Recent
Hal Cruttenden is one of the top comedians working in the UK today, as well as being a highly accomplished writer and actor. Recent television appearances include ‘Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow’ (BBC1), ‘The Royal Variety Performance 2009 (ITV),‘Comedy Rocks’ (ITV) and ‘The Rob Brydon Show’ (BBC2) for which he also worked as a writer. He has also just completed his first national solo tour 'Hal Cruttenden Lively’. In the last year he has travelled to Bermuda for Just For Laughs Comedy, performed to British troops in Cyprus and travelled to India with The Comedy Store.
TV Writing and Performing
Other television appearances as a comic include ‘The Omid Djalili Show’ (BBC1), for which he wrote numerous sketches; ‘The 11 O’Clock Show’ (Channel 4); ‘Tonight’ (ITV); ‘BBC Breakfast’ (BBC1); ‘Just For Laughs Gala’ (CBC Canada); ‘Brain Candy’ (BBC3); ‘Live at Jongleurs’ (UK Gold/Paramount); ‘The Comedy Store’ (Paramount); ‘The World Stands Up’ (Paramount Comedy Channel UK, The Comedy Channel Australia, and Comedy Central and BBC America in the U.S); ‘The Warehouse’ (Carlton TV); ‘Carlton Comedy Warehouse’ (Carlton/STV); 'Most Annoying Couples' (BBC); ‘The Deputy Prime Minister’ (BBC2); ‘Hoot’ (Bravo); ‘Net.Comedy’ (Action Time); ‘Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards’ (Channel 5) and ‘House of Fun’ (Meridien).
As a television warm up, he has worked for ‘The Jonathan Ross Show’, ‘Alan Carr’s Chattyman’ and ‘The Rob Brydon Show’ in addition to hosting recordings of ‘The World Stands Up’ at The Clapham Grand.'
Radio
Radio work includes Radio 5 Live with Richard Bacon, Nicky Campbell, Victoria Derbyshire and Stephen Nolan; Radio 4’s ‘Act Your Age’, ‘Four at the Store’ and ‘Loose Ends’; BBC London with Nick Hancock; Talksport Radio and Radio Ulster’s’ The Blame Game’.
TV and Film Acting
Having originally trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Hal’s acting career includes roles on TV and film in ‘Shackleton’; ‘Eastenders’; ‘Kavanagh QC’; ‘Out of the Blue’; ‘Touching Evil’ and ‘Bramwell’. On film he has been in ‘Mrs Dalloway‘ and ‘The Madness of King George’. Recent theatre work includes ‘Orwell a Celebration’ at Trafalgar Studios London and the Edinburgh Festival. In this play he was described by the Daily Mirror as ‘a performer at the very peak of his powers.’ The Guardian said 'Cruttenden doesn't so much play glumly respectable middle-aged, middle-income insurance salesman George Bowling as inhabit him.'
Live Stand Up
Hal’s big breakthrough in stand up came with his nomination for the Perrier Newcomer Award at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival for his solo show ‘Hal’, followed by a highly successful run the following year of his second show, ‘To Hal and Back’, which was also performed at the Soho Theatre in London. At the 2008 festival his show, ‘Climb Every Molehill’, was critically acclaimed with The Scotsman's review saying, 'He has the actor's ability to let a story build and, when he peaks, his animation is a joy.' He is a regular at all the top UK comedy clubs and has supported Rob Brydon, Sean Lock, Ardal O’Hanlon and Omid Djalili on their nationwide tours, before embarking on his own tour in the Autumn of 2010.
International Stand Up
Internationally, Hal has travelled across Canada on the Just For Laughs 2008 Comedy tour, which played to over 40,000 people across the country. This followed rave reviews for his appearance at that year’s Just For Laughs Gala in Montreal hosted by Joan Rivers. He has also done shows at the Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival 2005 and Just For Laughs Montreal again in 2004. Other international comedy tours include India, Bermuda, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jakarta, Bali, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. For the British Armed Forces he has played gigs in the Falkland Islands and Cyprus.
Hal’s first Comedy CD entitled ‘Angry...but not sure why’ is available at www.amazon.co.uk