The Master Jesus in Theosophy and the Ascended Master Teachings, refers to the theosophical concept of Jesus as opposed to the Jesus Christ of the Christian religion.

Position in the Hierarchy of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom

The Master Jesus is one of the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom in Theosophy and is one of the Ascended Masters (also collectively called the Great White Brotherhood) in the Ascended Master Teachings, a group of religions based on Theosophy. The Master Jesus is regarded by Theosophists, was regarded by Alice Bailey and was later regarded by students of the "Ascended Master Teachings" as the Master of the Sixth Ray.

It is believed by Ascended Master Teachings organizations that the Master Jesus was "Chohan of the Sixth Ray" until December 31, 1959, when, according to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Lady Master Nada fully took on that Office in Hierarchy. According to Prophet, Jesus became World Teacher, along with Kuthumi, on January 1, 1956, succeeding Maitreya, who took the Office of "Planetary Buddha" and "Cosmic Christ". This belief is not accepted by adherents of traditional Theosophy and the followers of Alice A. Bailey and Benjamin Creme - they believe that the Master Jesus is still the Chohan of the Sixth Ray and that Maitreya is still the World Teacher.

Previous incarnations

According to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the Prophet of the Church Universal and Triumphant, the largest Ascended Master Teachings religion, the Master Jesus incarnated twice as the Emperor of Atlantis, once in 33,050 BC and again in 15,000 BC. He did this in order to aid the white magicians in the war of the white magicians and the black magicians that was going on in Atlantis at that time.

According to Alice A. Bailey, the Master Jesus was previously incarnated as Joshua, the Hebrew military leader in the 13th century BC, and Joshua the High Priest in the sixth century BC.

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, Jesus was also incarnated as Joseph of the Coat of many colors in the 17th century BC/16th century BC (approximately between 1650 BC and 1550 BC), as well as King David (who lived c. 1037 BC until around 970 BC), and Elisha in the 9th century BC.

Birth

It is believed in the Ascended Master Teachings that Jesus’ father Joseph was one of the incarnations of St. Germain, and that his mother Mary, upon her Assumption became an archangel and is now the twin flame (celestial wife) of the Archangel Raphael.

In traditional Theosophy, it is believed that after her Assumption Mary became a deva.

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, each of the Three Wise Men who came to visit the baby Jesus was an incarnation of one of the ascended masters: Caspar, the one who gave the gift of gold to Jesus, was an incarnation of Djwal Khul; Balthasar, the one who gave the gift of frankincense to Jesus, was an incarnation of Kuthumi; and Melchior, the one who gave the gift of myrrh to Jesus, was an incarnation of Morya .

Activities between the ages of twelve and thirty

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, to prepare for his ministry, Jesus first studied at the Brotherhood of Luxor (a mystery school in Egypt), and then went to India to study under the Great Divine Director, Maitreya, and Lord Himalaya, the Manu of the Fourth Root Race (Atlantean).

After returning from India, while living in Judea, Jesus worked as a carpenter; his father Joseph helped him get work because he was a general contractor.

Ministry

The followers of Benjamin Creme and Alice A. Bailey believe in the Nestorian/Gnostic Christology, promulgated by C.W. Leadbeater, which asserts that the powerful being known as the Maitreya overshadowed the Master Jesus during the Ministry of Jesus, such that there were two beings in one body. Maitreya was the Christ and the Master Jesus was Jesus of Nazareth; the combination of the two beings functioned as Jesus Christ. Those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings believe in the existence of the Maitreya; however, they believe that although he encouraged the mission of Jesus, he did not actually overshadow Jesus.

Crucifixion

Theosophists and those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings alike believe that the Master Jesus underwent the fourth level of initiation (the crucifixion) at his crucifixion in Jerusalem. According to Alice A. Bailey, for most people at the fourth initiation the crucifixion is symbolic as a severe life test of renunciation, but for Jesus it was literal.

Resurrection

Ascended Master Teachings organizations adhere to the traditional Christian view that Jesus resurrected and ascended with his own physical body. Some with backgrounds in traditional Theosophy, the writings of Alice A. Bailey, and Benjamin Creme believe that Jesus resurrected from the body that he had when he incarnated as Apollonius of Tyana, although they do believe he ascended on the 40th day—they believe he had a body functioning at the fourth level of initiation when he ascended and not a fifth level body.

Activities between the resurrection and the ascension

Traditional theosophists believe that the Master Jesus and Maitreya souls' separated from each other just after the Ascension (which for Jesus was only to the fourth and not the fifth level of initiation) and do not believe that the Master Jesus went to Kashmir; they believe he went directly to Shamballa to be with the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara, for a time, until he then incarnated again soon after as Apollonius of Tyana.

It is believed in the Ascended Master Teachings that when Jesus ascended on the 40th day after the resurrection, he levitated from Judaea to Kashmir.

Activities after the day of Pentecost

In the Ascended Master Teachings, it is believed that the Master Jesus lived in Kashmir until he was 81, and then, assuming he had been born in 6 BC, in AD 75, he ascended to Shamballa to be with the Lord of the World, Sanat Kumara. Some Theosophists such as C.W. Leadbeater and the teachers of Neo-Theosophy, Alice A. Bailey and Benjamin Creme, have written that the Master Jesus was also incarnated as Apollonius of Tyana after his incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth. It is believed that he attained the fifth level of initiation (the resurrection) when he became an Ascended Master at the end of his life as Apollonius of Tyana. However, if Apollonius was a contemporary of Jesus as Blavatsky wrote, Jesus could not have reincarnated as him. Benjamin Creme gets around this by claiming that Jesus lived from 24 BC to AD 9 (instead of the usual dates given of Jesus' lifetime as being c. 6 BC to c. AD 30 or AD 33). This means that Jesus could have incarnated as Apollonius of Tyana, since according to Creme, Apollonius lived from AD 16 to c. AD 97. However, one of the possible chronologies of Apollonius of Tyana's life sometimes cited give his life span as being from AD 40 to AD 120, thus making it possible that, even if the usual dates of Jesus' lifetime are accepted (c. 6 BC to c. AD 30 or AD 33), he still could have incarnated as Apollonius of Tyana. However, other modern scholarship, more often cited, gives the dates of Appolonius' life span as c. AD 15 to c. AD 100, thus making it problematic, realistically speaking, that Jesus could have incarnated as him.

Jesus' incarnation as Apollonius of Tyana is accepted by the followers of traditional Theosophy, of Alice A. Bailey, and of Benjamin Creme, but not by those who are adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings, who believe that the incarnation as Jesus was his last embodiment on Earth.

Incarnation as Ramanuja

C.W. Leadbeater stated that the Master Jesus, after his resurrection in the body of Apollonius of Tyana, incarnated in India as the Tamil religious reformer Ramanuja, a leading figure within the bhakti movement in Hinduism; thus, by incarnating as Ramanuja, Jesus became an avatar. According to Leadbeater, the Master Jesus incarnated as Ramanuja as part of his spiritual work as Master of the Sixth Ray of Love-Devotion (bhakti is the Sanskrit word for devotion).

That Jesus incarnated as Ramanuja is believed by many traditional Theosophists, but not by those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings.

Benjamin Crème's views

According to Benjamin Creme, the Master Jesus visited the Americas (as well as Polynesia) not immediately after his resurrection as recounted in the Book of Mormon, but in the late 7th century and early 8th century, after having descended to the continent of America from his dwelling place in Shamballah with Sanat Kumara. Like the Mormons, Creme believes that this visit gave rise to the legend of Quetzacoatl.

Benjamin Crème asserts that, in the late 1970s, the Master Jesus appeared to Spencer W. Kimball, the President of the LDS Church, in the Washington Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C., United States.

Creme has stated that since 1990 the Master Jesus has been living in secret in Rome. After the Maitreya makes his Emergence (the Day of Declaration), Creme asserts, the Master Jesus in his immortal body will assume the papal throne for the next 2,000 years of the Age of Aquarius.

Twin flame

Ascended Master Teachings groups describe the Master Jesus as having a twin flame (celestial wife) named Lady Master Magda, one of whose two known incarnations was Mary Magdalene; the other was Aimee Semple McPherson.

Aetherius Society

In the teachings of the Aetherius Society, headquartered in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, it is promulgated that since his resurrection, the Master Jesus has been dwelling mostly on the higher planes of Venus in order to work with the Master Aetherius, but when his presence is required, he teleports to or takes a flying saucer to Earth as needed.

Sananda

Joshua David Stone (whose organization, the I AM University, was originally headquartered near San Luis Obispo, California), began holding his Wesak Mount Shasta gatherings in 1996. Stone had already began teaching in 1993 that the Master Jesus, under his galactic name Sananda (the name, Stone stated, he adopted after his resurrection), works with Commander Ashtar, flying with him on his flying saucer fleet. According to Stone, another name used by Commander Ashtar to denote his flying saucer fleet is The Airborne Division of the Great White Brotherhood. Stone continued to present these teachings after 1996 at the yearly Wesak Mount Shasta gatherings.

Airborne Division of the Brotherhood of Light

Lourene Altiery, also known as Karita to her followers, is an Ascended Master Teachings teacher originally from Joliet, Illinois who now resides in Sun Lakes, Arizona. She set up her website in 2001. Like Luis Prada, Altiery also teaches that Sananda has taken over as the Commander of the Ashtar Galactic Command flying saucer fleet and that Ashtar is now second in command. She also teaches that an alternate name used by Commander Sananda to denote the Ashtar Galactic Command flying saucer fleet is The Airborne Division of the Brotherhood of Light.

In addition, Lourene Altieri has revealed the names of and channeled information from some of the other prominent beings who she says travel with Commander Sananda, Ashtar, and Vrillon on the saucers of the Ashtar Galactic Command flying saucer fleet. These include Aleph, subcommander of one of the wings of the fleet, whose function is "working towards raising the consciousness of humanity and uplifting the vibrations of planet Earth"; Korton, captain of the flying saucer Rainbow, the fleet communications officer in charge of maintaining subspace communications for the fleet; Esola, captain of the flying saucer Starship #77; Merku, of the planet Alcorn, subcommander of one of the wings of the fleet; Soltec, captain of the geophysics science survey flying saucer Phoenix; Voltra, the "space psychologist", who monitors the "vibratory level of humanity"; Kla-La, "master of force dynamics"; Hatonn, who monitors events on Earth for the Galactic Hall of Records at the galactic core; and the Lady Master Athena, the twin flame (celestial wife) of the Maha Chohan; Altieri teaches that the Lady Master Athena often personally accompanies Commander Sananda on board his command flying saucer.

Hatonn and the photon belt

According to the Ascended Master Teachings of Anne Bellringer of Rapid City, South Dakota, the work of Hatonn feeding information about events on Earth via subspace relay to the supercomputers at the "Galactic Hall of Records" is secondary to Hatonn's primary task (Hatonn is, she states, a Pleiadean), which is functioning as the liaison officer with the Pleiadeans for the Ashtar Galactic Command flying saucer fleet in order for him to be able to help Earth safely navigate through the approaching photon belt.

According to New Age artist Peter Fich Christiansen, Hatonn is actually an android.

Skeptical view

The scholar K. Paul Johnson maintains that the "Masters" that Madame Blavatsky wrote about and produced letters from were actually idealizations of people who were her mentors. In an article in the New York Times, Paul Zweig maintains that Madame Blavatsky's revelations were fraudulent.

However, the Master Jesus was never one of the "Masters" that Madame Blavatsky claimed to have met. He was added as a "Master" by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater in their 1913 book Man: Whence, How and Whither.

In popular culture

Anime

In the 2000 H-anime known as Bible Black, several groups mention Master Jesus in their ritualistic prayers and incantations.

Panelology In the 1973 underground comic book titled Occult Laff-Parade, cartoonist Jay Kinney drew a comic strip in which the Master Jesus is portrayed as commanding a flying saucer fleet orbiting Earth looking for evil-doers. He is shown as being dressed in a military uniform with a crew cut and having the title Commander Jesus. The web comic Master Jesus, written by Len Kody and drawn by Steve Bialik, appeared beginning in 2010.

See also

Hodgson Report

Notes

Sources

Leadbeater, C.W. The Masters and the Path Adyar, Madras, India: 1925—Theosophical Publishing House

Prophet, Mark L. and Elizabeth Clare Lords of the Seven Rays Livingston, Montana, U.S.A.:1986 - Summit University Press

Further reading

Campbell, Bruce F. A History of the Theosophical Movement Berkeley:1980 University of California Press

Godwin, Joscelyn The Theosophical Enlightenment Albany, New York: 1994 State University of New York Press

Johnson, K. Paul The Masters Revealed: Madam Blavatsky and Myth of the Great White Brotherhood Albany, New York: 1994 State University of New York Press

Melton, J. Gordon Encyclopedia of American Religions 5th Edition New York:1996 Gale Research ISBN 0-8103-7714-4 ISSN 1066-1212 Chapter 18--"The Ancient Wisdom Family of Religions" Pages 151-158; see chart on page 154 listing Masters of the Ancient Wisdom; Also see Section 18, Pages 717-757 Descriptions of various Ancient Wisdom religious organizations

Category:Theosophy Category:Ascended Master Teachings Category:Theosophical philosophical concepts Category:Masters of the Ancient Wisdom Category:Jesus

Name	Sananda Maitreya
Birth name	Terence Trent Howard
Background	solo_singer
Alias	Terence Trent D'Arby
Born	March 15, 1962Manhattan, New York, United States
Origin	New York
Genre	Pop, rock, soul post millennium rock
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, banjo,armonica, organ
Years active	1987–present
Label	Treehouse Publishing, Columbia
Url	http://www.SanandaMaitreya.com/

Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard, March 15, 1962), better known by his former stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer-songwriter who came to fame with his album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, released in July 1987, which included the singles "Wishing Well" and "Sign Your Name". The album has sold over 12 million copies.

Early life

Sananda Maitreya was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, in 1962. He grew up with his stepfather, Reverend James Benjamin Darby, a minister of the Pentecostal church; and Frances Darby, a gospel singer, teacher and counselor. D'Arby was known to childhood friends as Terry Darby. His family moved from New York to New Jersey to Chicago and then settled in DeLand, Florida, north of Orlando. A graduate of DeLand High School, he sang with the Modernaires, a show choir of high school.

Sananda Maitreya trained as a boxer in Orlando and won the Golden Gloves lightweight championship. He received an offer to attend boxing school in the United States Army, but his stepfather insisted he go to college instead. Maitreya enrolled at the University of Central Florida but quit a year later, enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was posted at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then served in the 3rd Armored Division, near Frankfurt, Germany.

Compilation albums

2002 - Greatest Hits

2006 - Collections

Singles

See also

List of Number 1 albums from the 1980s (UK)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

BRIT Awards

Grammy Awards of 1988

References

External links

Facebook Official Page

Terence Trent D'Arby at Rolling Stone

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:American expatriates in Germany Category:American expatriates in Italy Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American male singers Category:American pop singers Category:American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:American soul singers Category:People from Manhattan Category:People from Volusia County, Florida Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Frank Farian artists Category:Black British musicians

Paul David Washer (born 1961) is Director of the HeartCry Missionary Society that supports indigenous missionary work. He is also a Southern Baptist itinerant preacher. Washer's sermons tend to have a particular focus on the Gospel and the doctrine of Assurance of salvation, and he frequently speaks out against practices such as Altar calls, the Sinner's prayer, and church growth. Washer has cited George Muller, John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Leonard Ravenhill, John Wesley and A.W. Tozer, among others, as influences. He has frequently appeared on Christian radio and television discussing the Gospel.

Washer became a Christian while studying to become an oil and gas lawyer at the University of Texas. Upon graduation, he attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and achieved a Master of Divinity degree. He then moved to Peru to become a missionary for 10 years, after which he returned to the United States. Today, Washer resides in Radford, Virginia, where he lives with his wife and three children.

Books written

The One True God

Truth About Man

References

External links

Paul Washer's Missionary Organization: http://www.heartcrymissionary.com

Shocking Message Transcript: http://www.scribd.com/doc/789/The-Truth-About-Christianity

Regeneration vs. Idolatry of Decisional Evangelism: http://adidab.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/paul-washer-transcript-01-regeneration-v-the-idolatry-of-decisional-evangelism/

Ten indictments video & transcript: http://adidab.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/paul-washer-transcript-03-ten-indictments/

Truth About Man Workbook: http://www.heartcrymissionary.com/resources/online_books

Brief Washer Biography: http://www.hcmissions.org/about/staff/2

Paul Washer Bible Study Video Series Studies: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8872D3C0103E8568

Paul Washer Biography on Theopedia: http://www.theopedia.com/Paul_Washer

Paul Washer en Español: http://salvacioneterna.com/pwasher.html

Category:American clergy Category:American people of Croatian descent Category:Southern Baptists Category:Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Category:1961 births Category:Living people

Name	Joel Osteen
Caption	Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church, December 8, 2007
Birth name	Joel Scott Osteen
Birth date	March 05, 1963
Birth place	Houston, Texas
Occupation	Pastor, Author, Televangelist
Spouse
Children	Jonathan, Alexandra
Residency	Houston, Texas
Employer	Lakewood Church
Predecessor	John Osteen
Term	October 3, 1999 - present
Religion	Non-denominational Christianity
Website	joelosteen.com
Parents	John Osteen (father) Dolores (Dodie) Pilgrim Osteen (mother)

Joel Osteen (born March 5, 1963) is an American author and the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. His ministry reaches over seven million broadcast media viewers weekly in over 100 nations around the world.

Biography

Born in Houston, Texas, Osteen married Victoria L. Iloff on April 4, 1987. They have two children, Jonathan and Alexandra. Joel, son of John and Dodie Osteen, is one of five children. His older siblings, Paul, Lisa, and Tamara, and his younger sister, April, are also involved in full-time ministry. Joel's half-brother Justin does missionary work out of New York. Joel's father, John Osteen, a former Southern Baptist pastor who became Charismatic in the late 1950s, founded Lakewood Church on Mother's Day, 1959. Osteen's father developed Lakewood into a body of approximately 6,000 members with an active television ministry, conferences, missionary support and food distribution. Joel Osteen's first book, Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, was released in October 2004. In December 2006, he was named one of the year's "Ten Most Fascinating People" by Barbara Walters. Former presidential candidate John McCain has described Osteen as "inspirational".

Currently, Osteen and several Lakewood Church team members travel across the nation, presenting programs in large stadiums. The event, titled "A Night of Hope," includes worship music led by the church's music ministry, a testimony by Joel's mother Dodie and a sermon from Osteen. In 2007, the tour expanded to include stops in several other countries, including Canada, England, Northern Ireland and Israel. Osteen released his second book, titled Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day in October 2007, which also topped the New York Times Best Sellers List with a first printing of four million copies. Osteen told Larry King the new book will focus more on relationships and not getting stuck where we are in life. "Just my basic message of becoming all God's created you to be," he added. Osteen's popularity led to him being featured as one of ABC News' "10 Most Fascinating People of 2006", and was named "Most Influential Christian in America" in 2006 by The Church Report.

Preaching style

Osteen says that he chooses to focus on the goodness of God rather than sin. In answer to questions raised over why he does not include many Bible verses in his books, he says that he sees himself as more of a prophet. Osteen explains that he tries to teach Biblical principles in a simple way, emphasizing the power of love and a positive attitude.

Criticism and controversy

Osteen has received much criticism from some in the Evangelical community. After a 2005 appearance on Larry King Live, he was accused of not clearly affirming that Jesus Christ is the only way a person can reach Heaven. He stated repeatedly that only God knows a person's heart, but that as a believer in the Christian faith he believes in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

On the December 23, 2007, edition of Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace brought up criticisms of Osteen's lack of Scripture reference in his sermons, as well as his hesitancy to discuss sin as an integral part of life. Osteen responded: "And I am ultimately trying to do that, but I'm trying to teach people how to live their everyday lives, and so I do focus on it, probably not as much as some people would like." His sermons and writings are sometimes reproached for their use of the concepts of prosperity theology, or the prosperity gospel, a belief that wealth and power are rewards for pious Christians.

See also

Charismatic movement

Christianity

Prosperity theology

Word Faith

References

External links

Official Joel Osteen Ministries

Official Lakewood Church

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:American self-help writers Category:Christian writers Category:American Pentecostals Category:American television evangelists Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:Christian creationists Category:American Christians Category:Pentecostal clergy

Name	Sean Price
Background	solo_singer
Alias
Born	March 17th
Origin	Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Genre	Hip Hop
Years active	1993 to present
Label	Duck Down
Associated acts	Boot Camp Clik

Sean Price is an American Hip Hop artist from Brownsville, Brooklyn, a member of the Hip Hop supergroup Boot Camp Clik. He came to fame as one-half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruckus, or in short Ruck, along with partner Rock. He also is featured in the video game NBA 2K11 as a playable character in street mode.

Discography

References

External links

Duck Down Records website

Sean Price official website

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:African American rappers Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths Category:Musicians from New York City Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Boot Camp Clik members

Name	Bill Bailey
Caption	Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra, in 2008
Birth name	Mark Bailey
Birth place	Bath, Somerset, England
Active	1989 – present
Genre	Surreal humour, musical comedy, storytelling
Spouse	Kristin Bailey (1998-present)
Religion	Pagan
Website
Notable work	Black BooksNever Mind the BuzzcocksQI
Notable role	Manny Biancoin Black BooksBilboin Spaced

Bill Bailey (born Mark Bailey 13 January Bill Bailey is a patron of International Animal Rescue.

Personal life

Bailey spent the majority of his childhood in Keynsham, a town situated between Bath and Bristol in the West of England. His father was a general practitioner and his mother was a hospital ward sister. His maternal grandparents lived in an annexe, built on the side of the house by his maternal grandfather who was a stonemason and builder. Two rooms at the front of the family house were for his father's surgery. where he was initially an academic pupil winning most of the prizes. However, at about the age of 15 years, he started to become distracted from school work when he realised the thrill of performance as a member of a school band called Behind Closed Doors, which played mostly original work. He was the only pupil at his school to study A-level music and he passed with an A grade. He also claims to have been good at sport (captain of KES 2nd XI cricket team 1982), which often surprised his teachers. He would often combine the two by leading the singing on the long coach trip back from away rugby fixtures. It was here that he was given his nickname Bill by his music teacher, Ian Phipps, for being able to play the song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" so well on the guitar.

He spent his early years listening to Monty Python records, and rehearsing with a band called the "Famous Five", who he himself confesses were very bad but still much better than him and who, unexpectedly, had six members. However, he is a classically trained musician and received an Associateship Diploma from the London College of Music as well as being made an honorary member of the Society of Crematorium Organists. Despite this, he has said that he always had the temptation to be silly with music, a trait that influences his stand-up shows.

Bailey often mythologises his early years in his stand-up. In his show Bewilderness, he claims to have attended Bovington Gurney School of Performing Arts and Owl Sanctuary. He talks about a succession of jobs he had before becoming a comedian, including lounge pianist, crematorium organist, door-to-door door-salesman and accompanist for a mind-reading dog. A clip of Bailey's appearance in the dog's routine was shown during his Room 101 appearance. He also is self-deprecating about his appearance, suggesting he is so hairy that he is part troll, or that his hair or beard is a small animal named Lionel whom he has trained to sit 'very very still.'

Bailey also talks about his role as a "Disenfranchised Owl" in an experimental Welsh theatre troupe (mentioned in an interview with Australian newspaper Post). Other acting roles included a part in a Workers' Revolutionary Party stage production called The Printers, which also featured Vanessa Redgrave and Frances de la Tour. His trivia page on IMDb also claims that he was awarded Best Actor in the 1986 Institut Français awards.

An avid Star Trek fan, he named his son (born 2003) after the character Dax and often refers to himself as a Klingon (once claiming during his "Part Troll" tour that his ear-mounted microphone made him resemble "a wizard in a call centre" and "a Klingon motivational speaker").

Bailey married his wife Kirstin in 1998. They have one son, Dax.

In 2010, Bailey endorsed the Labour Party in the upcoming General Election, appearing in the party's fifth party election broadcast of the 2010 campaign. He is also a feminist and supporter of the Fawcett Society.

Career

Early stand-up

Bailey began touring the country with other comedians such as Mark Lamarr. In 1984 he formed a double act, the Rubber Bishops, with Toby Longworth (a former fellow pupil at King Edward's Bath). They achieved a certain amount of success on the club circuit, partly due to their rigorous schedule — sometimes as many as three or four gigs a night. It was here that Bailey began developing his own unique style, mixing in musical parodies with deconstructions of or variations on traditional jokes ("How many amoebas does it take to change a lightbulb? One, no two! No four! No eight..."). According to comedy folklore, after a reviewer once criticised his act for its lack of jokes, Bailey returned the following night, at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, to perform a set composed entirely of punchlines. Toby left to join the RSC in 1989 and was replaced by Martin Stubbs.

Stubbs later quit to pursue a more serious career, and in 1994 Bailey performed Rock at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Sean Lock, a show about an aging rockstar and his roadie, script-edited by comedy writer Jim Miller. It was later serialised for the Mark Radcliffe show on BBC Radio 1. However, the show's attendances were not impressive and on one occasion the only person in the audience was comedian Dominic Holland. Bailey confessed in an interview with The Independent that he almost gave it up to do a telesales job.

He persevered, however, and went solo the next year with the one man show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. The show was very well received and led to a recording at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London which was broadcast in 1997 on Channel 4 as a one-hour special called Bill Bailey Live. It was not until 2005 that this was released in DVD uncut and under its original title. It marked the first time that Bailey had been able to tie together his music and post-modern gags with the whimsical rambling style he is now known for.

After supporting Donna McPhail in 1995 and winning a Time Out award, he returned to Edinburgh in 1996 with a critically acclaimed show that was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. Amongst the other nominees was future Black Books co-star Dylan Moran, who narrowly beat him in the closest vote in the award's history.

Bailey won the Best Live Stand-Up award at the British Comedy Awards, 1999.

Television

Though he didn't win the Perrier in 1996, the nomination was enough to get him noticed, and in 1998 the BBC gave him his own television show, Is It Bill Bailey?

This was not Bailey's first foray into television. His debut was on the children's TV show Motormouth in the late 1980s, playing piano for a mind-reading dog.The trick went hilariously wrong, and Bailey reminisced about the experience on the BBC show Room 101 with Paul Merton in 2000. In 1991, he was appearing in stand-up shows such as The Happening, Packing Them In, The Stand Up Show, and The Comedy Store. He also appeared as captain on two panel games, an ITV music quiz pilot called Pop Dogs, and the poorly received Channel 4 sci-fi quiz show, Space Cadets. However Is it Bill Bailey? was the first time he had written and presented his own show.

With his star on the rise and gaining public recognition, over the next few years, Bailey made well received guest appearances on shows such as Have I Got News For You, World Cup Comedy, Room 101, Des O'Connor Tonight, Coast to Coast and three episodes of off-beat Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, in which he played comic-shop manager Bilbo Bagshot.

In 1998, Dylan Moran approached him with the pilot script for Black Books, a Channel 4 sitcom about a grumpy bookshop owner, his put-upon assistant, and their neurotic female friend. It was commissioned in 2000, and Bailey took the part of the assistant Manny Bianco, with Moran playing the owner Bernard, and Tamsin Greig the friend, Fran. Three series of six episodes were made, building up a large cult fanbase, providing the public awareness on which Bailey would build a successful national tour in 2001.

When Sean Hughes left his long-term role as a team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002, Bailey became his successor. His style quickly blended into the show, possibly helped by his background in music. He soon developed a rapport of sorts with host Mark Lamarr, who continually teased him about his looks and his pre-occupation with woodland animals. It was announced on the 18th of September 2008 that Bill would be leaving the series and be replaced by a series of guest captains including Jack Dee and Dermot O'Leary. Whilst touring in 2009, Bailey joked that his main reason for leaving the show was a lack of desire to continue humming Britney Spears' Toxic to little known figures in the indie music scene.

Bailey has appeared frequently on the intellectual panel game QI since it began in 2003, appearing alongside host Stephen Fry and regular panellist Alan Davies. Other television appearances include a cameo role in Alan Davies' drama series Jonathan Creek as failing street magician Kenny Starkiss and obsessed guitar teacher in the "Holiday" episode of Sean Lock's Fifteen Storeys High. He later appeared with Lock again as a guest on his show TV Heaven, Telly Hell. He has also appeared twice on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

Bailey also presented Wild Thing I Love You which began on Channel 4 on 15 October 2006. The series focuses on the protection of Britain's wild animals, and has included rehoming badgers, owls, and water voles.

Bailey has most recently appeared in the second series of the E4 teenage "dramedy" Skins playing Maxxie's Dad, Walter Oliver. In episode 1, Walter struggles with his son's desire to be a dancer, instead wishing him to become a builder, which is what he himself does for a living. Walter is married to Jackie, played by Fiona Allen.

Bailey appeared on the first episode of Grand Designs Live on 4 May 2008, helping Kevin McCloud build his eco-friendly home. In 2009 Bailey appeared in the BBC show "Hustle" as the Character "Cyclops", a side-line character. In the Autumn of 2009, Bailey presented Bill Bailey's Birdwatching Bonanza.

International tours

In 2001, Bailey began touring the globe with Bewilderness, which became a huge success. A recording of a performance in Swansea was released on DVD the same year, and the show was broadcast on Channel 4 that Christmas. A modified version of it also proved successful in America, and in 2002 Bill released a CD of a recording at the WestBeth Theatre in New York. The show contained all his trademarks, popular music parodies (such as Unisex Chip Shop, a Billy Bragg tribute which he actually performed with Billy Bragg at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival), "three men in a pub" jokes (including one in the style of Geoffrey Chaucer) and deconstructions of television themes such as Countdown and The Magic Roundabout. A 'Bewilderness' CD was sold outside gigs, which was actually just a mixture of studio recordings of songs and monologues Bill had performed in the past – it was later released in shops as Bill Bailey: The Ultimate Collection... Ever!. That same year he also presented a Channel 4 countdown, Top Ten Prog Rock.

Bailey premiered his show Part Troll at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. A critical and commercial success, he then transferred it to the West End where tickets sold out in under 24 hours, and new dates had to be added. Since then he has toured it all over the UK as well as in America, Australia and New Zealand. The show marked the first time Bailey had really tackled political material, as he expanded on subjects such as the war on Iraq, which he had only touched upon before in his Bewilderness New York show. He also talks extensively on drugs, at one point asking the audience to name different ways of baking cannabis. A DVD was released in 2004.

2005 finally saw the release of his 1995 show Bill Bailey's Cosmic Jam. The 2-disc set also contained a director's cut of Bewilderness, which featured a routine on Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time not seen in the original version.

Bailey performed at show at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe entitled "Steampunk". It looked set to become the fastest selling fringe show ever (beating the record Bailey set with The Odd Couple in 2005). But a ticketing mix-up forced the last 10% of tickets to be purchased in person from the venue rather than pre-booked, meaning the venue filled at a slower overall rate than it should have.

Bailey appeared at the Beautiful Days festival in August 2007. The UK leg of the Tinselworm tour enjoyed 3 sell-out nights at the MEN Arena in Manchester, Europe's largest indoor arena, and culminated with a sell-out performance at Wembley Arena.

Early in 2007, a petition was started to express fans' wishes to see him cast as a dwarf in the 2010 film The Hobbit, after his stand-up routine mentioned auditioning for Gimli in The Lord of the Rings. The petition reached its goal in the early days of January, and was sent to the producers. It was hoped that as the Tinselworm tour took him to Wellington in New Zealand where the film is in pre-production, that he would be able to audition.

Bill Bailey's most recent tour, titled 'Dandelion Mind', was released on DVD on 22 November 2010.

Other appearances

2000

A small role in British comedy film Saving Grace

2001

19 July: Panelist in Radio 4's show The 99p Challenge

2002

Voice for a BMW Mini advertising campaign

Writer and performer for a series of British Airways adverts in which, through the use of music, he took a humorous look at several locations around the world

Guest panelist on BBC Radio show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

2003

Juror #4 in Twelve Angry Men, directed by Guy Masterson for the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Panelist on Radio 4's show Just a Minute (twice)

4 February: Panelist (for a second time) on Radio 4's show The 99p Challenge

21 October: Presented Good Vibrations: The History of the Theremin on Radio 4

2005

Voice of the sperm whale in the 2005 film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Co-starred as Oscar in The Odd Couple (alongside Alan Davies), directed by Guy Masterson for the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe

One of the acts in the Birmingham show "Jasper Carrott's Rock with Laughter", alongside other performers including Bonnie Tyler, Lenny Henry, Bobby Davro and the Lord of the Dance troupe

Returned to Radio 4's Just a Minute for a third show as a panelist

2006

15 March: Interviewed by Lenny Henry for Radio 4 show Chain Reaction

22 March: Returned to Chain Reaction to interview Simon Pegg

2007

A minor part in Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's film Hot Fuzz, as a pair of desk sergeant twins. (Bailey had originally meant to also appear in Pegg and Wright's earlier film, Shaun of the Dead. but the commentary included with the DVD of that movie explains that he was busy with other commitments at the time.)

February: Organised, produced, and starred in West End show Pinter's People, a collection of sketches by playwright Harold Pinter. The show also starred Kevin Eldon, Sally Phillips and Geraldine McNulty

March: Appeared at the International Human Beatbox Convention at the South Bank Centre in London, introducing Shlomo to the stage for the climax of the concert, as well as showing off his own beatboxing

4 May: Guest presenter for an episode of BBC One's Have I Got News for You (a role he returned to on May 9, 2008)

July: Narrator for 'Nessy Tales', a series of animated reading books for dyslexic children

2008

]]

Guest on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs

February: Co-host of the first series of Radio 4's panel show The Museum of Curiosity

9 May: Guest presenter for an episode of BBC One's Have I Got News for You

9 June: Guest on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. Later that day, appeared as Rushton in the first episode of an adaptation of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists on the same station 7 September: Guest on live Australian TV show 'Rove'. In a questionnaire to win $20 in 20 seconds, host Rove McManus asked his usual question, "Who would you turn gay for?". Bailey replied, "The pope" September: One of the hosts of the So You Think You're Funny comedy gala at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

11 October: Guest on Radio 4's Loose Ends

12 November: Performed for "We Are Most Amused", a special comedy performance to celebrate the 60th birthday of Prince Charles

2010

30 March: took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London.

27 June: appeared on Top Gear's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, while impersonating Angelina Jolie. He finished with a time of 1:50.8 in the Kia Cee'd.

Music

Bailey is a talented pianist and guitarist, and has perfect pitch; of this he has said }} His stand-up routines often feature music from genres such as jazz, rock (most notably prog rock from the early seventies), drum'n'bass, rave and classical, usually for comic value. Favourite instruments include the keyboard, guitar, theremin, kazoo and bongos. He also mentioned in an interview that he has achieved Grade 6 Clarinet. He was also part of punk band Beergut 100, which he founded in 1995 with comedy writer Jim Miller and also featured Martin Trenaman and Phil Whelans, with Kevin Eldon as lead singer. The band performed at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Trenaman and Welans had previously appeared in Cosmic Jam under the name "The Stan Ellis Experiment", and Trenaman and Eldon later featured with John Moloney in the Kraftwerk homage "Das Hokey Kokey" on the Part Troll tour. Bill claims that he and the three other performers are a Kraftwerk tribute band called Augenblick. To mark the final gig of the Part Troll tour on 1 January 2005 the band reappeared on stage after the "Das Hokey Kokey" joke to play an hour-long encore of music.

In February 2007, Bill appeared on two occasions with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Anne Dudley in a show entitled Cosmic Shindig. Performed in The Colosseum in Watford on 24 February and in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 26 February, the show contained orchestrally accompanied versions of many of Bill's previously performed songs, an exploration of the instruments of the orchestra and a number of new pieces of music. The Queen Elizabeth Hall performance was aired on BBC Radio 3 on 16 March 2007 as a part of Comic Relief 2007.

Bill had planned to put himself forward as Britain's Eurovision entry in 2008, as a result of several fan petitions encouraging him to do so.

In October 2008 he performed Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Anne Dudley.

In 2009, Bailey presented a project about the explorer and naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, in the form of an Indonesian travelogue. Bailey said in an interview that Wallace had been "airbrushed out of history", and that he feels a "real affinity" with him.

In November 2009 he was a guest on Private Passions, the biographical music discussion programme on BBC Radio 3.

Tours

Cosmic Jam (1995)

Bewilderness (2001)

Part Troll (2004)

Steampunk (2006)

Tinselworm (2008)

Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra (2009)

Dandelion Mind (2010)

DVD releases

Filmography

The James Whale Radio Show (TV series) (circa 1990) (Guest)

Blue Heaven (Channel 4 TV series) (1994)

Asylum (1996)

Space Cadets (1997) (Regular team captain)

Is It Bill Bailey? (1998)

Spaced (1999–2001)

Have I Got News for You (Guest – 1999, 2001, 2005; Guest presenter – 2007, 2008, 2009)

Saving Grace (2000)

''Maid Marian and her Merry Men (1992). Cameo court jester to King John

Black Books (2000–2004)

Jonathan Creek

* "Satan's Chimney" (2001)

* "The Tailor's Dummy" (2003)

Wild West (2002–2004)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks (2002–2008) (Regular team captain)

QI (2003–present) (Frequent guest)

"15 Storeys High" – "The Holiday" (2004)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) (Voice of the Sperm Whale)

The Libertine (Small cameo role as advisor to Charles II of England).

Wild Thing I Love You (2006) (Presenter)

''Top Gear (A Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Run Fatboy Run (2007) (Cameo)

Skins (2008)

Love Soup (2008)

We Are Most Amused (2008) (One-off special)

Hustle

* "Return of the Prodigal" (2009)

* "Diamond Seeker" (2009)

Steve's World (2009)

Burke and Hare (2010)

Bill Bailey's Bird Watching Bonanza (2010)

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010)

Talkin' 'bout Your Generation (2010); one episode

References

External links

.

Bill Bailey on Chortle.

Category:1965 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:20th-century writers Category:21st-century writers Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Alumni of Westfield College Category:English buskers Category:English comedians Category:English comedy musicians Category:English composers Category:English film actors Category:English guitarists Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English television actors Category:English television writers Category:Living people Category:Never Mind the Buzzcocks Category:People from Bath, Somerset Category:People from Keynsham

Name	Ben Watt
Birthname	Benjamin Brian Watt
Birthdate	December 06, 1962
Birthplace	Barnes, London
Nationality	British
Occupation	musician, DJ, and record producer
Spouse	Tracey Thorn
Children	Jean, Alfie and Blake
Notableworks	Everything but the Girl
Website	http://www.myspace.com/benwatt

Ben Watt (born 6 December 1962, Barnes, London) is a British musician, DJ, and record producer, best known as one half of the duo, Everything but the Girl.

Family

Watt is the son of British bandleader Tommy Watt and has four half brothers and sisters. He is the youngest of the family. Watt lives with his spouse and creative partner Tracey Thorn in Hampstead, North London. They met at Hull University in 1981 and after 28 years as a couple, in 2009, they married at the Chelsea Registry Office. They have twin daughters, Jean and Alfie, born in 1998, and a son, Blake, born in 2001.

Recording artist

Watt began recording in 1981 on the indie label Cherry Red - and went on to make the album North Marine Drive, a collection of folk-jazz solo recordings in 1983. He then joined forces with vocalist Tracey Thorn. For 18 years they wrote and recorded together - creating nine studio albums as Everything but the Girl (EBTG), signing to Warners in 1984, and then Virgin in 1995. These albums and many of their singles achieved UK and US chart success, the song "Missing" reaching number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1995. In the mid-nineties, the band shifted focus from alt-pop towards electronica, charting with Walking Wounded, Protection (with Massive Attack), Temperamental and other work.

DJ and remixer

Lazy Dog

In 1998, Ben Watt established the London deep house Sunday club and compilation series, "Lazy Dog" with Jay Hannan. The tiny Notting Hill Arts Club in west London, hosted it twice-monthly and they attracted a cult following. Watt moved away from EBTG's mainstream eclecticism and into club-oriented dance music production, producing a string of dance remixes for Sade, Sunshine Anderson, Zero 7, Maxwell, Meshell Ndegeocello and Sandy Rivera. Lazy Dog ended on 16 May 2003 with a farewell closing party at their second home, The End, in central London. They made two compilation CDs from that time: Lazy Dog Volumes 1 and 2.

Buzzin' Fly

In April 2003, Watt launched his own independent deep house and techno record label, Buzzin' Fly (named after the Tim Buckley song). It went on to foster the careers of young producer/DJs such as Justin Martin, Mademoiselle Caro & Franck Garcia and Rodamaal. The label hosted Watt's own club productions such as Lone Cat, Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass (with Estelle) and defining work from remixers such as Ame, Radio Slave, Charles Webster and John Tejada. Buzzin' Fly won Best Breakthrough Label in the House Music Awards in 2004 and Runner-Up Best British Label from DJ Magazine Awards in 2007 and 2008.

Neighbourhood and Cherry Jam

Watt helped found and own the West London nightclubs Neighbourhood and Cherry Jam. From 2002 to 2005, under his creative direction, Cherry Jam hosted underground club nights, art exhibitions, the long-running spoken-word night Book Slam and The Libertines' official debut show. At Neighbourhood, Watt brought in artists such as Groove Armada and many international DJs to guest at his own in-house club nights, hosting Rough Trade Records 25th Anniversary and the inaugural House Music Awards. He resigned in June 2005.

2007-2010

In 2007, Watt launched Strange Feeling Records, an alt-indie sub-label of Buzzin' Fly. Early signings included the critically acclaimed Copenhagen band, Figurines, and the Hungarian trio The Unbending Trees. In 2010 the label released and globally distributed the third solo album Love And Its Opposite by Watt's wife Tracey Thorn. Watt also hosts the weekly Buzzin' Fly Radio Show that recently broadcast its 150th edition. It has seen lengthy stints on both the Galaxy Network and the Kiss Network as well us several internet restreams and global syndications. Watt remains a central figure on London's club scene and continues to DJ internationally.

Writing

Watt's autobiographical book, Patient (Penguin, 1996), details his battle with the rare life-threatening auto-immune disease (Churg-Strauss syndrome). Watt's website states that it won New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Sunday Times Book Of The Year, Village Voice Literary Supplement Favorite Book of the Year, and was a finalist for the Esquire-Waterstones (UK) Best Non-Fiction Award.

Discography

Singles

"Cant" (Cherry Red Records) - June 1981

"Summer Into Winter EP" (Cherry Red Records) with Robert Wyatt - March 1982

"Some Things Don't Matter" (Cherry Red Records) - February 1983

"Lone Cat" (Buzzin' Fly]) - April 2003

"A Stronger Man" with Sananda Maitreya (Buzzin' Fly) - Jan 2004

"Outspoken Part 1" (Buzzin' Fly) - Jan 2005 (feat "Pop A Cap In Yo' Ass" with Estelle and "Attack, Attack, Attack" with Baby Blak

"Buzzin' Fly Vol 2 EP" (Buzzin' Fly) - April 2005 feat "Le Boom" by Justin Martin remixes of "Lone Cat (Holding On)" by Justin Martin, and "Pop A Cap In Yo Ass" by Ben Watt featuring Estelle)

"We Are Silver EP" (Buzzin' Fly) - April 2007 (includes "Old Soul" and "Lone Cat" remix)

"Just A Blip" (Buzzin' Fly) - June 2007 (features on Buzzin' Fly Vol 4 Sampler EP)

"Guinea Pig" (Buzzin' Fly) - Oct 2008

Album

North Marine Drive (Cherry Red Records) - February 1983

Compilations mixed by Ben Watt

Lazy Dog Vol. 1 (Virgin Records) with Jay Hannan - October 2000

Back To Mine with Tracey Thorn as Everything But The Girl - May 2001

Lazy Dog Vol. 2 (Virgin Records) with Jay Hannan - March 2002

Buzzin' Fly Vol 1: Replenishing Music for the Modern Soul (Buzzin' Fly) - March 2004

Buzzin' Fly Vol 2: Replenishing Music for the Modern Soul (Buzzin' Fly) - April 2005

Inthemix.06 with Ivan Gough (Australian release; 2 CDs) - November 2006

Buzzin' Fly Vol 3 (Buzzin' Fly) - June 2006

Buzzin' Fly Vol 4 (Buzzin' Fly) - May 2007

Buzzin' Fly - 5 Golden Years in the Wilderness (Buzzin' Fly) - June 2008

Notes

External links

Ben Watt's Twitter page

Ben Watt's MySpace page

Everything But The Girl official site

Buzzin' Fly Records

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:English male singers Category:English DJs Category:English record producers Category:English electronic musicians Category:Remixers Category:Club DJs Category:People from Barnes