Recent
TV Writing and Performing
Hal Cruttenden is one of the top comedians working in the UK today, as well as being a highly accomplished writer and actor. 2009 was an extremely busy year which ended with Hal's critically acclaimed appearance on The Royal Variety Performance at the Blackpool Opera House, which was televised on ITV. He spent much of the year supporting Rob Brydon on his sold out tour of the UK, which included a three week run at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. This was not Hal's only West End run of the year as he also performed at the Trafalgar Studios as George Bowling in the monologue adaptation of George Orwell’s ‘Coming Up For Air’, following a sold out run at the Edinburgh Festival 2008. The Daily Mirror 5 Star review described Hal’s performance as ‘absolutely riveting; at times intense and emotional at others flippant and casual...this is a spine-tingling, powerful and moving drama, delivered masterfully by a performer at the very peak of his powers.’
The Daily Telegraph commented on 'a really fine performance from Hal Cruttenden....the mixture of self-deprecating humour, misery and anger that he
brings to this beautifully written monologue is very special indeed.' The Guardian said his acting was '...perfectly judged. Cruttenden doesn't so much play glumly respectable middle-aged, middle-income insurance salesman George Bowling as inhabit him.'
As a stand up Hal has appeared on television many times including 'The Royal Variety Performance 2009' (ITV) ‘The Omid Djalili Show’ (BBC1), for which he also wrote numerous sketches, ‘The 11 O’Clock Show’ (Channel 4), ‘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’ and the ‘Keith Barrett Show’ in addition to hosting recordings of ‘The World Stands Up’ at The Clapham Grand.'
Radio
Radio 5 Live with Richard Bacon, Nicky Campbell, Victoria Derbyshire and Stephen Nolan, Radio 4’s ‘Four at the Store’ and Radio Ulster’s’ The Blame Game’. 2008 saw the release of Hal’s first Comedy CD ‘Angry...but not sure why.’
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’.
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 last year\'s festival his one man 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 performer at all the top UK clubs, including the Comedy Store, and has supported Rob Brydon, Ardal O’Hanlon and Omid Djalili on their nationwide tours.
International Stand Up
Hal’s comedy career has taken him all over the world. He recently travelled across Canada on the Just For Laughs 2008 Comedy tour, which played to over 40,000 people, and featured the American Finesse Mitchell from ‘Saturday Night Live’, Danny Bhoy, and this year’s if.comedy winner, David O’Doherty. This followed rave reviews for his appearance at the 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 the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jakarta, Bali, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. He has also performed for the British Armed Forces in the Falkland Islands and Cyprus.