JOHNNY VEGAS
Pawn your granny for a ticket'' (Herald)
''The finest comic of the new generation'' (Steve Coogan)
With a new army of fans following his TV appearances in Happiness, Shooting Stars and those famous ITV Digital commercials, Johnny Vegas returns to what he does best in what is sure to be one of the most talked-about shows of the Festival.
Having decided that a career in the priesthood was not for him, Johnny, (a.k.a. Michael Pennington), chose instead a career in comedy. Since that fateful decision, his act has gone from strength to strength. From the early bizarre fusion of stand-up and pottery, (Johnny studied ceramic design for three years and has had his work exhibited at London's V&A Museum) , to winning a British Comedy Award for his role in Paul Whitehouse's BBC sitcom, Happiness, Johnny has since become the kind of household name that we always knew he would be.
In addition to his popular TV comedy roles, Johnny has also starred in a production of Joe Orton's Erpingham Camp at the Edinburgh Festival and the recent BBC period drama Tipping The Velvet. Shunning the usual trappings that his fame might otherwise bring, he famously sold his wedding photographs to Viz Magazine for the princely sum of one pound!
Despite his massive TV success, Johnny continues to produce some of his best and most exciting on the live stage. His highly successful appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe and Just For Laughs in Montreal are the stuff of legend, with his wilfully shambolic and dangerously out-of-control stage persona capable of producing moments of spontaneous magic that are the very essence of what makes live comedy such an exciting medium.
Johnny is without a doubt the hottest, most talked about comedian in the country today.