meVolution

Excerpt Review:

“I’m sure that if he lived in an earlier century, Springstien would have been a benevolent pirate. His weathered face and marinated voice both the results of strenuous social habits. To see him speak, you trust him: anyone who has lived that fearlessly must have something interesting to say. A natural storyteller, an uber-scouser in exile. We live in an age where the ‘new’ is relentlessly paraded before us, as if youth was a virtue regardless of talent. Here’s a man who has lived a life and refined his skills. Energetic and precise on stage, his language as full flavoured as malt whiskey. An original gem waiting to be rediscovered; a man who’ll still be here plying his trade when the new have given up the joke and gone home. Springstien will still be found, the backbone of every bill he appears on, cajoling his audiences with splendid sea-dog stories of comedic experience.”

Krater Comedy Club – NC BRIGHTON MAGAZINE.

General Press:

“The more I see this guy the funnier he gets!”
The Daily Mail.

“Like getting a gobful of nitrous oxide”
The Scotsman.

“Masterful! 4 Stars!”
The Fest.

“Hilariously Funny”
The Guardian

“Wicked – and hilarious”
“Unique super-fast brand of observational comedy”
“Flashes of genius”
Edinburgh Evening News.

“Fantastically impressive”
Three Weeks.

Background:
(extract taken from an interview with BBC Bitesize)

Born in Liverpool, Anvil left school with no educational qualifications whatsoever – and seeing a future of limited job prospects, promptly ran away to sea.

After seven years before the mast, surviving hurricanes, typhoons, tempests, tornadoes… and the odd sunny afternoon, Anvil washed ashore off the coast of Portugal and spent the next two years living in a tent whilst travelling around Europe:

“No rent, no council tax, no bills… fantastic… oh yeah… and very wet”.

Bored with culture and damp clothing, Anvil returned to jolly old England and “blagged” the first of two further education grants:

“I loved being a student…” says Anvil, “…saved so much money on soap!”

Does he have any ‘tips’ for future University students leaving home for the first time in recession hit Britain?

“Yeah… get yer mam to buy you one of these ‘indicator toothbrushes’ and throw it in the bath. After a few months, when the colour runs out, it’s time to clean the bath!”

Following his degree, Anvil fell into various “dead end jobs; Barman, Social Worker, Journalist, Teacher etc’.” It was at this low ebb in his life that Anvil, out walking, decided to toss a coin: “Stay in teaching? Or follow a career in stand-up comedy and writing?”

Fortunately, for students nationwide at least, comedy won out:

‘I remember it was a sunny day. I tossed this old fifty pence piece so high I couldn’t see it… I was looking up squinting, mouth agape, when it returned to earth – lodging in my windpipe. The ambulance driver said he’d never laughed so much in his life – so did the nurse, the doctor, my GP, my family & friends, my dog, my bathroom… everybody! The biggest career decision in my life – and it only cost me fifty pee!”

And the rest as Anvil says, is algebra. (We think he meant to say ‘history’)

T.V. APPEARANCES INCLUDE:

Channel 4’s ‘The Word’.
Tyne Tees ‘Thank You & Good Night’.
TTTV’s ‘Paris Special’.
BBC’s ‘Northern Life’ & ‘Pick of the Week’.
A TTTV documentary: ‘Running Joke’s’.
Yorkshire T.V.’s ‘East-Coast Mainline’.
Ipso Facto Productions: ‘I Wish He Was My Dad!’.
Yorkshire T.V.’s ‘The Richard Whiteley Show’.
Channel 5’s ‘Espresso’ (Meridian).
Radio Telefis Eireann’s ‘The End’.
‘House of Fun’ (Meridian).
Action Time’s ‘Net Dot Com’ (for Carlton).
Channel 4’s ‘Absolutely True’.
Granada’s ‘The Big Story’.
Yorkshire TV’s ‘The Entertainers’.
Tyne Tees’ ‘The Regionaires’ (Quiz Show).
‘A History of Comedy’ (Granada for ITV.com).
“It’s Funny Up North’. (Tyne Tees for ITV.com).
‘Hunt For The Hoaxer’ (Independent for ITV.com).

RADIO APPEARANCES INCLUDE:

Radio 5 Live’: ‘After Midnight’.
Radio 4’s P.M. (current affairs).
BBC Radio Newcastle: ‘The Afternoon Show’.
BBC Radio Cleveland: ‘The Budget Programme’.
Radio 2’s ‘The Judi Spiers Show’ (co-host).
‘How To Give Up Smoking’ (BBC World Service).

T.V. WARM-UP’s INCLUDE:

‘The Paddy Kielty Almost Live Show’ for BBC (Northern Ireland).
‘Net Dot Comedy’ for OnDigital.
“East Coast Mainline’ for Yorkshire TV.

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW

INDIE COMEDY
‘THE LOST COMEDY CLUB’
VENUE 103. GEORGE ST

“Forget the Gilded Balloon, The Pleasance, The Assembly Rooms. Forget the
corporate comedy regimes run by badge wearing multitudes whose sole function seems
to be the arrogant oppression of the average punter: the real funny stuff is at the LOST
COMEDY CLUB.

…Compere ANVIL SPRINGSTIEN powered the show with his remarkable, manic,
improvising energies, occasionally leaping from the stage to boost the audience by
dragging passers-by into the club: He succeeded!

Here one gets the sense of being an individual looking for a laugh rather than a statistic
in an accountants column, and the resulting atmosphere is like getting a gobful of
Nitrous Oxide…”

Stephen Chester
The Scotsman

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW

‘Bingo Nannas and Other Causes of Terrorism’
‘THE POD DECO’
(Cyclops Events)
Clerk Street

This show is living proof that great comic talent does not guarantee you an audience when you’re performing at The Fringe. Anvil Springstien really is a hidden gem of this years Fringe Festival, though since he achieved four-star reviews last year this really is a bit of a mystery.

This is a man who has lived life without the rulebook and as such has seen and experienced more than most. It is this rich and bizarre tapestry of his existence, beginning with his upbringing in Liverpool which gives him such a wealth of comic material. His stories of life in Liverpool and beyond had his audience reeling with laughter within five minutes of the show starting. He reads his audience from their reactions and delivers a show tailored to their tastes from his seemingly bottomless well of life experience and comic observation. 

Anvil is an incredibly natural comedian. His confidence seems to radiate from him, allowing him to converse with his audience, relating his experiences to theirs and as a result making the show a funnier and much more personal experience. ‘Bingo Nannas and Other Causes of Terrorism’ is the sort of show that the fringe was built on, an intimate audience with real comic talent.

Mathew Otway
HAIRLINE: fringe

EDINBURGH FRINGE REVIEW

‘Bingo Nannas and Other Causes of Terrorism’
‘THE POD DECO’
(Cyclops Events)
Clerk Street

(OTHER REVIEWS)

“Wicked – and hilarious”
“Unique super-fast brand of observational comedy”
“Flashes of genius”
Edinburgh Evening News.

“Fantastically impressive”
Three Weeks.