Call me dada | Global | The Guardian Life and style Call me dada Where do Jim Moir, devoted father and comfortable companion, and his alter ego Vic Reeves, surreally funny and at times cruel comedian, meet? And how come his art makes you laugh in the same way as his bizarre act? Lindsay Baker went to find out See our picture gallery of selected images from his exhibition Vic Reeves ... exhibitionist Friday 21 June 2002 20.34 EDT First published on Friday 21 June 2002 20.34 EDT Share on Messenger Close The brown-haired, lightly tanned man offering me a cup of tea has a pleasant smile and wears green corduroy trousers. He looks a lot like Vic Reeves , only this man seems, well, normal. Unlike his alter ego, Vic, of course, who is a grotesque, manic character in velvet and ruffles, with badly dyed black hair and a pasty face. And the home of this man, Jim Moir, is a Georgian house in a picturesque Kent village, with a reassuring, wholesome feel about it: wellies at the door, crocheted tablecloth in the dining room, tidy back garden.

It's a cosy scene and not at all Vic-like. Moir, who has a way of talking as if permanently on the verge of laughing, is nevertheless quite serious as he tells me about the tiled floor in the hall, how he has been polishing it for days, and how he can often spend weeks at some such matter of domestic urgency. Meanwhile, his four-year-old son, Louis, tugs vigorously at his arm, requesting a Harry Potter story. Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, has been hailed as a comic genius, he and Bob Mortimer the undisputed champions of absurd, slapstick comedy. Their ascent began with the 1990 series Vic Reeves' Big Night Out (catchphrase: "You wouldn't let it lie") and continued with The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer (for which they picked up a Bafta and a British Comedy Award). Then there was the surreally funny game show Families At War, and the still-running, equally skewed celebrity quiz series Shooting Stars (also a Bafta winner). In recent years, the duo have even turned their hands to acting, in the drama series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

As a result, Vic Reeves has rarely been off our screens in the past dozen years - or Jim Moir out of the tabloids. ("An ex-nightclub dancer for a fiancee and an estranged wife who is a lesbian," as the Daily Mail put it.) And recently Moir has moved into the art world - still under the stage name - first with a book, Sun Boiled Onions, and now with a show at London's britart gallery. Louis is sent upstairs, with the promise of a story later, and his father settles into an armchair. There's a painting of a pig behind him - an unorthodox touch amid the conventional decor. "I painted it because I used to have a pet pig," he says in his broad Yorkshire accent. "And I wanted a picture of it on the wall." It's not representative, he adds, of the work in the show. Moir is not, of course, the first celebrity to turn his hand to artistic endeavours - nor the first suspected of being given a leg-up by his status. "No one's said it to my face," he says.

"But struggling artists probably think, well, he's got it easy because he's known, and there's some truth in that. I don't think Ronnie Wood would have exhibitions if he wasn't Ronnie Wood." In fact painting was Moir's original career plan. He attended a foundation course at Sir John Cass College in Whitechapel, London, then continued drawing and painting while working in a gallery in London's New Cross in the mid-1980s, where he exhibited some of his own work and helped pay his way by selling copies of Van Goghs and Rembrandts for £50 each. He never stopped, he says, even after he turned to comedy, and doing the exhibition has given him the impetus to do new work. He's not hugely motivated otherwise. "I'm a bit too idle." The show has the rather self-deprecating title Doings and includes around 50 works, from early drawings and paintings to his latest photography. His art is strange stuff, often puerile and very funny in the same nonsensical, unfathomable way that his comedy is funny.

It doesn't have any great meaning and why should it have, he asks, citing the Dadaists, who were "just having a laugh". There's a fascination with celebrity running through the drawings - a fat Elvis Presley doing the ironing, Captain Death killing off Russ Abbot - and then there is the even more wildly fanciful: "A fork riding a sugar unicycle", "A family of foxes glowering at some soap", "A shrimp in a suitcase on a window ledge". The artists Jake and Dinos Chapman describe Moir's art as "able to command our laughter as a purgative, to encourage the viewer to leak at both ends". Recent photographic work includes a meticulous cataloguing of dog poo. He approaches his art in the same way as writing a sketch, he says, looking for something that would make him laugh, though the art is a more private thing than the comedy. The banana sculpture is something personal, he says, deadpan; it's based on a real banana that he took with him in a Tupperware box on hikes up three different mountains, then cast in bronze and mounted.

"I wanted it to be like a Louise Bourgeois painting, but it turned out very phallic." He has always liked drawing and as a boy won a competition in his sister's Jackie magazine, with a picture of Marc Bolan - he had to pretend he was a girl. He also won a cornflakes competition with a picture of a combine harvester. His parents, James, a printer on the Yorkshire Post, and Audrey, a seamstress, always supported him in his "whims", both artistic and otherwise. "Perhaps because they were quite similar," he says. Moir was born in Leeds and as a child was known by his second name, Roderick, to differentiate him from his father and grandfather, both called James. The family (he has one younger sister, Lois) moved to the outskirts of Darlington when he was five. He attributes his humour partly to his roots in North Yorkshire, where the wit is "dry and oblique". His parents weren't exactly bohemian, he says, but every weekend was devoted to some investigation or another, of castles, landmarks, "weird things"; they encouraged reading and were into "creative cookery and making things".

It all came back to him this weekend, he says, when he was helping his daughter make lampshades out of papier-mache and crepe paper. "It's great doing things like that. You start taking over and pushing them out the way, saying, 'No, I'm doing this bit.' " In his teens, Moir played bass guitar in a band, Trout. It was a trio: the guitarist wanted to do David Bowie songs, Moir favoured a Yes/King Crimson style, and the third member wanted to play pub rock. They had "dreadful arguments" and about three fans, and soon split. "Musical differences." After that, Moir got into punk. "At the time, you didn't call yourself a punk, but there was something about people who were 17 in 1976, they just wanted to tie-dye their sweaters and create clothing out of things they found in Oxfam. Everyone I know who's the same age as me had that kind of creative drive then, a sense of purpose and invention, making things and doing things for yourself.

It was a fantastic time." He and his friends used to create characters for themselves - his would change every week, but he was known for his "very, very enormous trousers". He gets a wistful look. "You don't get that now, people tend to follow high street fashions rather than create their own." While at art school, he worked in a record shop and dressed like a beatnik in sandals and corduroy cap. He started doing comedy sketches at a pub in New Cross and one night, while performing a character called Tappy Lappy, with a Bryan Ferry mask and planks on his feet, he was heckled by a solicitor in the audience called Bob Mortimer. They began doing pub stand-up shows together, Moir by this time using the stage name Vic Reeves, because nobody could pronounce Moir. The pair's most obvious predecessors were the Goon Show and Monty Python, but when Reeves and Mortimer first appeared on television, they were unlike anything else around at the time, a refreshingly anarchic force in an otherwise lacklustre comedy scene.

Over the years, though, as their influence has spread and their faces have become more familiar, they have slowly but surely slipped into the mainstream, now occupying prime-time slots - both have even appeared in television commercials, most recently for a bank. It's a far cry from the spirit of punk. Is showing his art an attempt to regain some of that subversive ground, to place himself once again in the counterculture? Not necessarily. "If it is subversive, it's as subversive as what we do on television. But I don't like to think of it that way - it's something I like doing, and it's just the way I think or see." The way Moir thinks and sees is often deeply macabre, not unlike much recent British art (by his admirers, the Chapman brothers, for instance). His latest picture is of an autopsy, featuring a man with his skin peeled back; his ribs and insides are on display, his hands on his hips as if to say, "Look what I've got", but his head's been lopped off and is on a separate table, grinning. It's funny and very grim. Does he set out to alarm people?

"Perhaps to disturb myself," he says. He's scared of heights and gets frightened "three rungs up a ladder"; when he goes to the top of a tall building, he gets the urge to throw himself off. "You get that sort of rush and you think, I'm doing something that's not right here, something slightly wrong." It's the same when he's doing his pictures. For instance, if he's doing a figure and draws a leg too thin, then he'll deliberately draw the other one too thick. "You get a sense of 'I'm being perverted here', doing something naughty." Perhaps there is a bit of soul-baring in his work, after all. "Within comedy, macabre is the root, and a lot of art - Goya, Bosch, Dali - is macabre. Even Van Gogh, if he paints a chair, there's an element of the macabre within it." The dark streak is evident in the comedy, as well as in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) which, though well received, never quite made the ratings hoped for and was discontinued after two series.

("It's big in Finland, though," Moir points out.) He played the ghost of private eye Marty Hopkirk, who returns to haunt his former partner, Jeff Randall (Mortimer). It was a camped-up, funny, surreal drama, but with an element of something nightmarish and sinister. The pair have also written a screenplay for a "road and river movie", which is, he says, "a very black comedy, quite disturbing". There's cruelty in their comedy shows, too, both to each other and their guests. In Bang Bang, It's Reeves And Mortimer, a one-off series in which the pair appeared as scary-looking, bald interrogators, they would suddenly disappear, leaving their confused interviewee to stand and smile uneasily while Mahler's Fifth was played over loudspeakers. On Shooting Stars, the panellists and guests are mercilessly lampooned, or abandoned, for instance, in a glass tank with a breathing pipe, covered in mushrooms, while everyone else leaves the set. "It's not malicious," Moir insists.

When he was young, one of the funniest things he ever saw was a Laurel and Hardy scene in a bank, in which the teller had a fountain pen stuck in his head and didn't realise. "Which I don't think is dark. It's violent in a sort of safe way." For all the grimness in his humour, there is something inescapably safe about Moir - the unshowbizzy house, the domestic tasks. And it's not an impression he seems keen to discourage. Even his creative life is made to sound safe and mundane. He has an office nearby with Mortimer (who also lives in the area) and the two spend the mornings there, writing scripts. "We go in at 9.30 every day, watch 15 minutes of Trisha, then crack on." The pair have never fallen out, he says, never even row, though their on-screen relationship is fraught and frequently descends into violence. "Vic would be the bossy one, but the stupid one, cocky and thick, who always thinks he's right," Moir says.

It's easy to see why comparisons have been drawn to Morecambe and Wise, not just because of Reeves' thick-rimmed spectacles and Eric-like demeanour. After all, Moir and Mortimer, like Eric and Ernie, are character actors, not stand-up comedians. Vic and Bob are personas they adopt, their spiel based on an elaborate fantasy and on running gags that aren't so much gags as inexplicably hilarious tics: Eric twiddled his glasses up and down, for instance, while Vic rubs his thighs obscenely at female guests. Moir has described the Vic and Bob brand of comedy as "old-fashioned", "like watching two children bickering". Fans like it precisely for its stupidity and puerility - the pointlessness is the point. The writer Will Self, who is now a regular panellist on Shooting Stars, describes Vic Reeves as a "classic comic", a logical extension of Spike Milligan, who has "filled in the equation of English comedy". "It's a fruitful paradox - what makes the Vic and Bob material funny is that it isn't funny. It's all in the delivery.

And there's a productive tension at the root of his gift, a kind of productive crisis - does his skill lie in promoting jokes that aren't jokes, or does it lie in being a rubber-legged, vaudevillian entertainer?" For Moir, there is no mystery. "It's very democratic, the way we work. We just go through it methodically and find a subject or task we've got to do and work it out, and if one of us doesn't like it, we move on." An emphasis on ordinariness preoccupies Moir's art, too - or rather the paradoxes involved in celebrity and ordinariness. I wonder if village life has given him a more acute sense of his own fame - has he taken on a quasi-lord of the manor status, as celebs who live in the country often do? "It's not like that, but they do twitch the curtains," he says. "I always wander round thinking I'm anonymous. Maybe in my psyche I would like to be. But then you suddenly realise you're not." Moir's words bring to mind one of his drawings: a portly Elvis Presley in a cardigan walking along a country lane, shopping basket in hand.

The caption: "Hello Elvis, on your way to the shops then?" Moir must by now be used to the running commentary on his life. Though he says he doesn't attend "those functions" at which people want to be seen, the tabloids nevertheless have an endless fascination with his private life - speculating, for example, that he was involved with Shooting Stars co-star Ulrika Jonsson (not true, he says). He insists he doesn't read the stories ("I read news") and only hears about them from others. In fact, he claims not to read tabloid papers at all. "I use Andrex," he says dismissively. He says his real life is "too dreary" to merit interest, but events have conspired to indicate otherwise. His wife, Sarah Vincent, walked out after six years and started a relationship with the builder working on their house. The couple were reunited, but then she left again, for a woman, Moir's fitness instructor. Moir joined them and the children, Louis and his older sister Alice, and lived in the spare room, until he started a relationship with Emilia Fox, who played his on-screen fiancee in Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased).

The two couples got on fine, dining out and holidaying together, but a year or so later, both split. Vincent now has a new girlfriend and Moir is engaged to 25-year-old Nancy Sorrell, a former dancer at the London nightclub Stringfellows. As a result of all this, his life has been presented as a freak show - the prospect of such an unconventional family set-up that was nevertheless functioning in its own way was too much for some commentators. "I think they don't want people to be normal," Moir says. "They invent abnormalities so their readers can say, 'Oh, I'm glad we're not like that'." His soon-to-be ex-wife currently lives in Canterbury and the children live between the two households, with Moir playing an equal role in the parenting. He and his wife "get on all right", he says. "As long as the kids are all right, it's fine by me." Reeves has been with Sorrell since last summer when they met on the making of the TV programme I Love 1991, which Moir was presenting.

She's lovely, he says; she is not in evidence this afternoon, except in photographs - a large and glamorous studio portrait on the kitchen wall, a pleasing black-and-white shot in the bathroom of the couple, grinning, arms entwined. He likes being in the country and going to London when he needs to.For all the tabloid gossip about his "party lifestyle", his social life doesn't sound particularly frenetic. There's a pair of cowboy hats on the coffee table - he and Sorrell went to the Whitbread Hop Farm wild west extravaganza recently. "Sounded quite exciting, but it was just a load of cowboys wandering around in drizzle." They're getting married next year, but he won't say when. He proposed on bended knee in front of a roomful of friends at London's Groucho Club, diamond ring in hand. It's been said by acquaintances that Moir has a knight in shining armour complex. Is he romantic? "Well, I don't consider that particularly romantic.

I'd like to think if I was going to do romantic, then I'd offer her an apple for Valentine's day and she'd think, 'That's a shitty present,' but then I'd put something inside, like earrings. I like romance - you know, empathy, making someone else feel warm - so in that sense I would say I'm a romantic." "He is what he appears to be," says Will Self of Moir. "There's no mystery." One of the oldest pictures in the exhibition is a self-portrait - a painting of Vic, or Jim, dressed as the Pope and holding up a scroll that declares Res Ipsa Loquitur ("it speaks for itself"). Just where Jim Moir ends and Vic Reeves begins is anyone's guess. Perhaps mild-mannered Jim is the ventriloquist and Vic his dummy. Perhaps it's precisely because he channels his darker side into Vic Reeves - into the comedy and the scripts and the art - that Moir can seem so laid-back and normal in real life. Perhaps that is the "productive crisis" or "fruitful paradox" in the comedy that Will Self points to. Except that Jim and Vic must overlap somewhere.

There's certainly a side of Moir that is 43 going on 12, but as for him being possessed by some sinister, Vic-like evil twin, well, I doubt it. Louis bursts into the room, pogo stick in hand. "Read me Harry Potter now! " he says with a grin. "Later," replies his father. "Now." "Later." "Right," says the boy firmly, aiming the end of his pogo stick at his dad's head. "Hands up." He fires. "Well, I'm dead now, so I can't read it, can I?" Moir reasons. He once said that if he wasn't a comedian, he'd be a nanny. "Well, they come first. 'Cause we're best buddies, aren't we?" he says, giving his son a vigorous hug. "Harry Potter. Now," says Louis. The doorbell rings. It's the gardener, wanting a chat. I leave him to read Harry Potter and talk shrubs.

· Doings, an exhibition of drawings, paintings and photographs by Vic Reeves, is at the britart gallery, 60-62 Commercial Street, London E1, 020-7392 7200 ( ) from July 3-August 4. The strange world of lucky Jim (From The Northern Echo) Jobs Business Directory Local Info Dating Buy Sell Book an Ad The strange world of lucky Jim Before the comedian Vic Reeves, there was a boy called James Roderick Moir. He talks to Lindsay Jennings about believing he was an alien, 'conductiong experiments' in fields, disastrous gigs in Middlesbrough and playing cards with old ladies. THE young Jim Moir couldn't believe his luck. All his other mates at Eastbourne School in Darlington, who had opted to work in the community instead of doing sport, had been sent to dig over the gardens of old people or paint their fences. But Jim, better known as the talented comedian Vic Reeves, was sent with his friend Brian to an old lady called Edith, who lived in McMullen Road in the town. Loading article content "She didn't want anybody to dig her garden," recalls Vic.

"All she wanted was someone to play cards with, drink whisky, eat cakes and watch George Formby films with. And yes, she used to take our money off us." His afternoons spent boozing, gambling and watching tv with Edith is just one of the memories of his time growing up in the North-East, captured in the first volume of his memoirs - titled Me:Moir. Vic was born James Roderick Moir in Leeds (he's still known as Jim off-stage and as Rod to his mum) and came to Darlington with his family when he was five. His dad, James, was a linotype operator at The Northern Echo and moved his family to a 1950s semi in Hewitson Road. His book charts the first 20 years of his life, and his memories are played out in typical Reeves fashion, mixing comedic hyperbole with a backbone of truth. The end result is, as one would expect from Reeves, highly entertaining. As a child, he had a "feverish imagination" - once believing he was an alien - and was easily distracted at school, although he excelled at art.

He would hang out with his mates on wasteland at the top of Yarm Road and dig "space pits" where they would lie for hours studying the universe. In the summer he would swim in the River Tees, swinging over it with a rope attached to a tree at "Conny". "It was the typical things lads used to get up to," he laughs. "We used to conduct our experiments, you know, start fires, explosions and go digging." Later, and ever enterprising, he would dig up "ancient treasures", or old Victorian bottles, from the town tip and sell them at one of his mum and dad's craft stalls. While this was the stuff of ordinary lads, his overactive imagination was never far away, and he reveals that in his search for "a lost England" he once decided he would dress the part too, enrolling his patient mum into his flight of fancy. He writes: "I had mum make me a stripy winceyette nightshirt and nightcap which I would wear to bed each night carrying a candle and candle holder like Wee Willy Winkie up into my bedroom.

There I read a Dickens novel by candlelight before dropping off into a deep slumber and dreaming of shire horses and flagons of ale." His mum became used to his flamboyant ways which came out through his long hippy hair; the colourful jackets he embroidered himself and, later when he could afford it, through the clothes he bought at Guru in Darlington. "Guru was great," he says with fondness. "I once bought a pair of white flares, split at the knee, but I soon dyed them green very quickly. They were only £1.99, but then you could get a couple of outfits for less than a fiver." His part-time jobs included working on a farm on the outskirts of Darlington castrating piglets - which he describes in gruesome comic detail if that's possible - before opting for a five-year apprenticeship at brake regulators SAB in Newton Aycliffe where, unbeknown to him at the time, he once took a delivery from the Yorkshire Ripper, alias Peter Sutcliffe. "I'd been loading his lorry," he recalls.

"We only found out after he had been caught and someone recognised him, checked up on the delivery sheets and there was his name." But although his day job dulled his soul to the core, he took refuge in his music. Vic loved obscure bands and it wasn't long before he bought a guitar of his own, a Gibson EB3 from Williams Music in Darlington. "It was a bit embarrassing buying a guitar when all the sales assistants would be there whizzing up and down the fretboards and people who were in the shop would form an audience," he says. "So I just said 'I'll have that one'." Vic and his band, called Trout, and later The Fashionable Five, would meet in Darlington's Green Dragon pub. They played at the Bowes wine cellar and had one memorable gig at a pub in Middlesbrough. The band walked in to find only six punters at the bar, three of whom were later thrown out after a fight, and a landlady who refused to let them leave until they'd played Elvis.

"Instead, we waited until she had gone, backed the van up to the stage, pushed everything into it pronto - with the wires still attached - and sped away from that hellhole with our illusions shattered," he says. "We didn't want to be famous. We wanted to be notorious so we used to change our name every week so people didn't know who we were. But actually, I think people did like us." But, fed up with the way his life was heading, he set off for London where he found an outlet for his talents. It is his alternative, often perverse, side which has characterised his career. Whatever he has achieved - from hit shows such as Shooting Stars with sidekick Bob Mortimer, to his surreal artwork being selected for exhibition at the Royal Academy this summer - his unorthodox way of looking at the world has brought him fame and a life as far away from Hewitson Road as you can get. But he has his same dry sense of northern humour, chatting away easily. He still has strong ties to the North-East, coming up to see his mum, Audrey, who lives in Middleton St George.

His dad died two years ago but he talks fondly of visiting The Northern Echo when he was younger and marvelling at his dad's hands "spreading across the keys like lightning". Indeed, he gets quite indignant when he recalls coming up to Newcastle for an exhibition of his work recently, and finding out from an Echo reporter that the last of the old, black linotype machines had been thrown out. "I wish I could have had a couple of keys off it," he says, wistfully. "They could have been the ones my dad typed on. But they do things like that, throw things out when they should be in a museum or something." His current projects include fronting the Sky One show Brainiac, which he loves because he gets to conduct more 'experiments' and blow up 'caravans and things'. But aside from his work , he's revelling in being a dad again at 47. His wife, Nancy Sorrell, gave birth to the couple's twins, Elizabeth and Nell, five months ago after undergoing IVF treatment. He also has two children, Alice, 12, and Louis, eight, to his first wife, Sarah Vincent.

"I just love it, it's natural to me," he says, the pride evident in his voice. "If you can see the look on their faces when they've never seen something before. We've taken them to the zoo to see the elephants, I know they're a bit young but..." He enthuses about the diary he has been writing all year, charting the twins' lives so far and including some of his trademark drawings. Today, his day off, he's going shopping with his family to find mattresses for the twins who are about to go into their own cots. "It's pouring it down with rain, but they're sometimes the best days to go shopping aren't they?" he says, and I agree. Jim Moir has come along way from playing cards with old ladies. * Vic Reeves will be reading extracts from Me:Moir (Virgin Books, £18.99) at the Durham Literature Festival, Durham Town Hall, on Tuesday at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10 (£9 concessions). The festival runs until October 27. Details: festival.co.uk or contact 0191-332-4041.

* Vic Reeves will be at Ottaker's, Darlington, on Wednesday, 7pm. Tickets £2 from 01325-465666 1000+ images about Reeves and Mortimer on Pinterest | Vic reeves, Bobs and Barry humphries Jack Dee, Vic Reeves, Angelos Epithemiou (Dans Skinner), George Dawes (Matt Lucas), Bob Mortimer, Ulrikka Johnson :) DAMN THE BBC FOR CANCELLING THIS LEGENDARY SHOW. See More Kimberley Nixon 'Hebburn' Q&A: 'The North East was a mystery to me' Kimberley Nixon 'Hebburn' Q&A: 'The North East was a mystery to me' The Fresh Meat star talks about her role in BBC Two's new comedy.

Don't Miss Share November 14 2016 4:48 PM Share November 14 2016 3:22 PM Share November 08 2016 12:02 PM October 25 2016 10:17 PM Latest News Share 14 minutes ago 6:29 PM Share 3 hours ago 3:20 PM 4 hours ago 2:38 PM Must Read Share 11 hours ago 7:00 AM Share 3 hours ago 3:07 PM Share 11 hours ago 7:00 AM 38 minutes ago 6:04 PM © BBC Baby Cow/Matt Squire 18 October 2012 3:34 PM Shares If you're looking for a ticklesome new UK comedy, might we suggest checking out Hebburn - which kicks off its six-part run tonight on BBC Two.

The show is based on the real-life experiences of comedian Jason Cook and follows the exploits of typical Northern clan the Pearsons and their ambitious son Jack (Chris Ramsey), who's secretly married a middle-class Jewish girl, Sarah (Kimberley Nixon). Digital Spy caught up with Nixon - who's currently pulling a comedy double-shift on Channel 4's Fresh Meat - to talk about the new show, her first trip to the North East and working with comedy legend Jim Moir, better known as Vic Reeves! Advertisement - Continue Reading Below What can you tell us about your character in Hebburn? "I play Sarah, who is a newly-wed to Jack, played by Chris Ramsey. At the start of the show you see them driving to Hebburn to go and meet his family - she hasn't met them yet, because they got married in Vegas. You sort of see everything through her eyes and you meet this sort of mad family that she's married in to." What made you want to be part of this show? "I hadn't done comedy before Fresh Meat - I hadn't really been seen that way and then Fresh Meat came out and suddenly a lot more comedy scripts were coming my way, which was really great.

"When I read Hebburn I just thought it was really sweet and it was very funny but had a lot of heart. Like, I just loved the whole bagel sequence [in episode one] and the whole panic about not knowing anything about Judaism. The family just wanted Sarah to feel welcome, so they'll go to any lengths - you can really relate to it." Did your experience on Fresh Meat make you eager to do more comedy? "Yeah definitely. I had always sort of done dramatic things and I love them, it's my background. But when I think about Fresh Meat, I just think about the cast and the crew that we had... we just had a great time. "It was great that you could be on set and you didn't have to be crying all day - that was quite nice! You could laugh. I always have fun whatever I'm making but it is nice that you can make each other laugh all day and just try new things out. It's basically like a big sixth form common room everyday." © BBC Baby Cow/Matt Squire Advertisement - Continue Reading Below Do you think Hebburn has a particular feel because of its Northern setting? "Yeah, I think so.

I mean, I've never been that far north - I still live in the South Wales Valleys, so the North East was sort of a bit of a mystery to me! But I just loved it there and it had such a particular sense of humour. I find that here in the Valleys, there's a particular type of humour and they seem to have it in Hebburn as well - they're constantly taking the mick out of each other but when someone needs you, you're there for them too. It's that kind of thing." Is Hebburn a show that the whole family can enjoy? "Yeah. You know, you've got the married mum and dad, and the son and daughter and the gran that lives with them, which is quite a traditional setup that you don't always see in TV shows nowadays, because families don't tend to be like that. It was quite nice that we showed that there are still families like that." Chris Ramsey plays your husband - what was it like playing out that relationship with him? "I think he was quite nervous to begin with because he's never done any acting.

For us to be newly-weds, there had to be an intimacy there, but because he's never done acting before it was quite difficult for him to sort of... flick it off and on, even things like holding hands and cuddling on the sofa. "Obviously you get to know each other and you become more comfortable with each other - and physically comfortable as well, like a husband and wife should be. You know, I went to drama school and they sort of knock [that nervousness] out of you quite quickly. So it was really sweet to see Chris actually became a great actor over the course of filming." © BBC Baby Cow/Matt Squire Hebburn creator Jason Cook also stars in the show and based it on his own life. Did it help having him on set? "Oh yeah, definitely - his family visited the set and his wife - who I'm sort of playing - was always around and that really helps. He was always on set even when it wasn't his scenes - he was on set all day, every day, as the writer.

So if a particular line didn't feel quite right, if you knew the information that you had to convey, but it felt like your character wouldn't actually say it quite that way, he just sort of molded it for you. It was great." Vic Reeves - or Jim Moir - plays your new father-in-law. He's famous for his crazy persona, but what was he like to actually work with? "Obviously I had always known him as Vic Reeves, but Vic Reeves is very much a character that he plays and in real life, he's Jim. He is very different to Vic - he's much more quiet and pensive. But then during filming, he would do something wacky halfway through a take to put you off. Bits of Vic Reeves would sneak in!" © BBC Baby Cow/Vishal Sharma It's a busy time for you with Fresh Meat series two airing right now too. What's the reaction been like to that so far? "It's been absolutely incredible. The second episode just went and I've honestly been overwhelmed [by the reaction]. I'm just so happy that people are liking it and laughing and all those things.

"Sometimes when you film, you can be in a bit of a bubble and then suddenly when you finish filming, it's taken out of your hands - it's not your's anymore and we all love it so much that we feel quite protective of it. But honestly we've had the most lovely messages - it's been great." Was it exciting going back to Fresh Meat knowing that you were a hit? "Yeah, it did boost our confidence slightly. But it didn't make us complacent, it made us want to work even harder. It was nice to know that we were making something with characters that people cared about and found funny. It's definitely boosted our confidence - we've been trying new things out and push the envelope a little bit more." Hebburn begins tonight (Thursday, October 18) at 10pm on BBC Two. Vic and Bob : definition of Vic and Bob and synonyms of Vic and Bob (English) 8 External links Career as a double-act Vic and Bob have performed on a number of television programmes as a double act, though they have also worked alone or in collaboration with other people. For Reeves' work outside of the Reeves & Mortimer double act, see Vic Reeves .

For Mortimer's work, see Bob Mortimer . The early years Jim Moir's comedy career began in New Cross , London , in the mid-1980s. Having tried out various stage names, he settled on Vic Reeves and began a show called Vic Reeves' Big Night Out at The Goldsmiths Tavern. It was here that he met and began working with Bob Mortimer , and the show then moved to a bigger venue, the Albany Theatre in Deptford , in 1989. The show began to attract various well-known audience members, such as Charlie Higson , Paul Whitehouse , Jonathan Ross and Alan Yentob . Television Mortimer (left) and Reeves in 1991 during the Big Night Out tour Jonathan Ross played a large part in Reeves' first TV appearances, which included Reeves hanging suspended from the ceiling during an episode of The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (1988). His company, Channel X, brought Vic Reeves Big Night Out to Channel 4 as a six-part series in 1990. The show quickly attained a cult following. A New Year's Eve special bridging 1990/91 followed (in which Kim Wilde made an appearance).

This was followed by a second eight-part series in 1991. Few recordings of early Big Night Out live shows exist, although a video was made available to members of the original fan club in the mid-1990s, containing material and characters very similar to those that made it to the TV show. In addition to Reeves and Mortimer, the other mainstay of the programme was Les (played by Fred Aylward ), Vic's bald, lab coat-clad assistant who never spoke, loved spirit levels and had a fear of chives.

Other established characters in the TV series included The Man with the Stick, who wore a paper helmet daubed with drawings of what he had witnessed during the last week, and carried a stick with a mystery item attached to the end; Graham Lister, Reeves' nemesis who regularly entered the talent show, "Novelty Island", with a series of dreadful acts; Donald and Davey Stott, two brothers from the North East with high-pitched voices, who would recreate popular television game shows; Tinker's Rucksack, a pair of ramblers, one of whom was conducting an affair with the other's wife; and 'Judge Lionel Nutmeg', a judge who presided over the "That's Justice" segment of the show. Sketch shows In 1993 Reeves and Mortimer transferred from Channel 4 to BBC Two , writing and appearing in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer , indicating the rise in Mortimer's standing from sidekick to Reeves' equal. The programmes were more slick and scripted than their Channel 4 predecessors.

Two series of six episodes each were made, and most of the original Big Night Out format was abandoned, although various actors returned in new roles, including Caroline Aherne and Charlie Higson ( The Fast Show ) and Matt Lucas ( Little Britain ). [1] The live stage show that followed the TV series hosted a welcome return for Novelty Island (a sketch from the original Big Night Out). In 1993, the pair also recorded Reeves and Mortimer's Driving School, a one-off comedy show featuring, amongst others, Pat Wright and Dave Arrowsmith, the Bra Men characters from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. In 1997, they co-wrote a one-off special, It's Ulrika! for Shooting Stars panellist, Ulrika Jonsson . The show aired on BBC1, and featured appearances from Vic and Bob, as well as Matt Lucas , David Walliams and Charlie Higson . A new sketch show followed in 1999, Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer . Most notably, characters Donald and Davey Stott (who had appeared throughout the Big Night Out era) returned to the screen.

The series also featured various celebrity cameos, including Caprice , Michael Winner , Sinéad O'Connor and Damon Hill , and appearances from comedy actors Charlie Higson and Morwenna Banks . Higson and Banks also appeared, together with Matt Lucas , Reece Shearsmith , Mark Benton and others, in the surreal 6-part BBC Three comedy series Catterick (2004), sometimes listed as Vic and Bob in Catterick. In 2004, in collaboration with Steve Coogan , Reeves and Mortimer produced a two-part special for ITV, entitled The All Star Comedy Show. The programme featured Banks, Lucas, Shearsmith, Benton, Reeves, Mortimer and Coogan, plus a wide array of further guests including Fiona Allen , Ronni Ancona , Leslie Ash , Lynda Bellingham , Ronnie Corbett , Tim Healy , Jane Horrocks , Neil Morrissey , Griff Rhys Jones , John Simm , Meera Syal , Ricky Tomlinson and Richard Wilson . In 2005, a full series was commissioned and was given the new name Monkey Trousers .

The series retained most of the same characters, and featured several guests in common with The All Star Comedy Show, plus some new faces including Mackenzie Crook , Iain Lee , John Thomson and Alistair McGowan . A one-off Big Night Out, primarily to promote the DVD release of Vic Reeves Big Night Out was held in September 2005. The pair also recorded a pilot program for BBC Two, entitled Star Chamber. The program was a debate show chaired by Mortimer, and featured Reeves, Charlie Higson , Johnny Vegas , Liz Smith and Rhys Thomas . The program has yet to be commissioned. Reeves said in a magazine interview in 2007 that he hoped to do a new sketch show with Mortimer, for Christmas 2007 or early 2008. This has not yet happened. [2] Quiz shows In 1993 a pilot episode of Shooting Stars was screened on BBC Two as part of the At Home with Vic and Bob evening of programming. It began running as a regular series in 1995.

Maintaining their bizarre and irreverent style, the pair played host to two teams of celebrity guests (captained each week by Mark Lamarr and Ulrika Jonsson , and later Will Self , and further Jack Dee ) answering what can be loosely described as general knowledge questions. They were also accompanied by regular appearances from Lucas as drumming baby George Dawes (Lucas is now better known for his work on Little Britain with occasional Reeves and Mortimer collaborator, David Walliams ). The quiz element of the show always played second fiddle to the comedic aspects. Two series of Reeves and Mortimer's second quiz followed in 1999. Entitled Families at War , it featured two families competing in bizarre tasks on a loose Shooting Stars theme. The show was far more mainstream, less comedy-based, and obviously designed for comfortable Saturday evening BBC1 viewing. When asked, in November 2007, about bringing back former shows, Reeves also expressed his opinion that a second series of Catterick was highly unlikely. However, he said he would be very happy to bring back Shooting Stars for a sixth series.

[3] On 27 February 2008, whilst on a tour of the North East region to support the Learning and Skills Council 's Apprenticeship Week, he added "We might be doing Shooting Stars again – it depends on the BBC". [4] In July 2008, the BBC confirmed that they had commissioned a one-off Christmas Special of Shooting Stars along with an additional "best-of" episode featuring interviews and outtakes, to mark the show's 15 year anniversary. Also confirmed were the return of Reeves, Mortimer and Matt Lucas (as George Dawes), and that the special would be produced by Pett Productions , Reeves and Mortimer's own production company. [5] It was filmed at BBC Television Centre in London on 28 November 2008, and broadcast on BBC Two on 30 December 2008, along with the anniversary programme. Ulrika Jonsson returned as captain of Team B, with Jack Dee appearing as the new captain of Team A. Dizzee Rascal , Kate Garraway , Christine Walkden and Dragons' Den's Peter Jones were the guests.

This Christmas Special spawned the third incarnation of Shooting Stars , which included a sixth series in 2009, a seventh series in 2010 and another Christmas special airing on 30 December 2010. An eighth series of the show was shown on BBC 2 in 2011. The show has since been axed by the BBC. Sitcom and drama In 1992, Reeves and Mortimer made their first brief detour into sitcoms by writing and recording a pilot episode of The Weekenders , a one-off pilot for Channel 4 's Bunch Of Five season. The Human League vocalist Phil Oakey , and the future Fast Show trio of Paul Whitehouse , John Thomson and Simon Day , all co-starred. [6] The Weekenders is also notable as the one programme where Vic is intentionally referred to throughout by his real name, Jim. Intended to be a series, the programme was never commissioned, but now seems to be a vague sign of things to come. In early 2000, Vic and Bob headed the cast in revival of sixties private detective drama, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) .

The new version, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) ran for two series and constituted their first real (though still quite light-hearted) acting roles. The scripts for the series were written by Charlie Higson and Vic was briefly romantically linked to co-star Emilia Fox . The pair also presented a one-off behind the scenes show called On Set with Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), which was broadcast on BBC Choice in 2000. Their 2004 comedy drama Catterick , screened on BBC Three , evoked the same woozy, unreal atmosphere with a far higher budget. The series was based around the lives of Carl and Chris Palmer, with appearances from D.I. 'Kinky' John Fowler - updated versions of characters from The Club sketches from Bang Bang It's Reeves and Mortimer. Vic and Bob played the main roles, with Charlie Higson , Morwenna Banks , Tim Healy , Mark Benton , Matt Lucas and The League of Gentlemen 's Reece Shearsmith .

[7] On 27 February 2008, Reeves announced that he and Mortimer were working together on a new series, as well as possibly reviving Shooting Stars: “ We're also working on a sitcom. It’s about super heroes who get skills through a telegraph pole that malfunctions and they go around helping people in their local community. ” The Word (TV series) (interviewees, 1990, 1993 and 1994) One Hour with Jonathan Ross: (participants in the " Knock down ginger " game, 1989) Just for Laughs : "The Day of the Heckle" (sketch, 1989) The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross (sketch, 1988) Radio In 1994, between series of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, the pair hosted a one-off hour long show on BBC Radio 1 entitled Radio Reeves & Mortimer. The show was partially presented in character as 'co-hosts' Councillors Cox and Evans.

In November 2007, BBC Radio 2 aired a weekly radio-based sketch show / sitcom featuring Reeves and Mortimer, entitled Vic Reeves' House Arrest . The first episode was broadcast on 17 November 2007 and the series ran for 6 episodes. The show centred on Reeves being put under house arrest for a crime he didn't commit. Mortimer played Reeves' hairdresser, Carl. Other performers include The Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding as a local vagrant and Reeves' wife, Nancy Sorrell in multiple roles. In an interview on British TV show Something for the Weekend Reeves stated there were benefits to doing a radio show, as even more bizarre and outlandish images could be conjured, which could not be replicated using props on a television programme - such as balancing the whole of Ireland on a record stylus to stop it from skipping. However he also said that he would be interested in making the radio show into a television series. [3] Film In August 2003, Reeves and Mortimer appeared in the film Once Upon a Time in the Midlands , as Plonko the Clown and Kung-Fu Clown respectively.

In 2004, they appeared in another film, Churchill: The Hollywood Years as Bendle and Potter respectively. Music Reeves and Mortimer first appeared on Jools Holland 's single "Holy Cow" in 1990, singing backing vocals. The following year, Reeves collaborated with The Wonder Stuff to cover " Dizzy ", originally released in 1969 by Tommy Roe . The song reached number one and spawned a spin-off full-length album on Island Records , I Will Cure You , which featured re-recorded songs from Big Night Out, cover versions and new material. A companion video titled Four Golden Memories was released, which featured videos for "Dizzy" and Vic's other singles " Born Free " and " Abide With Me ", plus live versions of "Dizzy" (filmed on tour the previous year) and "Meals On Wheels". The pair collaborated with EMF to cover The Monkees ' sixties classic " I'm a Believer " in 1995. The cover reached number three in the British charts.

Books Shooting Stars, BBC Worldwide Publishing , 1996 The Smell Of Reeves & Mortimer, Fantail Books / Penguin Group 1993 Vic Reeves Big Night In, Fantail Books / Penguin Group 1991 DVD and VHS Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer (BBC Video / Cinema Club, 3 April 2006) The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer . The episodes on the DVD are the shorter broadcast versions, rather than the extended versions available on the VHS releases from the mid-nineties. (BBC Video / Cinema Club, 3 April 2006) Vic Reeves Big Night Out (series one and two, minus the New Years special) (Channel 4 DVD, 12 September 2005) Monkey Trousers (Sanctuary Visual Entertainment, 4 July 2005) Catterick (2 Entertain Video, 13 June 2005) Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Series 1 (Vision Video Ltd, 29 October 2001.

Re-released by Universal Pictures Video, 30 April 2007) Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Series 2 (Vision Video Ltd, 14 October 2002) Viz Top Tips with Reeves and Mortimer (VHS only, Pearson New Entertainment, 1996) Live Shows We Know Where You Live Live!

- Reeves performed at the benefit gig for Amnesty International , Wembley Arena , 3 June 2001 Shooting Stars / Fast Show Live - Labatt's Apollo, Hammersmith, January - February 1998 Smell Of Reeves & Mortimer "Weathercock Tour" - National tour, October 1995 R&M "Puce Tour" - National tour, Feb - March 1994 Vic Reeves Big Night Out "Brown Tour" - National tour, 10 Dates at the Hammersmith Odeon and a recorded performance in Newcastle, 1991 Vic Reeves Big Night Out Tour - National Universities tour, October, 1990 Vic Reeves Big Night Out - The Goldsmiths Tavern and Albany Empire, pre-1990 Advertising Reeves and Mortimer capitalised on their fame in the 1990s and 2000s by appearing in a variety of television advertisements. The earliest to feature the pair was for Cadbury 's Boost chocolate bar in the early 1990s. Beginning in 1998, the pair voiced adverts for Churchill Insurance .

Mortimer providing the voice of the adverts' signature nodding dog , Churchill, and Reeves as the consumer , prompting the dog extol the virtues of insurance deals offered by the company. Reeves' contract with Churchill was terminated in March 2005 after he was arrested for a drink-driving offence in which he drove his vintage Jaguar into a stationary vehicle in Boughton Malherbe , near Maidstone before careering into a bank and hitting a fence. For this offence he was disqualified from driving for thirty-six months as of 21 April 2005 and ordered to do 100 hours community service . [8] Reeves' voice-over for the adverts may have been replaced by another voice artist - albeit in the same style - prior to the incident. Mortimer continued to provide the voice for the Churchill dog until at least 2009. [9] The final advert in the Renault Clio 's Papa & Nicole series featured Nicole (played by Estelle Skornik ) jilting her groom (Reeves) at the altar for Bob (Mortimer) and the pair eloping in a Clio, spoofing a scene from the 1967 film The Graduate .

Reeves and Mortimer appeared in a British TV Licence advert shown on BBC channels in the early 1990s. The advert spoofed the BBC trailers of the time, which informed viewers of upcoming programmes due for broadcast. The Reeves and Mortimer advert replaced these real programmes with their own inventions, including crime-drama "Detective in a Wheelbarrow ", a comedy called "Three Blokes in a Bath", coverage of " Olympic Anvil Throwing" and coverage of "International Pan Fighting". In 2009, they voiced an advertisement for Birds Eye Salmon Fish Fingers . Production In 2001, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Lisa Clark formed their own production company, Pett Productions, which has produced several television programs that have featured one or both comedians. For more details see the article Pett Productions . Web television As of 04 July 2011, Reeves and Mortimer's first web series , Vic and Bob's Afternoon Delights, is being hosted on Fosters ' UK website. A new episode is added each weekday, with each episodes consisting of a single sketch.

[10] References Famous People From Leeds | List of Celebrities Born in Leeds Famous People From Leeds 3.9k views 609 items tags f t p @ List of famous people from Leeds, including photos when available. The people below are listed by their popularity, so the most recognizable names are at the top of the list. Some of the people below are celebrities born in Leeds, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from Leeds you might already know that these prominent figures are also from your hometown, but some of the names below may really surprise you. This list includes people who were born and raised in Leeds, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age. These people, like Sheila Rowbotham and Jack Lendill include images when available. If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from Leeds?" or "Which celebrities were born in Leeds?" then this list is a great resource for you. G Options B Comments & Embed 1 Melanie Brown age 40 Melanie Janine Brown, better known as Mel B or Melanie B, is a British recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress, author, television presenter, talent competition judge and model.

Brown rose to ; 2 Rhianna age 32 Rhianna Hannah Louise Kenny professionally known as Rhianna, is an English R&B singer. ; 3 Corinne Bailey Rae age 36 Corinne Bailey Rae is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, West Yorkshire. Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music ; 4 Gabby Logan age 42 Gabrielle Nicole "Gabby" Logan is a British presenter and a former Wales international gymnast who is best known for her presenting roles with BBC Sport and ITV. Logan hosted Final Score for ; 5 Jeremy Paxman age 65 Jeremy Dickson Paxman is an English broadcaster, journalist and author.

He has worked for the BBC since 1972 and is known for his forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when ; 6 Vic Reeves age 56 James Roderick Moir, better known by the stage name Vic Reeves and sometimes credited as Jim Moir, is an English comedian, artist, actor and television presenter best known for his double act with Bob ; 7 Julian Barratt age 47 Julian Barratt Pettifer, known professionally as Julian Barratt, is an English comedian, actor, musician, music producer and member of surreal comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh. He played Howard Moon in ; 8 John Craven age 75 John Craven OBE is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes Newsround, Countryfile and Beat the Brain. ; 9 Amrita Hunjan age 31 Amrita Hunjan is a British-Indian model and singer. She is perhaps best known for being a singer in the R'n'B/pop band Rouge.

Amrita is also known in the British Asian community for being the winner ; 10 Nick Hodgson age 38 Nicholas James David Hodgson is a drummer, backing vocalist, and lyricist, formerly of English indie band Kaiser Chiefs. He attended St. Mary's Menston with Nick Baines and Simon Rix. He then went ; 11 Rachael Cairns age 27 Rachael Cairns is a British model and actress. She is best known for participating in Cycle 4 of Britain's Next Top Model, in which she placed fourth. She has also appeared in numerous acting roles, ; 12 Andrew Lippa age 51 Andrew Lippa is an American composer, lyricist, book writer, performer, and producer. He is a resident artist at the Ars Nova Theater in New York City. ; 13 Mike Nattrass age 70 Mike Henry Nattrass FRICS is an English politician and former Member of the European Parliament, representing the West Midlands constituency.

He was elected as a candidate for the UK Independence ; 14 Jack Birkett Died at 76 (1934-2010) Jack Birkett was a British dancer, mime artist, actor and singer, best known for his work on stage as a member of Lindsay Kemp's theatre company, and in the films of Derek Jarman. He was often billed ; 15 Jack Shepherd age 75 Jack Shepherd is an English actor, playwright, theatre director, saxophone player and jazz pianist, who made his film debut in 1969 with All Neat in Black Stockings and The Virgin Soldiers. He is ; 16 Barry Cryer age 80 Barry Charles Cryer OBE is a British writer and comedian. Cryer has written for many noted performers, including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory Bremner, George Burns, Jasper Carrott, ; 17 Oliver O. Howard Died at 79 (1830-1909) Oliver Otis Howard was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War.

As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard lost his right arm while leading his ; 18 Clive McLean Died at 61 (1944-2005) Clive McLean was an English photographer and an AVN Hall of Fame member best known for his work at Hustler and Barely Legal. He was sometimes credited as Oliver English and Clive McClean. McLean ; 19 Herbert Hall Turner Died at 69 (1861-1930) Herbert Hall Turner FRS was a British astronomer and seismologist. ; 20 James Frain age 47 James Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors, in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007-09. Other starring roles include ; 21 Ivan Noble Died at 38 (1967-2005) Ivan Noble was a British journalist who worked for BBC News Online and became well known for his diary documenting his fight against cancer.

Born in Leeds, he lived in East Germany working as a ; 22 Keith Usherwood Ingold age 86 Keith Usherwood Ingold, OC FRS FRSC FRSE is a British chemist. He was born to Sir Christopher Ingold and Dr. Hilda Usherwood, and studied for a BSc in Chemistry at the University of London, completing ; 23 Peter Christopherson Died at 55 (1955-2010) Peter Martin Christopherson was a musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis. He was one of the original members of ; 24 Ivor Wood Died at 72 (1932-2004) Ivor Wood was a prolific Anglo-French stop motion director, producer, animator and writer known for his work on children's television series. Born in Leeds to an English father and a French mother, ; Alfie Barker age 19 Alfie Barker is a film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and film editor. ; 26 Alan Baddeley age 81 Alan David Baddeley FRS FMedSci CBE is a British psychologist.

He is professor of psychology at the University of York. He is known for his work on working memory, in particular for his multiple ; 27 Sheilah Graham Westbrook Died at 84 (1904-1988) Sheilah Graham Westbrook was an English-born American nationally syndicated gossip columnist during Hollywood's "Golden Age," who, with Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, wielded power to ; 28 Alexander Cannon Died at 67 (1896-1963) Alexander Cannon was a British psychiatrist, occultist, hypnotist and author. He became well known in the 1930s for his occult writings, and more recently for his alleged influence on King Edward VIII ; 29 Robert Blackburn Died at 70 (1885-1955) Robert Blackburn, OBE, FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and the founder of Blackburn Aircraft. Blackburn was born in Kirkstall, Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He attended Leeds Modern School and ; 30 Alan Hawkshaw age 78 Alan Hawkshaw is a British composer and performer, particularly of themes for movies and television programmes.

Hawkshaw worked extensively for the KPM production music company in the 1960s and 1970s, ; Alex Zane age 36 Alex Zane is an English television presenter and DJ. ; 32 Tom Paulin age 66 Thomas Neilson Paulin is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he is the GM Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. ; 33 Savage Pencil age 64 Savage Pencil is a comics artist, and is the nom de plume of English music journalist Edwin Pouncey. 34 Terry George age 50 Terry George is an openly gay, British entrepreneur, philanthropist, nightclub tycoon, photographer and celebrity columnist. He was born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire. ; 35 John Rowe Townsend Died at 92 (1922-2014) John Rowe Townsend was a British children's writer and children's literature scholar.

His best-known children's novel is The Intruder, which won a 1971 Edgar Award, and his best-known academic work is ; 36 John Gott Died at 76 (1830-1906) John Gott was the third Bishop of Truro from 1891 until his death in 1906. 37 Joe Sayers age 32 Joe Sayers is an English first-class cricketer, who has played for the Oxford University Centre of Cricketing Excellence, Oxford University and Yorkshire. He is a left-handed opening batsman and right ; 38 Gordon Pirie Died at 60 (1931-1991) Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie was a long-distance runner. He was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England but was brought up in Coulsdon, Surrey and ran for South London Harriers. He died of ; 39 Sally Timms age 56 Sally Timms is an English singer and songwriter. Timms is best known for her long involvement with The Mekons whom she joined in 1985.

; 40 Chris Newby age 58 Christopher Newby is a British film director and screenwriter. He studied at Leeds Polytechnic and The Royal College of Art in London. He has made several short films, including The Old Man and the ; 41 Richard Anthony Salisbury Died at 68 (1761-1829) Richard Anthony Salisbury, FRS was a British botanist. While he is remembered as a valuable worker in horticultural and botanical sciences, several bitter disputes caused him to be ostracised by his ; 42 Ralph Brown Died at 85 (1928-2013) Ralph Brown RA came to national prominence in the late 1950s with his large-scale bronze Meat Porters, commissioned for Harlow New Town, Essex and remains esteemed for his sensual, figurative ; 43 Elizabeth Bower age 39 Elizabeth Bower is an English actress, best known for starring as Dr Melody Bell in Doctors from 2007 to 2009.

; Ron Tree age 52 45 Charles Henry Schwanfelder Died at 63 (1774-1837) Charles Henry Schwanfelder was an English animal, landscape and portrait painter. Schwanfelder was born and died in Leeds. He was the son of a German decorative painter and started out helping his ; 46 Peter Walker Died at 72 (1912-1984) Peter Douglas Conyers Walker was a British racing driver. He was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and died in Newtown, Worcestershire. Based in Herefordshire, Walker enjoyed success in both circuit racing and ; John Hawkshaw Died at 80 (1811-1891) Sir John Hawkshaw, was an English civil engineer.

48 Alfred Austin Died at 78 (1835-1913) Alfred Austin DL was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, after an interval following the death of Tennyson, when the other candidates had either caused controversy or refused the ; 49 Danny Jackson age 36 Danny Jackson is an English central defender/sweeper who last played for the Seattle Sounders, and served as captain from 2004-2008. ; 50 Gemma Bonner age 24 Gemma Bonner is an English football defender. In November 2012 she signed for Liverpool Ladies of the FA WSL, after beginning her career with hometown club Leeds United then spending two seasons with ;

Question: By what name is anarchic comic Jim Moir better known?
Answer: VIC REEVES