Ivo Graham

English stand-up comedian

Ivo Graham
Ivo Graham in 2013
Born
Ivo Charles Graham

(1990-09-05) 5 September 1990 (age 33)
Tokyo, Japan
EducationEton College
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford
Occupation(s)Comedian, actor
Years active2008-present
Children1
Websiteivograham.com

Ivo Charles Graham[1] (/ˈv/ EYE-voh; born 5 September 1990) is an English stand-up comedian and comedy writer.

Biography

Born in Tokyo, Graham attended day and boarding schools in Australia and the UK, including Eton College, as his family moved around for his father's work.[2] He studied French and Russian literature at University College, Oxford, graduating in 2012.[3][4]

Comedy career

Graham was the youngest ever winner of So You Think You're Funny in 2009[5] and was subsequently signed by the biggest stand up talent agency in the UK, Off The Kerb. He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2010 Chortle Awards.[6]

His television appearances include The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, Live from the BBC, Russell Howard's Stand Up Central, As Yet Untitled, Virtually Famous, QI, Sweat the Small Stuff and The Dog Ate My Homework, and he is a regular on radio show Fighting Talk.[7][8][9][10] In October 2019 and December 2021, he competed on Richard Osman's House of Games[11] and appeared on Paul Merton's team on Have I Got News For You on 8 November 2019.[12][13] Ivo appeared again on the show, via webcam (due to the Covid-19 lockdown), on 15 May 2020, and was again part of Paul Merton's team.

Graham regularly performs at the Edinburgh Fringe. His shows Binoculars (2013), Bowties and Johnnies (2014) and No Filter (2015) all transferred to London for runs at the Soho Theatre. His 2017 show Educated Guess garnered good reviews[14][15] and sold out, prompting several extra shows to be added, and were performed at the Soho Theatre in October.[16]

Graham has also supported Josh Widdicombe on tour.[17]

In 2019 Graham was included in the i-news "50 of the best jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe" with his line: "Do I enjoy randomly appointing people to judicial positions? I'll let you be the judge of that".[18] That year, he was nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his show, "The Game of Life".

In late 2021, Graham co-presented the Dave travelogue British as Folk alongside fellow comedians Darren Harriott and Fern Brady.[19]

In December 2022 it was announced that Graham would appear on the fifteenth season of Taskmaster alongside Frankie Boyle, Mae Martin, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Jenny Eclair.[20] The series started broadcast on 30 March 2023.

Personal life

Graham is a supporter of Swindon Town F.C.[21] He has a daughter, born in February 2019.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Episode 5". Celebrity Game Night. 3 April 2019. Channel 5.
  2. ^ Packham, Alfie (14 January 2014). "Comedian Ivo Graham: 'I'm obliged to talk about Eton – it's my only USP'". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Williams, Alice (7 March 2019). "In Conversation with Comedian and Oxford Grad Ivo Graham". The Oxford Student. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  4. ^ "This House is Overworked and Undersexed (Comedy Debate) | The Cambridge Union". cus.org. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  5. ^ "SYTYF? Past Winners – So You Think You're Funny?". soyouthinkyourefunny.co.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  6. ^ "Ivo Graham, comedian : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
  7. ^ "BBC – CBBC CBBC – Schedules, Friday 20 January 2017". BBC.
  8. ^ Logan, Brian (12 November 2014). "Ivo Graham review – old Etonian comic revels in inadequacy". The Guardian.
  9. ^ www.manta9.com, Hazlitt Eastman. "Ivo Graham – Off The Kerb Productions".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Ivo Graham". 24 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Richard Osman's House of Games – Series 3: Episode 11".
  12. ^ Have I Got News For You [@haveigotnews] (8 November 2019). "Catch all-new #HIGNFY, hosted by @adilray, with panellists @IvoGraham and @helenlewis. Tonight at 9pm - Only on BBC One. https://t.co/7rsh5Nm53W" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 8 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "Ivo Graham to make Have I Got News For You debut". chortle.co.uk. 30 October 2019..
  14. ^ Bennett, Steve. "Ivo Graham: Educated Guess : Reviews 2017 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  15. ^ Logan, Brian (18 October 2017). "Ivo Graham: Educated Guess review – Eton schooldays and leftie laughs". Retrieved 4 May 2020 – via www.theguardian.com.
  16. ^ "Comedy Review: Ivo Graham's Educated Guess". Londonist. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Josh Widdicombe and Ivo Graham - Warm-up for the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Festival".
  18. ^ "50 of the best jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe 2019". inews.co.uk.
  19. ^ Golby, Joel. "British As Folk: three comedians in a campervan have fun with history". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  20. ^ Taskmaster [@taskmaster] (1 December 2022). "Your Taskmaster Series 15 cast! 🎉 @jennyeclair @IvoGraham @frankieboyle @kfRedhot @TheMaeMartin https://t.co/kbtWppqdgG" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Ivo Graham – Interview. The comedian and youngest ever winner of the prestigious 'So You Think You're Funny' award for new acts at the Edinburgh Fringe talks to Victoria Holdsworth, March 2018". 18 March 2018.
  22. ^ Graham, Ivo [@IvoGraham] (20 February 2019). "https://t.co/8Rrhfd5ycW" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 December 2022 – via Twitter.

External links

  • Official website
  • Ivo Graham at IMDb
Authority control databases: Artists Edit this at Wikidata
  • MusicBrainz