A Hero is Born...

Born in 1964 in Avonmouth, England, Lee Evans is one of Britain's finest when it comes to physical and observational comedy. He has often been compared to Norman Wisdom and in his stage routines likes to play the underdog, or the person that asks why things are as they are. Some may know him as the 'Monkey Boy' that sweats like mad¹.

Evans was inspired to go into show-business by his cabaret performer father, Dave Evans, who raised Evans and his brother whilst touring UK clubs and seaside resorts. After leaving art school and working on building sites and cleaning toilets, Evans decided to have a go at that crazy game of showbiz himself and went into the stand-up circuit. After four years playing working mens clubs and five on the alternative comedy² circuit, including at one time supporting Jack Dee, Lee Evans was a huge hit at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993 and he won the Perrier Comedy Award for best comedy show at the Fringe the same year.

I was a nutcase. You had to fight when I was a kid. It was part of the psyche of growing up on a council estate.
Lee Evans, 2002 in a Guardian Interview

Films and Filming

Evans big screen debut came in 1995 with the comedy Funny Bones opposite Jerry Lewis. Whilst not a huge success at the box office it led to a a cameo in the sci-fi movie The Fifth Element and a starring role in the slapstick comedy Mouse Hunt in which he played one of two down-on-their-luck brothers trying to get rid of a mouse from an antique house they want to sell. This was followed soon after by the hit comedy There's Something About Mary which launched him onto the international stage, along with Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, when he played one of three men infatuated with the Mary of the title. Since the film, Lee has been in five films, The Ladies' Man, The Martins, Vacuum, Plots with a View and Highbinders although none have emulated the success of There's Something About Mary. As with his stage persona, all characters he played were the downtrodden, working-class man and most of them also had the same knack for physical comedy as Evans.

So, What Now?

In 2000 the BBC offered Evans the chance to create his own sitcom and in 2001 'So, What Now' premiered on BBC1. It was a mix of slapstick comedy in the style of Evans' stage show and the normal comic situations British sitcom characters get themselves into. However, at the time of writing, it appears to have been axed due to poor ratings, despite a press release by the BBC in 2001 to the contary.

Wembley

In 2002 Lee Evans had a sell-out tour of the UK, culminating in two nights at Wembley Arena, something very few comics have been able to do, confirming his status at the top of his profession. It was extra-special for Evans as it gave him the opportunity to play on stage with his hero, his father Dave Evans.