hal cruttenden, comedian
comedy club archive

In just four years since his appearance at the Edinburgh Festival as a Daily Telegraph Open Mic finalist, Hal made his solo debut at the 2002 Festival and was a Perrier Best Newcomer Nominee. Confirmation of his rapid rise through the ranks to the pinnacle of the UK comedy circuit. His unique perspective on life and, amongst other things, the traumas of being a sensitive man in a macho world, set him apart as a true original.

Television has recognised this, resulting in many appearances including The 11 O’Clock Show (Ch 4), Live at Jongleurs (UK Gold), The Warehouse (Carlton), Brain Candy (Baby Cow Productions), House of Fun (Meridian), Hoot (Bravo), and Net.Comedy (Action Time). On his last visit to the Edinburgh Festival in 1999, he co-presented Carlton Comedy Warehouse (STV and Carlton), two half-hour programmes following his season with Mitch Benn and Mitchell Anderson at the Assembly Rooms. He has also written for Radio 4’s Fast Thick Pants and recently appeared on 4 At The Store.

Originally trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama, Hal has appeared in two movies, Mrs Dalloway and The Madness of King George. On television his acting credits include Eastenders, Kavanagh QC, Out of the Blue, Touching Evil and Bramwell. Most recently, he appeared in Shackleton starring Kenneth Branagh.

A regular on the Jongleurs circuit, Hal plays all the clubs across the country as well as their three London venues at Battersea, Camden and Bow. He also performs regularly at all the other major London venues including the Comedy Store, Banana Cabaret, Bound and Gagged, Comedy Café, Meccano and Hampstead Comedy Club. He has appeared at numerous universities across the country on both the Carlsberg Ice Comedy Network and The Empire (Belfast), City Limits (Cork), Murphy’s Comedy Club (Galway), The Frog and Bucket & Buzz Club (Manchester), Rawhide (Liverpool), The Corn Exchange (Leeds), Loughborough Town Hall, The Glee Club (Birmingham), The Grand Theatre (Swansea), Timepiece & St George’s Hall (Exeter), The Glee Club (Cardiff), The Comedy Cavern (Bath), Kraters Comedy Club (Brighton), Electric Theatre (Guildford), Venue 27 (Luton) and The Wedgewood Rooms (Southsea).

Hal’s growing reputation is not confined to the UK. He received great acclaim and ecstatic reviews when he appeared at The Singapore Comedy Festival in 2001 and in the last couple of years his travels have taken him to The Velvet Underground (Shanghai, China), The Jakarta and Bali Comedy Clubs (Indonesia), Toomlers (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Lucky Strike Tour Netherlands (Breda, Groningen and Eindhoven) and The Comedy Club Brussels (Belgium).

“Simply hilarious” Time Out

“Bittersweet reminiscences with searing observations” BBC Online

“His patter went down a riot, whatever it takes, he’s got” The Stage

“An English funny-man made people laugh without even having to say anything” South Wales Evening Post

“Furiously funny” The Scotsman

“A routine delivered so sharply and slickly he even had the Americans laughing at themselves for once” That’s Shanghai

“Quite simply one of the funniest comedians we’ve ever seen, you must go and see him” QX International