BIOGRAPHY

Raised in rural Nottinghamshire, I began performing at an early age with local children's theatre group, 'Kaleidoscope', inspired by my mother's amateur dramatics.   Equally interested in Art and Theatre, I did a foundation in Art and Design followed by a BA in 'Creative Arts', both at Nottingham Polytechnic. Graduating in 1991 with a 1st class degree but little idea what to do next, I relocated to Manchester on a romantic whim. Here I ushered at the Green Room theatre, taught myself drums, collaborated with sound artist, Matt Wand and got involved with anarchic outdoor troupe, 'Dogs of Heaven' .   

In 1993 I worked with Ailie Cohen on a fringe show in Edinburgh and ended up staying for five years, during which time I set up and ran the infamous 'Bongo Club Cabaret', and worked as a puppeteer with the Edinburgh Puppet Company.  Following a stint of clown training with Philippe Gaullier, I moved to London to do an MA in Performance Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama.   Here I became infatuated with postmodern theory and started drumming with 'El Sid' - which you are listening to now. 

 Soon after completing my MA in 1999 I began teaching at the University of Brighton, whilst continuing to make and present funny, arty shows at venues such as the 'CCA', Whitstable Biennale; the 'ICA', ‘Omsk’ and ‘Shunt Lounge’.   I did more clown training at 'The Actors Space' (Spain), then accidently became a street theatre performer with 'The Incredible Bull Circus' in 2003,  doing summer tours with Mikey Martins for 6 years  throughout the UK and Ireland, and to Canada, France, Belgium, Holland, Australia and New Zealand.  I also toured with Fraser Hooper for a couple of years with 'Inside Out', and have recently directed outdoor work for Jon Hicks and Red Herring.

I have done teaching stints at Rose Bruford, Goldsmiths, Italia Conti, and Circus Space and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where I had a great time making 'The Twisted Ladder'.   In 2009 I began making indoor work as 'Inconvenient Spoof' with Silvia Mercuriali, also co-writing her audio tour 'Wondermart'.  Since 2013 I have been working with Joe Mulcrone and Merry Colchester (Cat and Mouse Theatre) as 'Inconvenient Spoof / Slash Theatre'. 

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Photo - Ulysses Black.  Image from 'Naive Dance Masterclass