Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is an English comedian, novelist and producer.

Early life

Watson was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother,

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

. He attended

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...

, where he won a "Gabbler of the Year" award. He went on to study English at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, graduating with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...

. At university he was a member of the

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

and contemporary of Stefan Golaszewski,

Tim Key Timothy Key (born 2 September 1976) is an English poet, comedian, actor and screenwriter. He has performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, both as a solo act and as part of the comedy group Cowards (comedy troupe), Cowards, and plays Alan Pa ...

and

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is an English actor. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as David in the thriller ...

. He was part of the revue which was nominated for the Best Newcomer category in the

Perrier Comedy Award The 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. Establ ...

s at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and also co-directed a revue with Key.

Career

Comedy

Although not brought up in Wales, Watson used to deliver his act with a common Welsh accent which is not quite his own. He adopted it when he started stand-up comedy saying that it made him "more comfortable to be talking in a voice that I didn't quite recognise as my own". He has since reverted to his own accent. Watson has appeared regularly at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 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 ...

, winning the first ever Panel Prize at the

if.comeddies The 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. Establ ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and being nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2005 Perrier Comedy Awards. His other awards include the '' Time Out'' Critics' Choice Award 2006 and a Barry Award nomination for best show at the

Melbourne Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

2006. Watson has performed several unusual shows at the Edinburgh Fringe and Melbourne Festivals, including marathon shows lasting 24 hours or more. The first of these was performed at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which lasted 24 hours. At the end of the show he proposed to his girlfriend Emily Howes, who accepted. These shows have featured guest appearances from other performers such as

Tim Minchin Timothy David Minchin Order of Australia#Levels of membership, AM (born 7 October 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. Minchin has released six CDs, five DVDs, and live comedy shows that he ...

Adam Hills Adam Christopher Hills (born 10 July 1970) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. In Australia, he hosted the music quiz show '' Spicks and Specks'' from 2005 to 2011, and again in 2021 onwards, and the talk show '' Adam Hi ...

Daniel Kitson Daniel John Kitson (born 2 July 1977) is an English comedian, actor, performer and writer. Early life Daniel John Kitson was born in Denby Dale on 2 July 1977, the son of a primary school headteacher mother and a lecturer father. He was a pupi ...

David O'Doherty David Nicholas O'Doherty (; born 18 December 1975) is an Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright and son of renowned jazz pianist Jim Doherty. His stand-up has won many international awards, including the if.comedy award in 2008 ...

Sarah Millican Sarah Jane Millican (' King; born 29 May 1975) is an English comedian. Millican won the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerf ...

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...

, and John Dorney as the balladeer. At the

2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe The 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the 59th Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Events 2006 was the first Fringe following the introduction of the new legislation banning smoking indoors. During a photocall at the Assembly Rooms for a play in which ...

Watson hosted a literary workshop-cum-interactive comedy show entitled ''Mark Watson, And His Audience, Write A Novel''. The aim was to write, by the end of August, a novel begun from scratch and woven entirely from audience suggestions, with another 2,000 words or so added each day. The novel was not finished within the month. At the 2007 Fringe, Watson hosted a panel show ''We Need Answers'' with

Alex Horne Alexander James Jeffery Horne (born 10 September 1978) is an English comedian. Horne is the creator of BAFTA award-winning TV series '' Taskmaster'', in which he takes the role of assistant to the Taskmaster Greg Davies. He is the host and ba ...

and

. This saw 16 comedians take part in a knock out quiz where all the questions and answers came from text service Any Question Answered.

Paul Sinha Supriya Kumar "Paul" Sinha (born 28 May 1970) is a British professional quizzer and comedian. He has written and performed extensively on BBC Radio 4, and is one of the six Chasers on the ITV game show '' The Chase''. Early life Supriya Kum ...

won the competition, beating

Josie Long Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is an English comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17. In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...

in the final. ''We Need Answers'' returned in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with fewer rounds, Josie Long emerged as winner, beating Sinha in the semi-final and

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal ( ,; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Known for her distinctive high-pitched, childlike voice, she voices Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and voiced Mabel Pines on '' Gravity Falls''. ...

in the final. Watson performed his final 24-hour Fringe show at the 2009 festival along with his "Earth Summit" and his "Edit". The Earth Summit was Watson's version of the

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

talk about world pollution and global warming and the Edit was a compilation of Watson's fringe shows to date, made particularly for those who had not seen him perform there. Watson's debut DVD, ''The Mark Watson Edit'', was initially due for release on 15 November 2010. However, Watson was forced to shelve the project and a new DVD recording was released on 28 November 2011, entitled ''Mark Watson Live''. In 2019, Watson staged a 26.2-hour live show to coincide with the

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

, and during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020 he hosted two 24-hour "Watsonathon" events on the

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

streaming platform. Watson often performs gigs in unusual locations including: on a ferry, from a stream, on a train, on the steps outside a theatre, in a vaccination queue, and in drive-in shows during the Covid pandemic.

Live shows

Television

A three-episode run of '' We Need Answers'' began on

BBC Four BBC Four 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 launched on 2 March 2002

on 12 February 2009, based on the

Edinburgh Fringe 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 ...

show of the same name. As with the live show, Watson co-hosted with Tim Key and Alex Horne. A further 13 episodes were broadcast later in 2009. Guests for the series included

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is an English children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster, activist, and academic, who is a professor of children's literature in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths ...

and Jilly Goolden. In 2010

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...

commissioned ''Mark Watson Kicks Off'', a sports panel show, hosted by Watson, where each week with three celebrities taking part in numerous rounds including "Beat the Best" where Watson takes on a sporting champion but with a twist and "I'm not a successful sports star but I'm related to someone who is" where the three celebrities ask questions to a guest who is related to a sports star. In 2011, Watson hosted a pilot for an improvisational comedy show called ''Improvisation My Dear Mark Watson''. The one-off episode was commissioned and broadcast by

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

, who chose not to create a full series. The pilot aired on 9 July. In 2012, Watson starred with

Micky Flanagan Michael John Flanagan (born 7 October 1962) is an English comedian. Flanagan has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured Britain with stand-up shows. He presented ''Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change?'' for Radio 4 and has appeared on vario ...

and host

Mark Dolan Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English presenter and comedian. He has hosted various shows on UK television, including '' Balls of Steel'' for Channel 4 2005 until 2008 and the self titled ''Mark Dolan Tonight'' and ''Friday Night Live w ...

as a captain in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

panel programme ''

The Mad Bad Ad Show ''The Mad Bad Ad Show'' is a British comedy panel show made by Objective Productions and hosted by Mark Dolan. It aired for one season on Channel 4 in 2012. Format The premise of the show is based around answering questions about and related to a ...

''.

Guest appearances

Watson has appeared as a panellist on shows including ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'', '' QI'', ''

Who Said That? ''Who Said That?'' is a 1948–55 NBC game show that ran on radio and television, in which a panel of celebrities attempted to determine the speaker of a quotation from recent news reports. Radio Robert Trout was the moderator when the ra ...

'', '' Guessable'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...

'', '' Argumental'', ''

Have I Got News For You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

'', ''

Mock The Week ''Mock the Week'' is a topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. Presenter Dara Ó Briain and pan ...

'', '' Would I Lie to You?''; and in Dictionary Corner on ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' (2023). He has been a contestant on ''

Pointless Celebrities ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but ob ...

'', ''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show hosted by Richard Osman and produced by Banijay UK Productions subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC. The show is played on a weekly basis, with four celebrities playing on f ...

'', '' Taskmaster'', and ''

Celebrity Mastermind ''Celebrity Mastermind'' is a celebrity version of ''Mastermind'', a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. ''Celebrity Mastermind'' began in 2002 as a one-off special hosted by Magnus Magnusson, the original host of the main ...

''. He has performed stand-up on shows including ''

Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' is a British stand-up comedy television series hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre from different venues around the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first series was broadcast with six episodes in 2009. Each ...

'' (2009), '' Channel 4's Comedy Gala'' (2010), '' Live at the Apollo'' (2011), and ''

Tonight at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End. Originally produced by ATV for the ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday ...

'' (2017). In Australia, Watson has been seen on ''

Rove Rove may refer to: Places * Le Rove, a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France * Rove, Honiara, a suburb of Honiara, Solomon Islands * Rove, Vojnik, a settlement in the hills east of Frankolovo in the Municipality of Vojn ...

'', ''

Good News Week ''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten in ...

'', '' Spicks and Specks'' and the ''

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

'', all aired in April 2007. In 2011, he appeared on New Zealand comedy panel show ''7 Days''. Watson has appeared on a number of sports programs, including ''

The Premier League Show ''The Premier League Show'' is a ''BBC'' magazine television show focusing on the ''Premier League''. The programme started broadcasting during the 2016–17 Premier League season and ran up to the end of 2018–19, it was succeeded by ''MOTDx ...

'' (2017-18), BBC Green Sport Awards (2022) and

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

(2020). Watson appeared as a talking head in

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer and performer. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. St ...

's spoof documentary series ''

Time Trumpet ''Time Trumpet'' is a six-episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the B ...

''. In 2017, he competed in series 5 of '' Taskmaster'' against

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, author, television presenter, writer and actor. He is one half of the comedy double act Reeves and Mortimer with Jim Moir, Vic Reeves, and appears in the ''Mortimer & Whitehouse ...

Sally Phillips Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, comedian, and television presenter. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Jam & Jerusale ...

Nish Kumar Nishant Kumar (born 1985) is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter and podcaster. He became known as the host of ''The Mash Report'' on BBC Two and U&Dave, Dave. He has also presented ''Newsjack'' on BBC Radio 4 Extra, ''Joel Domme ...

and

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedi ...

, finishing joint second. Also in 2017, Watson appeared on '' Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls'' alongside

Iwan Thomas Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European, Commonwealth Games and ...

Jordan Stephens Jordan Fontenelle Stephens (born 25 January 1992) is an English musician. He is best known for being one half of Rizzle Kicks, and for presenting the ITV2 panel show ''Don't Hate the Playaz''. Born in Neasden to Herman Stephens and Emma Boulti ...

Lucy Mecklenburgh Lucy Mecklenburgh (born 24 August 1991) is an English television personality and model known for her appearances in the ITV2 reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex'' from 2010 to 2013. She later appeared in '' Tumble'' and '' Tour de Celeb''. ...

, Melody Thornton,

RJ Mitte Roy Frank "RJ" Mitte III (; born August 21, 1992) is an American actor and producer. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when he was three. He moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Hollywood i ...

Ryan Thomas Ryan James Thomas (born 10 June 1984) is a British former actor. He is known for playing the role of Jason Grimshaw on ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2000 until 2016. In 2018, he played Rafael Humphreys in Australian soap opera ''N ...

Sharron Davies Sharron Elizabeth Davies, (born 1 November 1962) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships and competed for England in the Commonwealth Games. Davies has attended 12 co ...

and Shazia Mirza. Watson left on doctors' orders after suffering from severe chest pains and insomnia in the final episode. In 2021, he appeared on ''

'' alongside

Josie Lawrence Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in ...

Raj Bisram Raj Bisram is an English antiques expert and auctioneer. He co-founded Bentley's Fine Art and Antiques Auction House in Cranbrook, Kent in 1995. He has appeared on several British TV programmes on antiques including ''Antiques Road Trip'', ''Fl ...

and

Laura Whitmore Laura Whitmore (born 4 May 1985) is an Irish media personality, model and actress based in London. She was a video jockey for MTV in 2008, and has since presented television shows, such as ''This Morning'' (2014), ''Survival of the Fittest'' ...

Radio

In August 2009, Watson hosted a three-episode series on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

called ''100 Million or Bust'', where a panel of guests attempted to spend £100 million on transfers as managers of an English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team. Watson has made regular appearances on the

show ''

Fighting Talk ''Fighting Talk'' is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. The show is broadcast on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11.00 and 12.00 and is currently presented by Rick Edwards. This show is ...

''.

Books

Other work

Watson co-runs a production company, ''Impatient Productions'', which produces his own radio shows as well as for others such as

Angela Barnes Angela Barnes (born 9 November 1976) is an English stand-up comedian, mostly known for her appearances on ''Mock the Week''. Early life and education Barnes was born in Sidcup, London and brought up in Maidstone, Kent. She was educated at I ...

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

winner Viggo Venn, Reverend Richard Coles. Since September 2023, Watson and seven-time World Snooker Champion,

Stephen Hendry Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current Sports commentator, commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, ag ...

, co-host the official

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

of the

World Snooker Tour The World Snooker Tour (WST) is the main professional snooker tour, consisting of about 128 players competing on a circuit of up to 28 tournaments each season. It is administered by World Snooker Ltd, the commercial arm of professional snooker, ...

, ''Snooker Club''. Each episode features special guests of sports, entertainment, and music personalities. In December 2021, Watson launched a podcast through his production company with co-host Michael Chakraverty called ''menkind'', discussing masculinity with a weekly guest. There have been 60 episodes to date, and guests have included

Tom Daley Thomas Robert Daley (born 21 May 1994) is an English retired diver, YouTuber and television personality. He is an Olympic champion in the men's synchronised 10-metre platform event at the 2020 Olympics and double world champion in the FI ...

Nikesh Shukla Nikesh Shukla (born 8 July 1980) is a British people, British author and screenwriter. His writing focuses on race, racism, identity, and immigration. He is the editor of the 2016 collection of essays ''The Good Immigrant'', which features contr ...

, and Jordan Gray. In 2020 during the

, Watson, Tim Key and Alex Horne started a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel playing a game known as No More Jockeys. The three were given

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the C ...

Legends of Lockdown awards for No More Jockeys as well as their individual work. In 2009, Watson appeared in adverts for Magners Pear Cider, which became the subject of an extended routine by fellow comic

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard ...

as part of his 2009, "If You Prefer A Milder Comedian, Please Ask For One" live show. In 2010 Watson provided the voice over for a rabbit in an Innocent Smoothies advert. From 2018, Watson appeared in TUI commercials alongside fellow comedian

Zoe Lyons Zoe Ann Lyons (born 3 October 1971) is a British comedian and TV presenter. Early and personal life Lyons was born to an Irish father and an English mother in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Her family soon moved to Ireland, where she att ...

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 1989, ...

. On 25 February, Watson presented the 2009 NME Awards at

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Lon ...

. At the start of the 2009/2010 season, Watson wrote a regular article in the

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

official matchday programme Well Red. In December 2009, Watson's television drama ''

A Child's Christmases in Wales A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' starring

Ruth Jones Ruth Alexandra Elisabeth Jones (born 22 September 1966) is a Welsh actress, comedian, writer and producer. She co-wrote and co-starred in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey'' (2007–2010, 2019, 2024), for which she won the B ...

was broadcast as part of the Christmas 2009 season on

BBC Four BBC Four 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 launched on 2 March 2002

; it was described as peeping into the Christmases of a South Wales family during the 1980s.

Personal life

Watson proposed to Emily Howes, a fellow novelist, writer-performer and theatre director during a live marathon comedy routine at the Fringe, in front of an audience of 200. They married in 2004, with

acting as Watson's

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be selected. From his groomsmen, the groom usuall ...

. Watson and Howes have two children. He is currently in a relationship with comedy producer Lianne Coop; they live in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. Watson is a lifelong supporter of Bristol City Football Club.

Stand-up specials

* ''Mark Watson Live'' (28 November 2011, DVD) * ''Flaws'' (2014, DVD) * ''The Infinite Show'' (2020, Vimeo) / (2024, YouTube) * ''This Can't Be It'' (2022, Amazon Prime)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Mark 1980 births English male comedians 21st-century English novelists Living people Writers from Bristol People educated at Bristol Grammar School Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge English people of Welsh descent English male novelists 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English male writers English stand-up comedians Comedians from Bristol