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Rory Bremner
Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner, (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political satire and impressions of British public figures. He is best known for co-starring with John Bird and John Fortune in the comedy sketch shows Rory Bremner...Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, as well as being a team captain on the first two series of comedy panel show Mock the Week.
Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of Major Donald Stuart Ogilvy Bremner (1907–1979) and his second wife Ann Simpson (1922–2001). He has an older brother and an older half-sister (from his father's first marriage). Bremner was educated at Clifton Hall School and Wellington College, and then studied Modern Languages at King's College London, graduating with a degree in French and German in 1984.
In 2009, Bremner was the subject of the series Who Do You Think You Are? in a quest to research about his father, whom he barely knew. His father had served in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment during the Second World War and was often away from home. Bremner travelled to 's-Hertogenbosch, the Dutch city liberated by the East Lancs, amongst other places to retrace his father's footsteps. Together with his brother, they traced their father's ancestry and discovered that their great-grandfather John Ogilvy had served as a "surgeon general" (equivalent of the present-day senior Royal Army Medical Corps medical officer) during the Crimean War and was later posted to British colonies.
While studying at King's College London, he worked on the cabaret circuit in the evenings and was also active in a student drama club. He first came into the limelight in 1985, when his single, "N-N-Nineteen Not Out" (released under the name of the Commentators) became a hit in the British charts. It was a parody of Paul Hardcastle's number one hit, "19", with Bremner impersonating cricket commentators, including Richie Benaud, John Arlott, and Brian Johnston,[citation needed] and replacing references to the Vietnam War with references to the England cricket team's disastrous 1984 home series against the West Indies, in which the England captain David Gower had averaged 19. An uncredited Hardcastle himself played all the instruments.
Bremner contributed to And There's More, Spitting Image, and Week Ending, and by 1987 he had his own BBC 2 sketch show, Now – Something Else. In 1993 he moved to Channel 4, teaming up with comedy veterans John Bird and John Fortune for Rory Bremner...Who Else? where his output became more satirical and the sporting commentators gradually came to represent a smaller proportion of his repertoire. In 1999 the show changed its name to Bremner, Bird and Fortune. Over the years the show won numerous awards. Bremner became well known for his impersonations of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and various other government figures. Bremner, Bird and Fortune ended in 2010.
During the 1990s Bremner was also a semi-regular performer on the Channel 4 improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. In 2005 and 2006 he was a team captain for the first two series of the BBC Two satirical comedy panel show Mock the Week.
Bremner has performed on Sunday AM, impersonating politicians, with a review of recent political events. He has also presented a BBC Radio 4 series, Rory Bremner's International Satirists, in which he talks to comedians and impressionists from other European countries. In September 2009, he presented a BBC Four documentary, Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots, about the history of Scots serving in the British Army. In the run-up to the 2010 UK General Election, he performed a 20-date Election Battlebus Tour, his first stand-up comedy tour in five years.
Bremner has translated three operas into English: Der Silbersee by Kurt Weill, Carmen by Georges Bizet, and Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach. In April 2007, he took part in The Big Brecht Fest at the Young Vic Theatre in London celebrating the work of German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, where a series of newly translated versions of some of Brecht's short plays were performed. One of the plays—the short comedy of manners A Respectable Wedding—was newly translated by Bremner, who also penned the title to the series.[citation needed]
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Rory Bremner
Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner, (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist and comedian, noted for his work in political satire and impressions of British public figures. He is best known for co-starring with John Bird and John Fortune in the comedy sketch shows Rory Bremner...Who Else? and Bremner, Bird and Fortune, as well as being a team captain on the first two series of comedy panel show Mock the Week.
Bremner was born in Edinburgh, the son of Major Donald Stuart Ogilvy Bremner (1907–1979) and his second wife Ann Simpson (1922–2001). He has an older brother and an older half-sister (from his father's first marriage). Bremner was educated at Clifton Hall School and Wellington College, and then studied Modern Languages at King's College London, graduating with a degree in French and German in 1984.
In 2009, Bremner was the subject of the series Who Do You Think You Are? in a quest to research about his father, whom he barely knew. His father had served in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment during the Second World War and was often away from home. Bremner travelled to 's-Hertogenbosch, the Dutch city liberated by the East Lancs, amongst other places to retrace his father's footsteps. Together with his brother, they traced their father's ancestry and discovered that their great-grandfather John Ogilvy had served as a "surgeon general" (equivalent of the present-day senior Royal Army Medical Corps medical officer) during the Crimean War and was later posted to British colonies.
While studying at King's College London, he worked on the cabaret circuit in the evenings and was also active in a student drama club. He first came into the limelight in 1985, when his single, "N-N-Nineteen Not Out" (released under the name of the Commentators) became a hit in the British charts. It was a parody of Paul Hardcastle's number one hit, "19", with Bremner impersonating cricket commentators, including Richie Benaud, John Arlott, and Brian Johnston,[citation needed] and replacing references to the Vietnam War with references to the England cricket team's disastrous 1984 home series against the West Indies, in which the England captain David Gower had averaged 19. An uncredited Hardcastle himself played all the instruments.
Bremner contributed to And There's More, Spitting Image, and Week Ending, and by 1987 he had his own BBC 2 sketch show, Now – Something Else. In 1993 he moved to Channel 4, teaming up with comedy veterans John Bird and John Fortune for Rory Bremner...Who Else? where his output became more satirical and the sporting commentators gradually came to represent a smaller proportion of his repertoire. In 1999 the show changed its name to Bremner, Bird and Fortune. Over the years the show won numerous awards. Bremner became well known for his impersonations of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and various other government figures. Bremner, Bird and Fortune ended in 2010.
During the 1990s Bremner was also a semi-regular performer on the Channel 4 improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. In 2005 and 2006 he was a team captain for the first two series of the BBC Two satirical comedy panel show Mock the Week.
Bremner has performed on Sunday AM, impersonating politicians, with a review of recent political events. He has also presented a BBC Radio 4 series, Rory Bremner's International Satirists, in which he talks to comedians and impressionists from other European countries. In September 2009, he presented a BBC Four documentary, Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots, about the history of Scots serving in the British Army. In the run-up to the 2010 UK General Election, he performed a 20-date Election Battlebus Tour, his first stand-up comedy tour in five years.
Bremner has translated three operas into English: Der Silbersee by Kurt Weill, Carmen by Georges Bizet, and Orpheus in the Underworld by Jacques Offenbach. In April 2007, he took part in The Big Brecht Fest at the Young Vic Theatre in London celebrating the work of German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, where a series of newly translated versions of some of Brecht's short plays were performed. One of the plays—the short comedy of manners A Respectable Wedding—was newly translated by Bremner, who also penned the title to the series.[citation needed]
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