"Boom! Shake The Room" is the title of a song by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. It was released in March 1993 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Code Red, released in 1993. The song became the duo's first number one in the United Kingdom^[1], as well as reaching #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of their last significant hits. The song samples "Funky Worm", a song by the Ohio Players, and "Jump", a 1992 hit by Kris Kross. On September 17, 1993, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the song gold.^[2]

Tracklisting[link]

UK CD1

1. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Version) - 3:51
2. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Club Radio Mix) - 3:55
3. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Street Remix) - 4:30
4. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Mr. Lee's Club Mix) - 5:02
5. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Mr. Lee's Extended Club Mix) - 5:55
6. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Instrumental) - 4:12
7. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Street Remix Bonus Beats) - 4:17

UK CD2

1. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Version) - 3:51
2. "Summertime" (7" Mix) - 3:57
3. "Parents Just Don't Understand" (Single Remix) - 2:59
4. "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble" (Shorter Single Edit) - 3:58

Cassette Single

1. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Version) - 3:51
2. "Summertime" (7" Mix) - 3:57

European Single

1. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Version) - 3:51
2. "From Da South" - 3:14

UK 1995 Re-Issue

1. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Hula's Radio Remix) - 3:35
2. "Boom! Shake The Room" (LP Version) - 3:51
3. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Street Remix) - 4:30
4. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Hula's Dub) - 5:31
5. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Club Radio Mix) - 3:55
6. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Mr. Lee's Club Mix) - 5:02
7. "Boom! Shake The Room" (Hula's Extended Remix) - 6:09

Charts[link]

Cover version[link]

On July 2, 2010, Australian band Art vs. Science performed a version of Boom! Shake The Room live at the Splendour in the Grass festival, which was recorded by Triple J radio and released on the band's 2010 EP Magic Fountain.^[7]

In 2010 UK metal band Sa-da-kO recorded a cover version of the track

References[link]

The Room may refer to:

• The Room (film)
  • The Room (video game), a 2010 unofficial adaptation of the film
• The Room (album), by Harold Budd
• The Room (band)
• The Room (EP), by Zoé
• The Room (novel), by Hubert Selby, Jr.
• The Room (play), by Harold Pinter
• Silent Hill 4: The Room, a 2004 video game
• The Room, a section of some The Bay department stores

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2009)

DJ Jazzy Jeff
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Allen Townes
Born	(1965-01-22) January 22, 1965 (age 47)
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres	Hip hop, R&B
Occupations	Record producer, DJ
Years active	1985–Present
Associated acts	DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
Website	www.djjazzyjeff.com

Jeffrey Allen Townes^[1] (born January 22, 1965, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania),^[2] also known as DJ Jazzy Jeff or simply Jazz, is an American hip hop, R&B record producer, turntablist and actor. He is best known for his early career with Will Smith as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. DJ Jazzy Jeff attended John Bartram High School in Philadelphia, where he is enshrined in the school's "Wall of Fame."^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Once he grew up, he developed a reputation and a following as a school and block party DJ. Jazzy Jeff was the feature of the duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. He also won the world DJ championship in the 1986 New Music Seminar DJ Battle.

Acting[link]

When Smith branched out into television with the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Jazzy Jeff played a recurring character named Jazz, Smith's best friend on the show. In the early season the two characters always greeted each other with their signature handshake (swinging mid-five, point-back/snap with both characters saying "Pssh!"). His trademarks included being physically ejected from the house by Uncle Phil (James Avery).

Music[link]

As a duo, they had several gold and platinum-selling albums and singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, earning them the first rap Grammy Award ever presented in 1989 for Parents Just Don't Understand. One of the first records Jazzy Jeff ever appeared on was with The Korner Boyz (Street Artz Records) "Bust The Move and The Soga of Roxanne) Which featured legendary Philly Rapper / MC Parry P and Grand Tone. The Instrumental was called "Jazzy Jeff Scratch" (1985)

After DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince broke up, Townes went on to become a prominent R&B, soul, and neo soul record producer, establishing the A Touch of Jazz production company in his native Philadelphia. Among the artists that Jazzy Jeff has helped develop are Jill Scott and Musiq. Even though he separated from Will Smith as a music partner, they are still friends,^{[citation needed]} and still occasionally work together. Some songs by Smith were produced by Townes (including "Here He Comes"), and he has performed on some songs by Smith such as "So Fresh" and "Potnas." In addition, he appeared in several of Smith's music videos such as "Will2K" and "Freakin' It". On some occasions, he made an appearances with Smith at live concerts, producing DJ scratches.

He, along with DJ Cash Money, is credited with making the transform scratch famous.^{[citation needed]}

On July 2, 2005, DJ Jazzy Jeff performed with Smith at the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia. Moreover, Smith acknowledges him in his music such as "Comin' To The Stage" from the album Lost & Found and "Potnas" in his album Willennium.

His 2007 release The Return of the Magnificent featured numerous collaborations with old school and new school artists including CL Smooth, Big Daddy Kane, Pos from De La Soul, Method Man, Peedi Peedi (a remake of Brand New Funk), Rhymefest, and Raheem DeVaughn.

In 2007, he appeared with Rhymefest in a video DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Fest directed by Konee Rok, in which he makes music in his home recording studio with Rhymefest.

In 2008, he performed with Smith at the premier of the latter's 2008 film Hancock.

In 2009, he made a mixtape titled He's the King...I'm the DJ in honor of the late entertainer Michael Jackson.

He was featured in the video game, DJ Hero, as a playable character. He also has some original mixes in the game.

He is currently making a mixtape with young rapper Mac Miller and is hosting it, titled "92 Til Infinity".

Discography[link]

Solo work as DJ Jazzy Jeff[link]

• Unreleased album from Sony Records (1998)
• One cut in Battle of DJs
• The Magnificent (2002)
• Soulheaven Presents Jazzy Jeff in the House (2004)
• The Soul Mixtape Groovin' Records USA (2005)
• Hip-Hop Forever II Rapster Records (2004)
• Hip-Hop Forever III BBE Records (2006)
• The Return of The Magnificent EP (2007)
• The Return of the Magnificent (2007) #55 US (Gold)
• The Return of Hip Hop EP (2007)

As DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince[link]

• Rock the House (1986) #83 US (Gold); #97 UK
• He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper (1988) #4 US (3x Platinum); #68 UK
• And in This Corner… (1989) #39 US (Gold)
• Homebase (1991) #12 US (Platinum); #69 UK
• Code Red (1993) #64 US (Gold); #50 UK
• Greatest Hits (1998) #144 US, #20 UK
• Before The Willennium (1999)
• The Very Best of D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (2006)^[1]

Miscellaneous[link]

• 1991 - Deep, Deep, Trouble with Bart Simpson; and the remixes from The Simpsons Sing the Blues
• 1997 - Jazzy Jeff's Theme; from the album Nuyorican Soul
• 1998 - "When To Stand Up" featuring Eminem
• 1998 - I Don't Know by Slum Village (scratches); from the album Fantastic, Vol. 2
• 1999 - The Next Movement by The Roots (scratches); from the album Things Fall Apart
• 2004 - Mirrorball (DJ Jazzy Jeff Full Sole Remix) by Everything But The Girl; from Adapt or Die: 10 Years of Remixes
• 2005 - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (DJ Jazzy Jeff & Pete Kuzma Solefull Mix) by the Temptations; from Motown Remixed.
• 2005 - Lost & Found by Will Smith; produced intro song Here He Comes and several DJ scratches on several tracks
• 2005 - Watch Me by Little Brother (scratches); from the album The Minstrel Show
• 2006 - Feel It (Jazzy Jeff Soulful Remix) by the Black Eyed Peas; from Renegotiations: The Remixes
• 2006 - Night in Tunisia (DJ Jazzy Jeff Remix) by Duke Jordan
• 2007 - NY Weather Report by Talib Kweli (scratches); from the album Eardrum
• 2007-Made a cameo appearance in Jill Scott's music video "A Long Walk"
• 2008 - Get Busy by The Roots (scratches); from the album Rising Down
• 2008 - Bring It Back by Rhymefest (producer); from the album El Che
• 2009 - Prince in Training by MaC Renegade Hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff
• 2009 - Stay This Way (Jazzy Jeff Remix) by Peter Bjorn and John featuring Big Pooh, Chaundon, and Phil Nash from the mixtape Re-Living Thing with Mick Boogie

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DJ Jazzy Jeff

• Official website
• DJ Jazzy Jeff at the Internet Movie Database
• DJ Jazzy Jeff Beatbuggy Profile
• YourSingapore - ZoukOut

Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Gordon-Levitt in March 2012.
Born	Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (1981-02-17) February 17, 1981 (age 31) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present

Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt^[1] (born February 17, 1981) is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and films. He is known for his roles in the 2009 indie film (500) Days of Summer (for which he earned a Golden Globe nomination), a supporting role in the 2010 science fiction film Inception, and for starring in the 2011 drama 50/50 (for which he earned his second Golden Globe nomination).

Beginning in commercials as a young child, he made his film debut in 1992's Beethoven. Gordon-Levitt subsequently co-starred in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) as the young Tommy Solomon. After a hiatus during which he attended Columbia University, Gordon-Levitt left television for film acting, appearing in films like 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Manic (2001), followed by critically acclaimed performances in 2004's Mysterious Skin, 2005's Brick, and 2007's The Lookout. He runs an online collaborative production company titled HitRECord.

Early life[link]

Gordon-Levitt was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Sherman Oaks. His family is Jewish, though "not strictly religious",^[2] and his parents were among the founders of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.^[3][4][5] His father, Dennis Levitt, was once the news director for the Pacifica Radio station, KPFK-FM.^[6][7] His mother, Jane Gordon, ran for the United States Congress in California during the 1970s for the Peace and Freedom Party; she met Dennis Levitt while she was working as the program guide editor for KPFK-FM.^[6] Gordon-Levitt's maternal grandfather, Michael Gordon, was a Hollywood film director between the 1940s and 1970s, known for helming the 1959 Doris Day/Rock Hudson film Pillow Talk.^[6] Gordon-Levitt had an older brother, Dan, who was a photographer and fire spinner;^[8] he was born in 1974 and died in October 2010.^[9][10]

Gordon-Levitt joined a musical theater group at the age of four and played the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz.^[6] Subsequently, he was approached by an agent and began appearing on television and in commercials for Sunny Jim peanut butter, Cocoa Puffs, Pop-Tarts, and Kinney Shoes.^[6]

Career[link]

Early acting work[link]

Gordon-Levitt began his acting career at the age of six, appearing in several late 1980s made-for-television films. In 1991, he played David in the Dark Shadows television series. In 1992-1993 he played in The Powers That Be, a sitcom starring John Forsythe, as a clever young boy named Pierce Van Horne. In 1994 he appeared in the Disney film Angels in the Outfield as an orphan who sees angels. In 1996 he began playing Tommy Solomon on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, a role that made him a popular TV personality.^[6] The San Francisco Chronicle noted the coincidence that Gordon-Levitt was a "Jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a Jewish kid".^[11] Gordon-Levitt was attending Van Nuys High School while acting on the show.^[12] During the 1990s, he was frequently featured in teenage magazines, something he resented.^[6] He has also said that during this time period, he did not enjoy being recognized in public, saying that he "hates celebrity".^[11]

Gordon-Levitt starred in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You, a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and voiced Jim Hawkins in Treasure Planet (2002), a Disney adaption of the novel Treasure Island.^[13]

In 2000, he began attending Columbia University.^[6][14] He studied history, literature, and French poetry in General Studies.^[6] He became an avid and self-confirmed Francophile and a French speaker.^[6] He said that moving to New York City from his hometown "forced" him to grow as a person.^[11] He dropped out in 2004 to concentrate on acting again.^[6]

Later acting work[link]

Gordon-Levitt has said that he made a conscious decision to "be in good movies" after returning to acting.^[14] His films include 2001's drama Manic, which was set in a mental institution, Mysterious Skin (2004), in which he played a gay prostitute and child sexual abuse victim, and Brick (2005), a modern-day film noir set at a high school, in which he had the lead role of Brendan Frye, a teen who becomes involved in an underground drug ring while investigating a murder. Brick received positive reviews, with The Minnesota Daily's critic commenting that Gordon-Levitt played the character "beautifully", "true to film's style", "unfeeling but not disenchanted", and "sexy in the most ambiguous way."^[14][15] Another reviewer described the performance as "astounding".^[16] He also starred opposite Steve Sandvoss as a young judgmental missionary in Latter Days (2003), a film that centers on a sexually confused Mormon missionary (Sandvoss) who falls for his gay neighbor. He had roles in Havoc and Shadowboxer.^[17]

His next role was in 2007's The Lookout, in which he played Chris Pratt, a janitor involved in a bank heist. In reviewing the film, The Philadelphia Inquirer described Gordon-Levitt as a "surprisingly formidable, and formidably surprising, leading man",^[18] while New York magazine stated that he is a "major tabula rasa actor ... a minimalist", and that his character worked because he "doesn't seize the space ... by what he takes away from the character."^[19] The San Francisco Chronicle specified that he "embodies, more than performs, a character's inner life."^[11] His 2008 films include Killshot, in which he played a hoodlum partnered with a hired killer played by Mickey Rourke, and Stop-Loss, directed by Kimberly Peirce and revolving around American soldiers returning from the Iraq War.^[14]

Gordon-Levitt played a lead role opposite Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer, a well-received 2009 release about the deconstruction of a relationship.^[17] His performance, described as "the real key" to what makes the film work, credits him with using "his usual spell in subtle gradations."^[20] Variety's Todd McCarthy praised his performance, saying he "expressively alternates between enthusiasm and forlorn disappointment in the manner Jack Lemmon could".^[21] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said the movie "hits you like a blast of pure romantic oxygen" and credited both lead actors for playing "it for real, with a grasp of subtlety and feeling that goes beyond the call of breezy duty."^[22] He was subsequently nominated for a Golden Globe Award.^[23]

He later played villain Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.^[24] On November 21, 2009, he hosted Saturday Night Live.^[25] In 2010, replacing James Franco,^[26] he starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Inception, which received favorable reviews.^[17] He played the role of the "Point Man" Arthur, Dom Cobb's (DiCaprio) partner and the person responsible for researching the team's targets.

He will play the younger version of Bruce Willis's character in the time-traveling thriller Looper.^[27] In 2011, he began filming Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, in which he plays John Blake, "a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon."^[28] Steven Spielberg cast him to play Robert Todd Lincoln in the 2012 film Lincoln.^[29]

Directing and producing[link]

Gordon-Levitt's first film as director, the 24 minute-long Sparks, an adaptation of a short story by Elmore Leonard starring Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz, was selected for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as part of a new program for short films.^[30] In 2010, he directed another short film, Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo.^[31] It premiered at two houses during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.^[31]

He was one of the many producers of the Broadway show Slava's Snowshow.^[32]

hitRECord[link]

Gordon-Levitt has owned hitRECord.org, an online collaborative production company that shares its profits with contributing artists, since 2004.^[33][34] At its onset, it hosted six videos and short films.^[35]

Beginning in 2009, he opened the website to host films by others. In a 2007 interview in Salon, he described the website as "[an] alternative outlet of where [he] get[s] to be a little less professional and just freak out a little bit."^[36] The site has since expanded with more than 10,000 participants collaborating to make songs, images, stories, and short films. According to a 2010 article in Details magazine, Gordon-Levitt oversees the site from a bank of computers in his home studio.^[8]

RECollection, the first anthology of work from hitRECord, was released in 2011 as a book/CD/DVD package.^[37][38]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the Internet Movie Database
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt at Rotten Tomatoes

Stephen Merchant
Merchant in 2009
Born	Stephen James Merchant (1974-11-24) 24 November 1974 (age 37) Bristol, England
Occupation	Actor Director Writer Radio presenter Comedian
Years active	1998–present
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television-show forms. The Ricky Gervais Show in radio form has won a bronze Sony Award.

Merchant appeared in the BBC TV series Life's Too Short in which he co-wrote and co-directs. He also voiced the character Wheatley in the popular 2011 video game Portal 2, co-developed Sky TV travel series An Idiot Abroad, and performs as a stand-up comedian. He has won three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, and an Emmy.

Early life[link]

Merchant was born in Bristol, England, the son of Jane Elaine (née Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative.^[1] He attended Hanham High School. As he has described in Xfm London shows and podcasts, Merchant was a very shy child, tending to focus more on school work as opposed to sport. His school yearbook predicted that he would enjoy success.

Merchant is a graduate of the University of Warwick, and a former film reviewer on the student radio station, Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career^[2]. The station's 1995/96 yearbook tipped him for great things:

Members of Merchant's "posse" included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell and Geraint the Welshman. Recently, a number of tapes of "The Steve Show", recorded at the time, have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fansites.^[3] He graduated with a 2:1 in Film and Literature in 1996.

Career[link]

Pre-2001[link]

Merchant began his career performing stand-up comedy at Bristol's Comedy Box, where, he recalls, "The first week I did really well ...The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all." He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show Blockbusters and worked for a short time as a DJ for Radio Caroline.

Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997, when Gervais (then in the position of "Head of Speech" at the London radio station Xfm) hired Merchant as his assistant. (Gervais said later that he had called Merchant for an interview simply because it was the first CV handed to him.) Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January through to August 1998, when both of them left XFM as it was bought by the Capital Radio Group. In the same year, Merchant was a finalist at the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.

Merchant did a total of 7 years on XFM 104.9. The Saturday show never had a large audience; Gervais says "It's a tin pot radio station... It's not even the biggest radio station in the building." Merchant created the features 'Hip Hop Hooray', 'Make Ricky Gervais laugh' and 'Song for the Ladies.'

After leaving XFM, Merchant began a production course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, "Seedy Boss," which became the earliest inspiration for their sitcom The Office. They collaborated on a sitcom pilot called Golden Years featuring a manager suffering a mid-life crisis; the pilot aired on Channel 4's Comedy Lab series in September 1998, but failed to find further success.

[edit] 2001–03 (The Office and return to XFM)

In mid-2001, BBC Two aired the first series of The Office, co-written and co-directed by Merchant and Gervais and starring the latter as paper sales office manager David Brent; the show initially received low ratings. Beginning in September, Merchant and Gervais returned to Xfm as co-hosts of The Ricky Gervais Show, another Saturday afternoon programme, which led to their fruitful relationship with producer Karl Pilkington.

They took a break from the radio show in mid-2002 in order to film the second series of The Office, which aired that year; in addition to writing and directing the show, Merchant made a cameo performance in the episode "Charity" as a friend of Gareth Keenan's character known by the name Oggy or Oggmonster. (Merchant's father also appears in multiple episodes as an office handyman named Gordon.) Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called The Last Chancers, which aired on Comedy Lab in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4.

Merchant and Gervais continued to host The Ricky Gervais Show through 2003, taking another break to film the Office Christmas special, which aired that December. The radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004. During 2004, Merchant appeared in a recurring role as a chef on Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and in a cameo on Green Wing, and served as a script associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom Nathan Barley. The same year, The Office aired in the U.S to critical acclaim. It went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy which both Merchant and Gervais accepted.

This was followed in 2005 by a 4th series of the radio show, consisting of six episodes.

[edit] US series of The Office

In March 2005, the American version of The Office premiered, with Merchant and Gervais credited as executive producers. They would later co-write the third-season episode "The Convict", and Merchant would direct the fifth-season episode "Customer Survey".^[4]

Podcast series[link]

In December 2005, with sponsorship by The Guardian, Merchant, Gervais and Pilkington began recording a weekly podcast (also called The Ricky Gervais Show).^[5] Throughout its first series (through 20 February 2006), the podcast was consistently ranked the most popular in the world, and was certified as the most-downloaded of all time by Guinness World Records. Two more series and three special instalments (the "Podfather Trilogy") were recorded in 2006, with the final episode released on Christmas Eve. In late 2008, they recorded four more podcasts and began a series of audiobooks examining Pilkington's perspective on various subjects.

[edit] Extras

In July 2005, following a brief return of the XFM radio show (filling in for Adam and Joe), Gervais and Merchant's new sitcom Extras premiered on BBC2. The series features Merchant in a supporting role as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent to struggling actor Andy Millman, played by Gervais. Series 2 of Extras aired in late 2006, followed by a Christmas special in December 2007; all three instalments aired on HBO in the United States. Merchant won a 2006 British Comedy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance as Lamb.^[6]

[edit] The Steve Show

Merchant in January 2011

In January 2007, Merchant began hosting his own radio show on BBC 6 Music, airing weekly on Sunday afternoons.^[7] Instead of comedy, The Steve Show focused on music and particularly "new music," defined by Merchant as "music you've not heard before." Many of the songs on the show were suggested by listeners or co-presenters. In addition to Merchant, the show featured several of his friends, including his housemate Dan, his childhood friend Harry, and actor Rufus Gerrard-Wright (who also appeared in an episode of Extras). A spring search for a "she-J" resulted in the addition of former Byker Grove actor Sammy T. Dobson^[8] joining the ensemble. "The Steve Show" aired for four seasons and concluded in May 2009.

Stand-up[link]

Merchant began performing stand-up comedy in the late 1990s to critical success, though he decided to focus more on his work with writing partner Ricky Gervais after the success of The Office. Merchant returned to stand-up with a nationwide tour of the United Kingdom in September 2011, under the title Hello Ladies.^[9] The tour was later released on DVD.

Other work[link]

Merchant has played small roles in the films Hot Fuzz (2007), Run Fatboy Run (2007), and The Invention of Lying (2009), the latter starring Ricky Gervais. He has a supporting role in the 2009 film Tooth Fairy. On television, Merchant made a cameo appearance in a non-speaking role on the sixth season premiere of 24; he also starred as a sports commentator in the unaired pilot No Skillz. Additionally, Merchant has provided the voice-over since 2009 of advertisements for Barclays and Waterstone's.

In 2009, Merchant and Gervais collaborated on the film Cemetery Junction, set in working-class England in the 1970s. The film was released in April 2010 to generally mixed to positive reviews.

In September 2010, Merchant produced a television show alongside Ricky Gervais starring Karl Pilkington called An Idiot Abroad.

In July 2010, filming finished for the pilot of Life's Too Short, written by Ricky Gervais and Merchant, who will both cameo alongside the show's star, Warwick Davis.^[10] In 2011, he lent his voice to the CGI film Gnomeo and Juliet, and had a role in the Farrelly brothers' comedy Hall Pass.

In January 2011, Merchant appeared at the 'Free Fringe Benefit' at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. A show of stand-up to benefit the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, alongside comedians Jeremy Hardy, Michael Legge, Robin Ince, Mitch Benn, Isy Suttie, Bennett Arron, Andy Zaltzman and founder Peter Buckley Hill. He also stated on the recent free podcast The Ricky Gervais Guide to...Comic Relief that he will be touring his first solo stand up tour later in the year.

On Film 2011's Questionnaire feature, broadcast on 2 March 2011, Merchant described his favourite film as The Apartment (1960), his guilty pleasure as Con Air (1997), the film he cried at as The Bridges of Madison County, and the film he didn't get as The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.^[11]

Merchant provides the voice of Wheatley in Valve's 2011 video game Portal 2,^[12] a role which earned him widespread acclaim among reviewers.^[13] While he states his work on the project as "exhausting", Merchant is also "very pleased by the response people have had to it. What I was really pleased by how people seemed to respond to it in the way they do with a movie they've enjoyed, or a TV show they've enjoyed."^[14]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Video games[link]

Awards[link]

Personal life[link]

Merchant dated digital advertising producer Claire Jones for two years, although their relationship reportedly ended in 2009.^[15] Merchant is an atheist.^[16] He is the cousin of Sara Dallin of Bananarama.

Appearance[link]

Merchant's considerable height (6ft 7in; 2.01 m)^[17] has been a source of humour and teasing throughout his life. He made a cameo appearance in The Office, playing a character nicknamed the Ogg-Monster, whom David Brent called "a big lanky goggle-eyed freak".^[18] His height, and also dance moves, have attracted comments from several sources. The Daily Mail newspaper described him as a "giant albatross hopping on stilts"^[19] as he danced in a London pub (although Merchant denied this during an episode of the Ricky Gervais Show, stating that he did not take to the dance floor on that occasion).

While discussing what the Daily Mail had said on the show, friend and collaborator Ricky Gervais has likened him to an "upright lizard being given electro-shock treatment"^[20] and a "stick insect with glasses"^[20] or Beaker from The Muppet Show.^[21] Radio producer and co-host of Merchant, Karl Pilkington, has described his moves as a "bit of weird art"^[22] in the past, while British comic and broadcaster Russell Brand has likened him to a "graceful grasshopper".^[23] Merchant has commented that he prefers to liken himself to fellow tall man and English football player, Peter Crouch^[24] who is also six foot seven inches. Merchant impersonated Crouch in a BBC sketch broadcast as part of the pre-match build-up to England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stephen Merchant

• Official website
• Stephen Merchant at the Internet Movie Database
• Interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live
• Xfm: Biography
• Tall man, taller success story – interview in The Telegraph – 8 August 2005
• Interview with Barbara Ellen in The Observer Magazine – 5 November 2006
• An Englishman abroad
• Stephen Merchant interview
• Stephen Merchant interviewed by Sophie Elmhirst on New Statesman.