to guess the song title based on his routine.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include Fast and Loose (2011 TV Series)
Fast and Loose (2011 TV series)
Fast and Loose is a BBC television series on BBC Two. Guests take part in numerous improvised sketches in which each comedian inhabits a certain character or movie genre...
, How Not To Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark, about a neurotic twenty-nine year old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the...
, Pulling, The Armstrong and Miller Show
The Armstrong and Miller Show
The Armstrong and Miller Show is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton and The League of Gentlemen's Jeremy Dyson.The series followed four...
, Swinging, and Peep Show
Peep Show (TV series)
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The television programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves, amongst others. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003. The show's seventh series makes it...
.
He is one of the writers and stars of the hit CBBC comedy shows Sorry, I've Got No Head
Sorry, I've Got No Head
Sorry, I've Got No Head is a CBBC children's sketch comedy. The programme's cast originally consisted of William Andrews, David Armand, James Bachman, Marcus Brigstocke, Anna Crilly, Justin Edwards, Mark Evans, Mel Giedroyc, Marek Larwood and Nick Mohammed...
, and Pixelface. He has also written for shows such asThe Peter Serafinowicz Show
The Peter Serafinowicz Show
The Peter Serafinowicz Show was a BBC Two comedy sketch show written by and starring Peter Serafinowicz. The first series started on the 4 October 2007 at 21:30 as part of the newly launched "Thursdays Are Funny" brand on BBC2 and Thursdays on ABC2...
and Katy Brand's Big Ass Show
Katy Brand's Big Ass Show
Katy Brand's Big Ass Show is a British comedy programme on ITV2.The show features comedian Katy Brand in skits of real life situations and stereotypes, as well and celebrities such as Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Adele and Kate Winslet.The second series began on 2 September...
.
Born David Whitehead in the Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
town of Kettering
Kettering
Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...
, he was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St. Catharine’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473, the college is often referred to informally by the nickname "Catz".-History:...
and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
. As a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men (comedy troupe)
The Hollow Men are an English sketch comedy group consisting of David Armand, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell, and Sam Spedding. The Hollow Men is also the title of their TV show broadcast in the United States by Comedy Central. The show follows the kind of silliness from sketch comedy shows like Monty...
, he appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
four times between 1999 and 2002, traveled to America as a participant at the 2003 US Comedy Arts Festival in the Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
mountain resort of Aspen
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, and to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for a performance at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's 2005 Just For Laughs
Just for Laughs
Just for Laughs is a comedy festival held each July in Montreal, Quebec, founded in 1983. It is the largest international comedy festival in the world.- Information :...
festival. The troupe wrote and starred in their self-titled TV series for the American network Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
as well as two series for BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
.
He is well known for his mime
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
style interpretive dance of Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,...
's "Torn
Torn (Ednaswap song)
"Torn" is a song by the band Ednaswap from their debut album Ednaswap . It was their second single from that album, after "Glow". "Torn" was written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, and Phil Thornalley during a demo session in 1993 before Ednaswap was formed. The lyrics were written by Preven....
" (in character as "Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n interpretive dance artist Johann Lippowitz"). A 2005 performance was broadcast by HBO Comedy and subsequently spread through the internet. The performance is often incorrectly labeled as "Karaoke for the Deaf".
He performed his famous dance on stage live with Natalie Imbruglia at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
The Secret Policeman's Ball 2006 was the title of the show staged as a benefit for human rights organization Amnesty International at London's Royal Albert Hall in October 2006....
for Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
. The performance started with Armand dancing with Imbruglia singing live vocals backstage, then on-stage, and concluded with Imbruglia performing Armand's dance moves alongside him.
Utilizing the "Johann Lippowitz" alter ego, he has performed several other songs, including Paul Young
Paul Young (singer and guitarist)
Paul Antony Young is an English pop musician. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & The Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, his following solo success as a solo recording artist turned him into a 1980s teenage pop idol...
's "Wherever I Lay My Hat
Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)
"Wherever I Lay My Hat " is a song written by Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield, and first recorded by Gaye in 1962. Years later, Paul Young's version of the song was a UK No. 1 single for three weeks in July 1983...
". and "Don't Look Back in Anger
Don't Look Back in Anger
"Don't Look Back in Anger" is a song by English rock band Oasis, released in 1996 as the fourth single from their hit second album Morning Glory?. The song was written by the band's guitarist and main songwriter, Noel Gallagher. The song became the band's second single to reach #1 in the UK...
" by Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
.
Armand starred in BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
sitcom, How Not To Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life
How Not to Live Your Life is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark, about a neurotic twenty-nine year old man who is trying to navigate his way through life but is not helped by his bad instincts. On 27 May 2011 it was announced by the new BBC Three controller Zai Bennett that the...
as Eddie Singh
Singh
Also see SinhaSingh is a common title, middle name, or surname in Northern India and South India used by sikhs warriors and kings. eg. Man Singh I, Maharana Pratap Singh. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion and used by Ahir kings of Nepal". It is also used in Sri Lanka by...
, the overenthusiastic former caregiver for the late grandmother of the show's leading character, Don Danbury (Dan Clark
Dan Clark
Dan Clark is an English actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter and television director.-Television:He is best known for playing the character of Don Danbury in BBC Three series How Not to Live Your Life which he wrote and starred in...
). He has also appeared in several online BBC comedy sketches under the title This is Wondervision.
In 2011 he appeared on BBC2's improv show Fast and Loose
Fast and Loose (2011 TV series)
Fast and Loose is a BBC television series on BBC Two. Guests take part in numerous improvised sketches in which each comedian inhabits a certain character or movie genre...
, where he performed an interpretive dance routine to a different song each week. Two cast members had to guess the song title based on his routine.