Will Adamsdale (born 1974) is an English actor, comedian and writer. In 2004, he won the

Edinburgh 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 ...

for Best Show 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 ...

for his show ''Jackson's Way''.

Early life

Adamsdale was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and the

Oxford School of Drama The Oxford School of Drama is a drama school in the United Kingdom. It is based at Wootton, ten miles north of Oxford. The school is an independent, vocational drama school which runs a three-year acting course and a one-year acting course, bo ...

Career

In 2004, he starred in a self-penned one man show called ''Jackson's Way'' at 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 ...

. The intended run for the production was ten days, before the intervention of comedian

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 ...

. Lee was so impressed by Adamsdale's work that he reportedly threw his full support behind ''Jackson's Way'', lobbying for an extension of the run and using his clout within the industry to garner notice from critics and award committees. Adamsdale secured 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 ...

for comedy. Adamsdale has since created several new shows: ''The Receipt'', ''The Human Computer'', and ''The Summer House''. ''The Receipt'', a collaboration with sonic artist Chris Branch, used innovative sound effects to punctuate a story about the little man in the big city. It ran at the Edinburgh Fringe 2006, winning a Fringe First and a Total Theatre Award. It subsequently toured nationally, and internationally to the Melbourne Comedy Festival and 59E59 Theatres in New York. In ''The Human Computer'', Adamsdale, a self-confessed technophobe, explored the world of computers. The show premiered in the new Traverse 3 venue at the Edinburgh Fringe 2007. He made his film acting debut in ''

The Boat That Rocked ''The Boat That Rocked'' (titled ''Pirate Radio'' in North America) is a 2009 comedy-drama written and directed by Richard Curtis about pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. The film has an ensemble cast consisting of Philip Se ...

'' as Newsreader John, in 2009. From 2010 to 2011, he periodically performed with the comedy music collective, ''The London Snorkelling Team'' as the tap-dancing security expert. He was a regular cast member of the Channel 4 2011 series ''

Campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

'', playing Jason the university accountant. Adamsdale wrote and starred in the musical-comedy play ''The Victorian in the Wall'', which he co-directed alongside Lyndsey Turner. It made its debut at 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 theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

in 2011 and toured the UK in early 2013. Following positive reviews, It was later adapted to a BBC 4 Radio play of the same name in 2016, in which Adamsdale and his fellow original cast members reprised their roles. At the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe, he played

Fraser Ayres Fraser Stuart Ayres (born 1980) is an English actor, best known for his role as Clint in the BBC comedy series '' The Smoking Room''. Ayres first joined the youth core at the Haymarket Theatre in Leicester and has done other television includin ...

in double BAFTA-winning writer

Jack Thorne Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. A massive fan of hard science fiction, he is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the fil ...

's adaptation of Stuart: A Life Backwards,

Alexander Masters Alexander Wright Masters is an English author, screenwriter, and worker with the homeless. He lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Masters is the son of authors Dexter Masters and Joan Brady. He was educated at Bedales School, and took a first ...

' biography of Stuart Clive. The play continued its successful Edinburgh run into a two-week run at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre, or simply The Crucible, is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which opened in 1971. Its name refers to crucible steel, which was developed in Sheffield in 1740 and drove the industrialisation of the city. ...

. As of 2022, Will is currently hosting a comedy night called ''Locally Sourced'' at the Little Drop Of Poison public house in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. It is a showcase for new talent and new material. It was co-hosted with Charlotte Evans until November 2023. Spencer Jones took on the role of co-host upon her departure.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Honours

References

External links

*
Locally Sourced
at Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamsdale, Will 1974 births Alumni of the Oxford School of Drama English male stage actors Living people Male actors from Hereford People educated at Eton College Date of birth missing (living people) English male comedians Comedians from Herefordshire