Matt Berry
Encyclopedia
Matthew Charles "Matt" Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, writer, comedian and musician. Berry is perhaps best known for his appearances in The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...

, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a British dark comedy show made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Following on from Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, which won the 2001 Perrier Awards, the show revolves around fictional horror author Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner...

 and The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...

; he also had his own series, Snuff Box
Snuff Box
Snuff Box is a BBC Three British dark comedy starring and written by Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher with additional material by Nick Gargano. It first aired on Monday 27 February 2006....

. He is renowned for his deep, rich voice, which is often enhanced for voiceover work and comic effect on screen, though reverting to his regular voice during interviews. He has voiced several advertisements, most notably Volvic
Volvic
Volvic is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France.-History:The church at Volvic is dedicated to “St Priest” . Projectus was killed here in 676 AD.-References:* -External links:***...

 and The Natural Confectionery Company
The Natural Confectionery Company
The Natural Confectionery Company or TNCC was founded by a young Julius Lighton and his son-in-law, Walter Eger. Initially, the two bought out Jupp & Sons, a small confectionery business in Abbotsford, Melbourne and started Sunrise Confectioners Pty Ltd...

, as well as Absolute Radio and Australian employment website, Career One.

Life and career

Berry was born in Bromham, Bedfordshire
Bromham, Bedfordshire
Bromham is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, west of the town of Bedford. It is within commuting distance to London via Bedford railway station.-Notable features:...

 to Pauline (née Acreman) and Charles Berry. Matt has one older sister, Johanna. He attended Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University is a public teaching and research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as a new university in 1992 from the existing Trent Polytechnic , however it can trace its roots back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham Government School of Design...

 where he received a BA in Contemporary Arts in 1997. He began his career as a runner before appearing in the videogame magazine show Game Over on BSkyB's computer & technology channel .tv, between 1998 and 1999. Though commissioned as an editorial show on the subject matter, episodes contained a large number of comedy sketches, with Berry as the main performer. These showcased a wide range of characters, one of which was a sketch about The Exorcist
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...

 entitled "Fear Pushed Through the Ring". It was this sketch and others like it that resulted in Berry, and producers Rik Henderson and Richard Pitt, being fired from the show.

Berry's first prominent TV role was playing Todd Rivers
Todd Rivers
Todd Rivers is a fictional actor in the Channel 4 comedy series, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. The character was created by Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness and is played by Matt Berry....

/Dr Lucien Sanchez in the cult 2004 comedy series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a British dark comedy show made for Channel 4 by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade. Following on from Garth Marenghi's Netherhead, which won the 2001 Perrier Awards, the show revolves around fictional horror author Garth Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner...

 and the 2006 spin-off Man to Man with Dean Learner
Man to Man with Dean Learner
Man to Man with Dean Learner is a British comedy chat show that was first broadcast on Channel 4 on October 20, 2006 and released on DVD on September 3, 2007...

.

He later appeared as the eccentric and sinister tycoon/explorer Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh. Berry first met The Mighty Boosh duo while performing at the Hen and Chickens Theatre
Hen and Chickens Theatre
The Hen and Chickens Theatre is a fringe venue for theatre and comedy situated above a pub at Highbury in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre management was awarded to actress Felicity Wren in 1999.-External links:*...

, where they were resident in 2000. He can be seen in a small cameo performance in the The Mighty Boosh Live DVD.

Berry wrote and starred in the comedy show Snuff Box
Snuff Box
Snuff Box is a BBC Three British dark comedy starring and written by Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher with additional material by Nick Gargano. It first aired on Monday 27 February 2006....

 on 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...

 with Rich Fulcher
Rich Fulcher
Rich Fulcher is an American comedian and author based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for co-starring in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, alongside comedy duo Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding.-Early life:...

, whom he met during the filming of the first series of The Mighty Boosh. Fulcher co-starred as Bainbridge's lackey, Bob Fossil.

Berry has starred as Douglas Reynholm since the second series of The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...

. He was nominated as Best Male Comedy Newcomer in the 2007 British Comedy Awards for this role, but lost out to James Corden
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden is an English actor, television writer, producer and presenter. He is co-creator and star of BBC comedy shows Gavin & Stacey and Horne & Corden, and acted in the 2009 film Lesbian Vampire Killers....

 for Gavin and Stacey.

In November 2007, Berry starred alongside Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby
Simon Alexander Farnaby is an English comedy actor and writer in television, theatre and film.-Early life:Born in Wath-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, Farnaby trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, National Youth Theatre, and Trinity College, Dublin...

 and Boosh regular Rich Fulcher in The Golf War on E4. Film appearances include The Devil's Chair
The Devil's Chair
The Devil's Chair is a 2006 British horror film. It premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:Nick West brings the easy and filthy Sammy to the abandoned Blackwater Asylum for using acid and having sex. They find a weird chair and Nick proposes kinky sex to Sammy; however the device traps...

 (2006) and Moon
Moon (film)
Moon is a 2009 British science fiction drama film about a man who experiences a personal crisis as he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint mining helium-3 on the far side of the Earth's moon. It is the feature debut of director Duncan Jones. Sam Rockwell stars as the employee Sam Bell, and...

 (2009).

In 2008 he became the face of Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...

's spoof charity appeal "Save the Workers". Berry featured in Season 3, episode 9 of the Sarah Silverman Program, filmed in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 for Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

. Berry stars in the video (directed by Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...

) for the 2007 Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band that lean towards psychedelic rock and electronic experimentation. Since their formation in Cardiff, Wales in 1993, the band has consisted of Gruff Rhys , Huw Bunford , Guto Pryce , Cian Ciaran and Dafydd Ieuan Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band...

 song "Run-Away". He also appeared as an antiques expert in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 sketch show Monkey Trousers
Monkey Trousers
Monkey Trousers was a short-lived comedy series on ITV in 2005, featuring Alistair McGowan, John Thomson, Ronni Ancona, Mackenzie Crook, Griff Rhys Jones, Neil Morrissey, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Marc Wootton and Steve Coogan...

 with Vic and Bob
Vic and Bob
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer , more commonly known simply as Vic and Bob or Reeves and Mortimer, are a British comedy double act...

 and Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...

.

Berry has provided many voiceovers for both radio and television advertising, including Absolute Radio, Volvic mineral water
Volvic (mineral water)
Volvic is a brand of mineral water. Its source lies just to the north of the Puy de Dôme. The water's distinctive mineral content is due to the nearby volcano which last erupted in 5760 BC....

, Müller Corner adverts and characters on several adverts for The Natural Confectionery Company
The Natural Confectionery Company
The Natural Confectionery Company or TNCC was founded by a young Julius Lighton and his son-in-law, Walter Eger. Initially, the two bought out Jupp & Sons, a small confectionery business in Abbotsford, Melbourne and started Sunrise Confectioners Pty Ltd...

.

He has also been in the sketch show The Wrong Door as a recurring bit-part character who runs into a snooker hall and shouts "Stop playing snooker!" before whispering an implied impossible wager to one of the players and completing an unfeasible trick shot
Trick shot
A trick shot is a shot played on a billiards table , which seems unlikely, impossible, or requires significant skill...

.

In 2010 Berry played journalist Michael Duffy in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 production Five Daughters
Five Daughters
Five Daughters is a British television drama mini-series starring Ian Hart, Sarah Lancashire, Jaime Winstone and Juliet Aubrey. Set in 2006, it is about the five victims of the Ipswich serial murders and how the crime affected their families...

, which portrayed events surrounding the Ipswich murders of 2006.

Berry starred in a short film called The Search, about "a lonely man's search for the existence of life outside our universe takes a remarkable turn when he connects with a recently bereaved family".

In 2011, he played the voice of Allen in Aqua Unit Patrol Squads "Allen Part 2". He appeared as a contestant in the British comedy panel game Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as 3 full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with 2 series before returning to BBC Two for another 3 series from 2008 until its axing in 2011...

, acting the part of Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...

.

Matt Berry appeared in the film adaptation of the David Nicholls
David Nicholls (writer)
-Background:Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril sixth-form college at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1983 to 1985 , and playing a wide range of roles in college drama productions...

 novel One Day
One Day (novel)
One Day is a novel by David Nicholls, published in 2009. Each chapter covers the lives of two protagonists on 15 July, St. Swithin's Day, for twenty years. The novel attracted generally positive reviews, and was named 2010 Galaxy Book of the Year...

, playing the role of Aaron, Dexter's agent.

Music

As a musician, Berry composed all the music for Snuff Box as well the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera
AD/BC: A Rock Opera
AD/BC is a parody rock opera with music by Matt Berry and lyrics by Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade. It aired on BBC Three in 2004.-Summary:...

, which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...

. AD/BC was a half-hour parody of overblown musicals in general and Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...

 in particular, telling the story of the innkeeper who allowed Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus to sleep in his manger. AD/BC was broadcast in December 2004 and featured Fulcher and Mighty Boosh stars Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. Barratt is best known for playing the character of Howard Moon in the cult comedy The Mighty Boosh, which he also co-writes with comedy partner, Noel Fielding.-The Mighty Boosh:Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon...

 and Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding
Noel Fielding is a British artist, comedian and actor. He is known for his roles as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh, which he co-writes with comedy partner Julian Barratt, and as team captain on the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.-Stand-up comedy:Noel Fielding performed regularly as a...

. He also performed a song for an episode of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace entitled "One Track Lover", a spoof of cheesy romantic 80s songs.

Berry also composed music for the BBC 2 Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...

 comedy Saxondale
Saxondale
Saxondale is a British television situation comedy programme, starring Steve Coogan and co-written by Steve Coogan and Neil Maclennan. The series is directed by Matt Lipsey and produced by Ted Dowd. Coogan and Henry Normal served as executive producers...

 and appeared in the first and third episodes of the second series of the show. He composed the theme song for the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 sketch show Blunder. He is also credited on The 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...

.

He has released three albums: Jackpot in 1995, Opium which was a limited edition self-released record in 2008 and Witchazel
Witchazel
Witchazel is an album by English musician Matt Berry.Witchazel is Berry's third album and was originally released as a free download from his website on March 11, 2009. It was commercially released through Acid Jazz Records on March 7, 2011....

 in 2009 as a download, later released on CD and vinyl by Acid Jazz Records
Acid Jazz Records
Acid Jazz is a record label based in east London. It takes its name from acid jazz, a genre of jazz music. Alternative version states that the genre itself was named after the record label...

 in 2011. He toured with Jonas 3 several times in 2006 and 2007. He stated in the first issue of Bearded Magazine
Bearded (magazine)
Bearded is a bi-monthly music magazine that distributes nationwide through WHSmith, Borders, independent record shops and newsagents. The magazine covers the independent music industry and only reviews artists who are either unsigned or signed to independent record labels.Bearded is known for its...

 that he was producing and collaborating on new material with 1960s soul singer Geno Washington
Geno Washington
Geno Washington is an American R&B singer who released five albums with The Ram Jam Band between 1966 and 1969, and eight solo albums beginning in 1976.-Early to late 1960s:...

 and was to record a new album. This album turned out to be 'Witchazel', which Berry released online as a free download for one day only in March 2009. The album was later officially released as a CD and paid-for digital download.

His touring band is composed of members of Brighton-based experimental rock group 'Jonas 3'. They are George Baldwin (bass), his brother Charlie (drums) and Andy Vickery (guitar). Fulcher has joined Berry on stage for several appearances. Geno Washington has also joined Berry onstage at London gigs for encores of the Snuff Box theme.

In October 2007, he provided a brand new track "Cream Pie" to Bearded Magazine for readers to download for free, followed by a cover of the Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

 song "Sing" in November 2007. 'Cream Pie' is still available to supporters of Beardaid.

Berry voiced his appreciation of the television themes of Ronnie Hazlehurst
Ronnie Hazlehurst
Ronald "Ronnie" Hazlehurst was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director....

 in an episode of Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...

's Screenwipe, and his band played out the Screenwipe Christmas special with a rendition of Hazlehurst's theme tune for 1980s British sitcom Sorry!
Sorry! (TV series)
Sorry! was a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1981 to 1982 and from 1985 to 1988. Starring Ronnie Corbett, it was written by Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent, both of whom had previously written for The Two Ronnies, of whom Corbett was one half....

.

Berry has a new touring band called The Maypoles.

Berry presents a show on Absolute Radio where he also performs various voiceovers and is described as "the voice of Absolute Radio". His podcasts can be downloaded from the Absolute radio website or from iTunes. The Matt Berry Podcast regularly features in the Top Ten of the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 podcast chart and its producer Vince Lynch
Vince Lynch
-Life and career:Lynch was born in Oshawa, Ontario to an Irish mother and a Canadian father. He spent much of his time growing up between Canada and Ireland. He began his career at 18 as the world's youngest major market imaging producer at CKQB & produced many syndicated album premiers including...

 has been nominated for Best Online Producer at the Radio Academy
Radio Academy
The Radio Academy is a registered charity that is dedicated to 'the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production'....

 Production Awards.

External links

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