Rory Bremner - Career

Career

While at university, Bremner worked in the cabaret circuit in the evenings and was involved in the drama club. He first came into the limelight in 1985, when his single, N-N-Nineteen Not Out (released under the name, "The Commentators") was a big 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 and Brian Johnston, 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.

Bremner contributed to Spitting Image and Week Ending and by 1987 he had his own BBC Two show: Now - Something Else. He later moved to Channel 4 with Rory Bremner, Who Else? where his output became more satirical and the sporting commentators gradually came to represent a smaller proportion of his repertoire. Having teamed up with veterans, John Bird and John Fortune, he now hosts Bremner, Bird and Fortune, which (along with its predecessor Rory Bremner, Who Else?) has won numerous awards. Occasional one-off specials are also shown, with Bremner impersonating Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and various other government figures. In the 1990s he became a semi-regular cameo turn on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and in 2005 he was a team captain on the BBC2 improvisational satire show Mock The Week. Bremner now regularly performs 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 Bremner talks to comedians and impressionists from various 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 undertook 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. He has also translated a Bertolt Brecht play into English. He appeared on the programme on BBC Four in 2012 called "The Story of Light Entertainment", when it was about impressionists.