Keith Carter (born 3 February 1970) is a Liverpool-based comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his comic creation Nige, a

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

of a scallie from

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

cited by Sir

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at Granada Television, the BBC and Thames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive of Channe ...

as being instrumental in helping Liverpool's successful 2007 Capital of Culture bid. Carter has been described as "not just a stand-up with a dressing-up box, he makes his characters live by his bearing, his gestures and by his voice".

Career

Carter began his career as a comedian in

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Club (magazine), ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands a ...

in Liverpool in 2001. He has developed a number of comic characters, the most famous of which is Nige, who he claims to have based on a

scouse Scouse ( ), more formally known as Liverpool English or Merseyside English, is an Accent (dialect), accent and dialect of English language, English associated with the city of Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside. The Scouse accent is h ...

r queuing up in front of him in a dole queue; other characters Carter has created include Gerald Roberts, an opinionated driver, and Colin Kilkelly, who thinks he is Liverpool's answer to

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

. Carter has made a number of appearances at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and has been nominee and winner of a number of awards. His appearance in ''

Under the Mud ''Under the Mud'' is a 2006 comedy film directed by Solon Papadopoulos. It is set in Garston, an economically depressed area of Liverpool and follows the dramatic and eccentric happenings within one family on the day of its youngest daughter's ...

'' was described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as an almost show stealing performance. In 2008 he co-wrote the play ''The Berserker Boys'' with fellow Liverpudlian comedian Stanley McHale. The play premièred at the Unity Theatre in February 2008.

TV Credits

''Domestic'', BBC 2 (2002) ''Comedy Shuffle'', BBC 3 (written and performed) (2007) ''It's Adam and Shelley'', BBC 3 (2007) ''Meet The Blogs'', ITV (2008) ''Scallywagga'', BBC 3 (2008) ''Tonightly'', Channel 4 (2008)

Radio Credits

''Loose Ends'', BBC Radio (2004) ''The Gerald Roberts Radio Show'', BBC Radio (2005) ''How I Won The Capital of Culture'' by Nige, BBC Radio (2005) ''Deck of Friends'', BBC Radio (playwright) (2005)

Film Credits

'' (2007).

Awards and nominations

*2008 ''Daily Post'' Arts Award *2003 ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

'' Comedian of the Year *2005 North West Breakthrough Comedian of the Year *2001

BBC New Comedy Awards The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perfor ...

, finalist

References

External links

Keith Carter profile at the Comedy Zone

BBC profile of Keith Carter

Keith Carter's blog for the ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Keith Living people English male comedians Musicians from Liverpool Male actors from Liverpool Comedians from Liverpool 1970 births