Ali Cook (also credited as Alistair Cook) is an English magician,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

and

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...

originating from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. Cook played Sgt. Paul McMellon in the feature film '' Kajaki'', which won the ''Producer of The Year Award'' at the 2015

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November ...

and was nominated for a

British Academy of Film and Television Arts British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Award in 2015. Cook's career started on the Channel 5 sketch series, The ''Jerry@Trick'' show with the alternative comedians Jerry Sadowitz, Phil Nichol and Boothby Graffoe. Andrew Newman, then the head of comedy at Five, spotted Cook during tapings which lead to him writing and starring in seven of his own comedy and Magic series for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

, Channel 5, and

Sky1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. His

Series Dirty Tricks was nominated for a British Comedy Award and The Golden Rose of Montreux. He wrote and acted in the short film The Cunning Man, winner of the

Arri Alexa The Arri Alexa (stylised as ΛLEXΛ) is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. First introduced in April 2010, the camera was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after previous efforts such as the Arr ...

short film competition which was long listed for a BAFTA and has currently won over 30 awards. He regularly tours the UK and internationally with comedy promoters Off the Kerb in between acting commitments.

Television career

Cook began on Jerry Sadowitz's television sketch show ''Jerry@Trick Show'' before moving on to co-write and star in TV series, including ''

Monkey Magic (UK TV series) Monkey Magic was a magic show on Channel 5 in the UK, produced by Objective Productions, that ran for 2 series between 2003 and 2004. It was nominated for The Golden Rose of Montreux. The show was made up of short tricks and stunts by magicians ...

'' (nominated for The Golden Rose of Montreux), ''Psychic Secrets Revealed with

Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author. He began performing in 1992, making his television debut with ''Derren Brown: Mind Control'' in 2000, and has since produced several more shows ...

'' (both for Channel 5)and the ''Secret World of Magic'' for

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1 ...

. Cook was the star of

's late night show '' Dirty Tricks'' (nominated for a British Comedy Award and The Golden Rose of Montreux). Cook starred in the first '' Penn & Teller: Fool Us'' ( ITV) hosted by

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on B ...

. In 2011 he performed his

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

-style water Torture Escape on ''

The Slammer ''The Slammer'' (also known as ''The Slammer Returns'' for its final two series) is a children's talent show sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One and CBBC from 22 September 2006 until 26 July 2014. Set in a fictional prison called HM Slamme ...

'' (

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) 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 bran ...

). He has also starred in the prestigious

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on ...

series ''Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde'' produced by Magic. Recent television credits include: Ragdoll for AMC, Mr Selfridge, the role of the villainous Patrick in multiple episodes of

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffa ...

in 2016 and

The ABC Murders ''The A.B.C. Murders'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer know ...

in 2018.

Television

* 2002 ''The Jerry@trick Show'', Ronin Entertainments, Channel 5 * 2002 ''Monkey Magic'', Objective Productions, Channel 5 * 2003 ''Psychic'', Objective Productions, Channel 5 * 2003 ''Monkey Magic Two'', Objective Productions, Channel 5 * 2004 ''Secret World of Magic'', Objective Productions,

* 2005 ''Dirty Tricks'', Objective Productions,

* 2010 '' Talk of the Terrace'',

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

* 2011 '' Penn & Teller: Fool Us'',

September Films September Films, a UK independent television and film production company, is a division of UK independent production and distribution group DCD Media. It specialises in factual entertainment, documentaries and features, reality programming and e ...

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 pu ...

* 2011 ''

'',

* 2011 ''Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde'', Magic,

* 2013 Mr Selfridge,

* 2016

(multiple episodes) * 2018 The ABC Murders (TV series), BBC 1 * 2021 Ragdoll, AMC

Film

Cook portrayed Sgt. Paul "Spud" McMellon in 2014's '' Kajaki'', which won the ''Producer of The Year Award'' at the 2015

and was nominated for a

Award in 2015. Cook stars alongside

Katherine Parkinson Katherine Jane Parkinson (born 9 March 1978) is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's ''The IT Crowd'' comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twic ...

and

Jay Pharoah Jared Antonio Farrow (born October 14, 1987), better known by his stage name Jay Pharoah, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and impressionist. Pharoah was a cast member on NBC's sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2010 to 20 ...

in 2018's ''How To Fake A War'', directed by Rudolph Herzog and produced by Film and Music Entertainment. Other recent credits include: Twist for

Sky Cinema Sky Cinema is a British subscription film service owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). In the United Kingdom, Sky Cinema channels currently broadcast on the Sky satellite and Virgin Media cable platforms, and in addition Sky Cinema ...

, The Obscure Life of the Grand Duke of Corsica starring

Timothy Spall Timothy Leonard Spall (born 27 February 1957) is an English actor and presenter. He became a household name in the UK after appearing as Barry Spencer Taylor in the 1983 ITV comedy-drama series ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''. Spall performed in '' ...

, ''Muscle'' directed by Gerard Johnson, '' In the Cloud'' directed by Robert Scott Wildes for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

, '' Once Upon a Time in London'' directed by Simon Rumley, and

nominated thriller ''Isolani''. In 2011 he appeared in ''

Outside Bet ''Outside Bet'', also known as ''Weighed In: The Story of the Mumper'', is a British comedy film directed by Sacha Bennett and starring Bob Hoskins, Jenny Agutter, Philip Davis and Adam Deacon. The film was released on 20 April 2012. Plot I ...

'', directed by Sacha Bennett, alongside

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), '' Who ...

, Phil Davis and Jenny Agutter. He has played the lead role in ten British short film dramas, most notably the psychotic character Greg in Andrew Saunder's and

Stephen Frears Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He's received numerous accola ...

' ''Striklem'' In 2011, Cook was an executive producer on the feature film '' Dark Tide'', starring Halle Berry.

Filmography

Feature films

*2005 ''

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'',

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, Breck Eisner *2012 ''

'', Gateway Films, Sacha Bennett *2013 ''Get Lucky'', Gateway Films, Sacha Bennett *2014 ''Peterman'', Control Films, Mark Abraham *2014 ''

Lost In Karastan ''Lost in Karastan'' is a 2014 black comedy film directed by Ben Hopkins. Plot ''Lost in Karastan'' is a gentle black comedy about a confused British director, Emil, who is hired to direct a production in the Caucasus region. The country, Aut ...

'', Film and Music Entertainment, Ben Hopkins *2014 '' Kajaki'', Pukka Films, Paul Katis *2015 '' The Messenger'', Gateway Films, David Blair *2016 '' The Call Up'', Stigma Films, Charles Barker *2016 ''Isolani'', Lola Pictures, Paul Wilson *2017 '' Once Upon a Time in London,'' Zebra Films, Simon Rumley *2017 '' In the Cloud'',

, Robert Scott Wildes *2018 ''How To Fake A War,'' Film and Music Entertainment, Rudolph Herzog *2018 ''Muscle'', Stigma Films, Gerard Johnson *2021 '' Twist'', Sky Original *2021 ''The Obscure Life Of The Grand Duke Of Corsica'', Camelot Films *2022 ''Prezidentka, Marlene'' Film Productions

Short films

*2019 ''The Cunning Man'', Harvest Films

Theatre

Cook has written and performed three critically acclaimed sell-out Edinburgh solo shows: ''A Touch of Vegas'' (2008), ''Pieces of Strange'' (2010), and ''Principles and Deceptions'' (2011) * Broadway Baby review 2010 * Chortle review 2011 * Broadway Baby review 2011Emily Priestnall,

Stage

* 2015, Stage, ''Impossible: London's Magic Spectacular'', Jamie Hendry Productions, Noel Coward Theatre, London * 2011, Stage, One man show, ''Principles and Deceptions'', Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh * 2010, Stage, One man show, ''Pieces of Strange'', Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh * 2008, Stage, One man show, ''A Touch of Vegas'', Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh

Notes

External links

*
Ali Cook
on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Ali Cook
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ali English magicians English comedy writers English male television actors Living people Year of birth missing (living people)