His first television appearance came in 1981 as a stand-up performer on the BBC1 youth and music programme Oxford Road Show. [17] [16] His first TV success, at 23, came as co-writer of the television sitcom The Young Ones, in which he occasionally appeared. We'd had a very happy time all together, so there were no old scores to be settled really, we'd been a pretty happy bunch. And yet one person, who'd been a bit of a golden boy – he certainly went out with a girl I was besotted and unrequitedly in love with – he came up and he said, 'Why did you come? Was it to show off?' That really surprised me, that anyone would think that ... he came kind of carrying my agenda. It was weird. I hasten to add I didn't think my life to be more successful than anybody else's. If you're happy and honest and fulfilled in what you do, then you're having a successful life. [33] Films [ edit ] Popcorn (1996) was adapted for the stage and went on a UK tour. It also toured Australia in a production starring Marcus Graham and Nadine Garner in its Eastern-States seasons. Popcorn won the TMA Barclays Theatre Award for new play and the Olivier Award for comedy. The Paris production of Popcorn ran for a year and was nominated for seven Molière awards.

But that kind of fear and nervousness is not confined to dad-men. The radical right [and]the radical left is aware of how language is being analysed. And I am quite sure there are many members of marginalised communities who are as worried about being misunderstood and not being allowed to say this or that, or language being misinterpreted as you or I are." Gasping (1990) was first performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It starred Hugh Laurie and featured the voice of Stephen Fry. Jones, Catherine (24 June 2007). "Macca school gong for star turns". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 2 November 2021. Elton wrote and directed Close Up: The Twiggy Musical (2023) which had it's world premier at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London. Elton played Verges in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, also in 1993. [35] Behind the camera [ edit ]

I think this is a book where anyone can have a good laugh at how silly things are getting and also have a good worry about how strange things are getting, and generally enjoy a comedy thriller which I think is very firmly in the stuff that's on everybody's mind. People have said to me it's a great release valve, it's great to hear it talked about." outrage and counter-outrage. Everyone was looking for martyrs. Everyone was looking for scapegoats. No one seemed to be in any mood to compromise." That issue is the vigorous discussion between what might be termed gender-accepting and gender-critical groups over the rights of transgender people. One figure central to the Identity Crisis plot is transgender, another closely resembles Greer. Satire and comedy can help defuse the tension, he believes, across many of these social and political hot-button issues. Schulz, Chris (6 May 2021). "Ben Elton on his NZ tour: 'I'm coming raw and ready' ". Stuff . Retrieved 22 May 2021. Harry Enfield, Jo Brand, Julian Clary and more join Ben Elton for Friday Night Live | Channel 4". www.channel4.com . Retrieved 21 October 2022.

a b "Ben Elton Recounts His Guildford Childhood As He Helps Celebrate Institute's Refurbishment". The Guildford Dragon. 24 October 2013 . Retrieved 23 April 2015. His books have won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award for Crime Fiction ( Popcorn), the Swedish Kaliber Award ( Popcorn), WH Smiths People's Choice Fiction Award ( High Society) and Prix Polar International Crime Writer Award ( Amitiès Mortelles for Past Mortem, French edition). [ citation needed] Personal life [ edit ] Feminist who wrote The Female Eunuch. In her later career she came under fire for critisising transgender identity.

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Ben Elton sure has his finger on the pulse You'll laugh, you'll groan, you'll roll your eyes at the people and situations described here. I think we've all either been or know at least one of the types described here. Elton sees stupid future". Star Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008 . Retrieved 1 November 2009. Ben Elton was born on 3 May 1959, in Catford, South London. The youngest of four, he went to Godalming Grammar school, joined amateur dramatic societies and wrote his first play at 15. He wanted to be a stagehand at the local theatre, but instead did A-Level Theatre Studies and studied drama at Manchester University in 1977. Ben Elton to showcase Western Australia | Tourism Western Australia". 14 November 2006. Archived from the original on 14 November 2006 . Retrieved 11 August 2011.

tranny' is used in Elton's book by characters who 'just don't get it'. It is seen as disrespectful. Trans-men or trans-women are biological males who identify as women, or biological women who identify as males. And nobody gets off the hook. One character – one you can't help liking – is a money-grubbing, alpha male-chasing young Tory Pakistani woman who works for a dodgy political data mining firm. Says Elton:"That doesn't stop her being a feminist in as much as she believes absolutely in the full agency and power of being a woman." Elton champions left-wing political positions. Prior to the 1987 UK general election, Elton supported Red Wedge by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign. [61]

There's no sign that Elton, who turns 60 in a few weeks'time, will lose that social conscience. He says he's not driven, and lives a very comfortable existence in Western Australia. The Upstart Crow, like the TV series Upstart Crow, a comic version of William Shakespeare's life and society, and sharing some of the same actors and characters, opened in London on 7 February 2020. Starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare and Gemma Whelan as Kate, the play was intended to run until 25 April 2020, but only ran up to mid-March, with the remainder cancelled as a result of restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [45] The play reopened in the West End at the Apollo Theatre for a ten-week season from 23 September until 3 December 2022.

Nine axes Elton's comedy show – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011 . Retrieved 11 August 2011. Identity Crisis saves its highest-calibre ammunition for right-wingers. Says one smooth scoundrel: "They'll welcome the queers, undermine marriage, sell out the nation state, betray the Church and give up fox-hunting just as long as they can hang on to the money. It's what makes the right wing so trustworthy." In September 2019, Elton embarked on a three-month UK stand-up tour, his first tour since 2005. [46] Movements like #MeToo have challenged patriarchal entitlement, usually characterised as an amoral or immoral abuse of women by men by using their social or professional power to manipulate them. It also just describes a failure to understand that women also have choices, and are not merely there for the benefit of menWillis, Andrew (2004). Film stars: Hollywood and beyond. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p.169. ISBN 0-7190-5645-4. On a publicity tour for Past Mortem in 2004, Elton mused on the high school reunion theme and his own drama college reunion: The wider world in which the microcosm is occurring is just as crazy - not only have we had the Brexit referendum, but now a similar vote is forthcoming to decide on Britain's future as the United Kingdom, or if it will break up. Both campaigns eagerly fall on every social media trend and news item, spinning it to their cause, to outrageous effect. Friday Night Live announces star-studded line-up for Channel 4 return". Radio Times . Retrieved 21 October 2022. In 2016 Elton wrote the sitcom Upstart Crow, parodying the writing and family life of William Shakespeare, and starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare. This programme ran for a second series in 2017, and a third series in 2018.