Howard Oliver Drinkwater Read is a British screenwriter, comedian, and animator best known for his work with his animated sidekick, Little Howard. His other creations include an angry manager with a conversational style and the worldview of

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. He gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and '' The Wheeltappers and Shun ...

, Roger T. Pigeon, and H:BOT 2000, a robot from the future. Each of these characters interacts with both Big Howard and each other. Howard Read is also known for his on-stage human

Guess Who? ''Guess Who?'' is a two-player board game in which players each guess the identity of the other's chosen character. The game was developed by Israeli game inventors Ora and Theo Coster, the founders of Theora Design. It was first released in ...

act: the audience guesses who he has drawn on a large pad of paper, sitting down as their questions exclude those of a certain appearance until only one person is left standing. In 1993, Howard Read invented NikNakNoodles - an amalgamation of Golden Wonder's Pot Noodle and Golden Wonder's other oddly-flavored product, Nik Naks. Unfortunately, the product was never mass-produced. Read is a regular contributor to

Robin Ince Robin Ince (born 20 February 1969) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He is known for presenting the BBC radio show '' The Infinite Monkey Cage'' with physicist Brian Cox, creating Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, co-creatin ...

's Book Club. Read also went on to work as a writer for the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...

series ''

Counterfeit Cat ''Counterfeit Cat'' is an animated television series developed by Aardman Animations, Cristina Fiumara, and Ben Marsaud. The series is produced by Wildseed Kids, Tricon Kids & Family, and Aardman Animations in association with Teletoon, with ...

'' and is also a writer for the new ''

Danger Mouse Danger Mouse is a British action cartoon which has had two incarnations: * ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series * ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series ...

'' series on

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

Little Howard

Little Howard is a sketched cartoon child aged 6 who is a "standing-up comedian". He appears on a laptop or projection screen except on his own TV show, interacting either with Big Howard, the audience, or with other animated characters (including the pigeon Roger, his manager, and H:BOT 2000 (named as MOTHER on Little Howard's Big Question), a computer). He is adept at interrupting Big Howard, dealing with hecklers and doing tarot readings with a pack of

Top Trumps ''Top Trumps'' is a card game first published in 1978. Each card contains a list of numerical data, and the aim of the game is to compare these values to try to trump and win an opponent's card. A wide variety of different packs of ''Top Tru ...

. His favorite food is

fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...

and he is currently learning the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

''The Big Howard and Little Howard Show'' was nominated for a

Perrier Award Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of bottled water marketed as coming from its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acqui ...

at the

2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe The 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the 56th Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Fringe ran from 3–25 August 2003 and presented 1541 shows over 207 venues. 2003 was the first year that over one million tickets were sold at the Fringe. Venues The ...

. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Read staged his own ''Comeback Special'' where he performed his first solo Festival show.

Writing Credits

* 2021-2022 "Rabbids Invasion: Mission to Mars" (Ubisoft/France Télévisions/Netflix) * 2021 ''Horrible Histories Podcast'' * 2021 ''Horrible histories 9'' (covid-safe mini series) (Lion TV/CBBC) Sketch and song-writer. * 2019-21 ''

It's Pony ''It's Pony'' is a British animated television series created by Ant Blades that premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 18, 2020. The series is storyboarded, designed, produced, and animated by Blue Zoo Animation Studio. The fi ...

'' Series 2 (Blue Zoo/Nickelodeon) * 2018-2021 ''Deer Squad'' Series 1 & 2 (NICK jnr/IQIYI) * 2019-2020 ''Horrible histories 9'' (lion tv/CBBC) (filming delayed by Covid pandemic) * 2019 ''I Don’t Wanna Grow Up'' (HARE AND TORTOISE/FREEMANTLE) Created, co-writer and performer * 2019-2020 ''Family Jewels'' (Wildseed Studios) Pilot script for adult animation series * 2018-2019 ''The Blackpool Museum Project'', Development writer and animated character bible author. * 2019 ''

Ninja Express ''Ninja Express'' is an animated television series for children aged 6–9, created by Kim Claeys and the company Creative Conspiracy, from Ghent; so far, one season of 52 episodes of each 11 minutes has been aired. The series has been bought by ...

'' (CBBC/Boomerang) * 2019 ''Incredible Ant'' (Wildseed Studios/iQiyi) * 2019 ''Not The End Of The World'' (Wildseed studios/Sky) * 2019 "Horrible Histories 8" (Lion TV/CBBC) BAFTA NOMINATED as part of Best Writer team and WINNER BEST CHILDREN'S COMEDY BAFTA * 2018 "Super Natural" (King Bert) Development, sketch and song writer. * 2018 "Totems" (A Productions/Sesame Studios/Apple TV) * 2018 "The World's Worst Children" (King Bert) development writer * 2016-19 "Dennis And Gnasher Unleashed" (Beano Studios/CBBC) * 2016 Horrible Histories 7 (Lion TV/CBBC), BAFTA NOMINATED as part of Best Writer team * 2016 "The Floogals" (Sprout/Channel 5) * 2012 - 2015 "Horrible Histories 5 - 6" (Lion TV/CBBC) * 2016 "Danger Mouse" (Freemantle/CBBC) * 2016 "The Furchester Hotel" (Sesame Studios/CBBC) * 2015 "Class Dismissed" (CBBC) * 2015 "The Tracy Ulman Show" (Citrus/BBC) * 2015 "Counterfeit Cat" (Wildseed Studios/Disney XD) * 2015 "The Amazing World Of Gumball" (Cartoon Network) * 2013-14 "Gigglebiz" (Cbeebies) BAFTA winning live action pre-school sketch show * 2009-11 "Little Howard's Big Question" (CBBC) British Writer’s Guild Award-winning animated/live-action edu-sit-com. Creator, head-writer, song-writer and lead animator, 38 episodes. * 2003 "Celebdaq" (BBC3) Live action/animated celebrity comedy show. Creator, writer and animator of animated celebrity caricature sketch segments. * 2001 "Polar Bears In a Snowstorm" (BBC) BBC New Comedy Award-winning animated comedy short. Creator, writer, voice and animator.

TV credits

* 2004 "Celebdaq" (BBC Choice/BBC3) * 2005 "The World Stands Up" (Paramount Comedy/BBC America) * 2005-06 ''Two Posh Old Men'' (UKTV G2) * 2006 "Stairlift To Heaven" (CBBC/BBC1) * 2007 ''

Comedy Cuts ''Comedy Cuts'' is a comedy programme on the British TV channel ITV2 that aims to provide an opportunity for new comedy performers to present their talents. Featuring 40 performers demonstrating a mix of stand up and sketches, the series is shot e ...

'' (ITV2) * 2007 ''

The Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

'' (ITV1) * 2009-12 ''

Little Howard's Big Question ''Little Howard's Big Question'' (2009–11) is a British children's edutainment programme starring Howard Read as Big Howard and his six-year-old animated friend, Little Howard. The programme was first broadcast on 8 January 2009, running for a ...

'' (BBC1/CBBC/BBC2)

Theatre credits

* 2002 ''Words and Pictures'' * 2003 ''The Big Howard and Little Howard Show'' * 2004 ''At Home With The Howards'' * 2005 ''The Little Howard Appeal'' * 2005 ''2005 Comeback Special'' * 2007 ''Little Howard And The Magic Pencil Of Life And Death'' * 2011 ''Aladdin'' * 2012 ''Little Howard's Big Show'' * 2013 ''Howard Read - Hide and Speak''

Radio credits

* 2005 ''The Milk Run'' (Radio 1) * 2007 ''An A-Z Of The British Countryside'' (BBC 7) * 2007 '' Peacefully In Their Sleeps'' (Radio 4)

References

External links

Official website

Little Howard's Big Question page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Howard British stand-up comedians British animators 1984 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British comedians 21st-century British comedians