Jason Forbes (born 27 October 1990) is a British actor, writer, comedian, impressionist, and TV presenter. He is best known for the

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

series ''

Horrible Science ''Horrible Science'' is a similar book series, series of books to ''Horrible Histories'', written by Nick Arnold (writer), Nick Arnold (with the exception of ''Evolve or Die'', which is written by Phil Gates), illustrated by Tony de Saulles and ...

''; '' The Mash Report'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

; as PC Peasey in the ''

Professor Branestawm ''Professor Branestawm'' is a series of thirteen children's books written by the English author Norman Hunter. Professor Theophilus Branestawm is depicted throughout the books as the archetypal absent-minded professor and his name is a variant o ...

'' movies on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

; and as a member of the award-winning sketch trio '

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in wh ...

'. Forbes is co-creator, star and writer of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

series, ''

Daphne Sounds Expensive ''Daphne Sounds Expensive'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series, written and performed by the sketch comedy trio ' Daphne' (Jason Forbes, Phil Wang and George Fouracres). ''Daphne Sounds Expensive'' was shortlisted for the 'Best Radio Sketch Show' ...

''.

Early life and education

Forbes was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, England, and educated at

Queen Elizabeth's Hospital Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (also known as QEH) is an independent day school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1586. QEH is named after its original patron, Queen Elizabeth I. Known traditionally as "The City School", Queen Elizabeth's Hos ...

in Clifton. He then went up to Jesus College at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

to read English, graduating in 2012. At school he joined the 'Gabblers' Club' – a Bristol-based after-dinner speaking society for young students; and, in 2008, was awarded the Gabblers' prize for 'Best Speaker' – a prize formerly awarded to stand-up comedian

Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, ...

. At

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, Forbes wrote and performed in a number of comedy shows as a member of the famous

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

. In 2012, he co-wrote and performed in ''Perfect Strangers'' – the Footlights' 50th annual revue – touring the UK and the United States. He also performed in a number of 'serious plays', from contemporary to

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

; and on

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

as part of a showcase directed by former Artistic Director of the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal ...

Max Stafford-Clark Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark (born 17 March 1941) is a British theatre director. Life and career Stafford-Clark was born in Cambridge, England. the son of David Stafford-Clark, a physician, and Dorothy Crossley (née Old ...

. Prior to becoming a professional actor, Forbes worked as a marketing executive, civil servant, computer programmer, web designer, graphic designer and teacher of languages.

Career

Comedy

In September 2014, Forbes reunited with his

contemporaries

Phil Wang Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi (born 22 January 1990) is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, and co-creator of their BBC Radio 4 series, ''Daphne Sounds Expensive''. He curr ...

and George Fouracres to form the sketch group '

'. The trio began hosting a comedy night called ''Nova Nova'', every other month at the Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone, where they trialled their new material alongside guests, including British comedians

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performa ...

and

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and musician. As well as appearances on panel shows, he is known for the stand-up specials ''Repertoire'', co-hosting the food podcast ''Off Menu'' and co- ...

went on to win the London Sketchfest's prize for 'Best New Act' in 2015. Their first

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

show, ''Daphne Do Edinburgh'', was critically acclaimed and

were nominated for the 2015 Foster's (formerly Perrier) Award for 'Best Newcomer'.

Radio

''Daphne Sounds Expensive'' (BBC Radio 4)

In February 2016, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

announced that

would be bringing a "

Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1 ...

-esque" comedy called ''

'' to

, with the first episode airing on 14 July 2016. The series consists of four thirty-minute episodes. ''Daphne Sounds Expensive'' was shortlisted for the 'Best Radio Sketch Show' award at the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016. Radio 4 commissioned a second series which it would broadcast from 13 July 2017.

Other radio work

Forbes is a regular guest on the

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming o ...

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

Newsjack on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital radio broadcasting, radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a ...

. In 2017 he appeared in the two-part

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

''Life on Egg'' by Daniel Maier, alongside

, Marek Larwood and

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning B ...

Film and television

Forbes made his first TV appearance in 2013 in ''Kerry'', a

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

Comedy Feed Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, Entertainment, or any other entertainment medium. T ...

' episode by comedic actress Kerry Howard. He later appeared in '' The Mimic'' on

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 ...

and '' Pompidou'' by

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

star

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

. In 2014, he appeared on

alongside

, David Mitchell,

Ben Miller Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two seri ...

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for '' Damage'' (1992) and '' Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

Simon Day Simon William Day (born 7 June 1962) is an English comedian and actor known for his roles in the sketch show ''The Fast Show'' and the sitcom ''Grass''. Career Day was born in Blackheath, London, and rose to fame as a stand-up comic, winning ...

and

Charlie Higson Charles Murray Higson (born 3 July 1958) is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer. He has also written and produced for television and is the author of the ''Enemy'' book series, as well as the first five novels in the '' Young B ...

, as PC Peasey in Higson's adaptation of '' The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm'' by Norman Hunter. In May 2015, ITV announced that Forbes would among the cast of their new series ''Horrible Science'', based on the ''

'' books by Nick Arnold. Forbes also joined the cast of

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

's new sketch show, ''

Tracey Ullman's Show ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' is a British sketch comedy television series starring Tracey Ullman. ''Tracey Ullman's Show'' premiered on BBC One on 11 January 2016. The programme marks her first project for the broadcaster in over thirty years, and h ...

'', for

and HBO. He will be a regular in the next series of ''

'', and will portray former American World No. 1 professional tennis player,

Arthur Ashe Arthur Robert Ashe Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles. He started to play tennis at six years old. He was the first black player selected to the Uni ...

, in the 2017 movie '' Borg/McEnroe'', starring

Sverrir Gudnason Sverrir Gudnason (born 12 September 1978; in Icelandic: ''Sverrir Páll Guðnason'') is a Swedish actor of Icelandic origin. Gudnason was born in Lund, Sweden, and raised in Reykjavík, Iceland. He moved with his family to Tyresö, Sweden, in ...

and

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series '' Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 a ...

. In 2021, broadcaster

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

announced that Forbes would be joining Kemah Bob and Tom Allen as co-host of a new panel show called ''The Island'' on its comedy channel

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

. The show was co-created by comedians John Robins, Lloyd Langford,

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble (born 11 March 1986) is an English comedian, known for co-presenting '' The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and his regular appearances on '' Mock the Week''. He studied at Durham University, where he began his co ...

, and

. Recording of the first eight episodes began in June 2021. He has also joined the cast of Netflix’s upcoming sci-fi, '' The Three Body Problem''.

Style and influences

Forbes is a lover of physical comedy and often incorporates

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...

humour into his routines. He has cited

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo ...

, Charlie Chaplin,

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

, the late

Sir Norman Wisdom Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, (4 February 1915 – 4 October 2010) was an English actor, comedian, musician and singer best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring a hapless onscreen character often called Norman ...

and, "most of all",

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' a ...

among his physical influences. "Against all advice," says Forbes in an interview with online blog ''Comedy Blogedy'', "I'd try everything they did at home: bumping into things, falling over, deliberately spilling stuff and – to my mother's horror – throwing myself down the stairs." Forbes apparently perfected his stair-fall in a university production of

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce '' Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as ''Towards the End of the Mo ...

's ''

Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael Frayn. Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of ''The Two of Us'', a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier f ...

''. Of his sketch group

's debut

show, '' The List'' magazine's Brian Donaldson remarked upon a "wild slapstick moment that will hopefully not result in an injury to Forbes before August is out."

Credits

Film and television

Radio

Video games

Awards and nominations

Forbes' sketch group Daphne were the winners of the London Sketchfest's prize for 'Best New Act' in 2015. Their first

show, ''Daphne Do Edinburgh'', was critically acclaimed and Daphne were nominated for the 2015

Edinburgh Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

for 'Best Newcomer'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Jason 1990 births People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, Bristol Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge British sketch comedians English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors Black British male actors 21st-century English male actors English male radio actors English male stage actors British comedy writers Living people English people of Jamaican descent English people of Dominica descent Male actors from Bristol