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Comedy rock is rock music mixed with comedy, often satire and parody.^[1]

History[link]

Early USA examples include Stan Freberg, who lampooned artists such as Elvis Presley, Harry Belafonte and The Platters, and Sheb Wooley whose "Purple People Eater" reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 1958 and stayed there 6 weeks.^[2]

One of the most successful groups of the genre is Mamonas Assassinas, Brazil. In just six months sold over 2 million records, but had his career interrupted at its height, in a plane crash on March 2, 1996.

In Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s comedians such as Charlie Drake and The Goons frequently appeared in the top ten with humorous rock 'n' roll records - the latter, along with Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, were to influence the word-play of John Lennon's lyrics. Later British groups specialised in comedy: these included The Scaffold, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Alberto y Los Trios Paranoias. Later in Britain, in the 2000s, Mitch Benn released several studio albums that satirised current affairs using various musical genres, but mainly rock. His 2012 Breaking Strings album was critically acclaimed for its rock sensibility.^[3]

Some comedy rock artists, such as Frank Zappa, and more recently Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords create songs with amusing, witty, and/or over-the-top lyrics. Other acts such as Dread Zeppelin, Beatallica, and GWAR rely more on gimmicks such as outrageous costumes or genre-mixing for comic effect.

Dan Finnerty with his The Dan Band has made legendary comedy rock appearances in the Todd Phillips films Old School and The Hangover spoofing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "Candy Shop", as well as his cult hit live show, which parodies female cover songs and was filmed as a one hour TV special directed by McG and executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

Many mainstream rock and punk rock bands are known to incorporate comedy songs in their work: Bloodhound Gang, Blink-182, Bowling For Soup, Reel Big Fish, Sublime, Primus, System of a Down, Green Jellÿ, Camper Van Beethoven, They Might Be Giants and The Presidents of the United States of America.

Rock has been the target of many spoofs and several spoof bands have gone on to have hit records, for example The Hee Bee Gee Bees and Spinal Tap in the U.S., and Bad News in the U.K. "Weird Al" Yankovic, now in his fourth decade of creating song parodies, has sold more than 12 million albums (more than any comedy act in history).^[4] The virtual band Dethklok is death metal spoof featured in the Adult Swim animated program Metalocalypse^[5] and their album entitled The Dethalbum debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard Top 200 list.^[6]

The band Steel Panther, formerly known as Metal Skool, has become a fixture on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip with their spoof of 80's glam metal^[7] and their success has opened the doors for other Hollywood spoof bands such as The Jimi Homeless Experience.^[8]

Punk rock has made its contribution to the comedy rock ranks, with such bands as The Dead Milkmen, The Aquabats, Jilted John and The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. Sid Vicious's cover of "My Way" is comedy rock of a more sardonic sort.

Many less popular bands are often associated with Comedy Rock, often inventing outrageous names for their genres, for example the New Zealand band "Shit, Shit, We're Dying" dubbed their comedy-hardcore style as "Post-Extreme Blasphemecore".

Notes[link]

Paul Zerdin (born 1972) is an English comedian/ventriloquist. That Paul should choose a career in the entertainment industry is not entirely unexpected as both his parents attended drama school and his mother went on to become a BBC Radio 2 presenter and his father a producer for the BBC World Service.

When Paul Zerdin was 10 a family friend made him a puppet theatre which he used to put on shows, a hobby which quickly grew into an obsession. The real turning point for Paul was when he was given a book on ventriloquism written by the legendary Ray Alan and it was not long before he was spending half an hour a day in front of the mirror practicing talking without moving his lips. When Paul was 17 he got a part-time job at Davenports’ Magic and began to develop his own magic skills along the way and became a children’s entertainer as a sideline.

In 1990 Paul Zerdin made his television debut as a magician in Tricky Business, a BBC TV children’s sitcom, returning a year later in Hangar 17 at which point he debuted his act as a ventriloquist. Paul also started working in holiday camps and working men’s clubs honing his skills. In 1992 Paul landed a two year-contract presenting the Disney produced kids’ programme Rise and Shine for GMTV which saw the introduction of Paul’s puppet character Sam. Paul’s appearances on Rise and Shine led to his first work in Pantomime and he is now a Panto veteran with 16 shows to his credit and a future starring role in the Christmas 2011 Qdos production of Robinson Crusoe in Cardiff. Between 1994 and 1996 Paul continued with his shows around the UK’s holiday camps, and working men’s clubs. During this time he also did guest spots on shows like The O-Zone, Disney Club and To Me To You with The Chuckle Brothers.

In 1995, a chance meeting with a puppeteer friend who was working with the Jim Henson Company led to an introduction to Brian Henson and Kevin Clash (Elmo from Sesame Street). When Brian, who was directing the movie Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppet coordinator Kevin Clash found out that Paul was also a puppeteer they quickly recruited him to work on the movie during that summer. This gave Paul a chance to work with his real heroes and also to further develop his skills.

In 1996 Paul Zerdin was the outright winner of LWT’s The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross. The experience raised his profile and introduced him to Nigel Lythgoe, the man who would go on to create reality shows such as Popstars, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Lythgoe took Zerdin under his wing, paving the way for appearances on scores of shows including Tonight at the London Palladium hosted by Bruce Forsyth, You Bet, The Generation Game and A Royal Gala for The Prince’s Trust, marking his first brush with Royalty. Since then Paul has appeared on 3 Royal Variety Performances - in 1999, 2002, and 2009. In the year 2000 Zerdin made his Edinburgh Fringe debut at The Gilded Balloon. In 2002 as a result of his impressive performance on the Royal Variety Show Paul was awarded with Gold Star membership of the Inner Magic Circle as recognition of his talents.

Paul’s talents were becoming increasingly recognised and in 2007 he headlined a show called Variety Live at The Palladium which featured jugglers, magicians and performers from Cirque du Soleil. The show then moved to Las Vegas for 3 nights at the Suncoast Casino and returned there in 2009 for a further run.

By 2009 Paul Zerdin had established himself as one of the world’s leading ventriloquists and he returned to the Edinburgh Fringe to critical acclaim with his show Sponge Fest, combining comedy with ventriloquism. Reviewing Sponge Fest, The Stage commented “simply put, Zerdin is the man who can make ventriloquism look cool.” The following year he was invited to appear at Just for Laughs in Montreal, again to rave reviews. That same year Paul headed back to Edinburgh with Sponge Fest Revisited which was followed by his first ever UK tour with Sponge Fest. Featuring the cheeky pre-adolescent Sam, the belligerent OAP Albert and precocious infant Baby, Sponge Fest proved very popular with audiences and Paul will continue his tour in 2011 between August and November.

References[link]

Information approved by Paul Zerdin www.paulzerdin.com May 2011

External links[link]

• Official website

Jason John Manford^[1] (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, television presenter and actor.

Early life[link]

Manford was born to an Irish family^[2] in Salford,^[3] Greater Manchester, a son of Sharon^[1] (née Ryan), who is a Catholic^[4] and Ian Manford.^[2] He grew up in a terraced house in what is known as the "Triangle of Death" area of Manchester notorious for its gang activity and high crime rate.^[5][2] He has three younger brothers: Stephen Sean, Colin Charles and Niall Christopher, and a younger sister, Danielle Leahnora.^[2][3]

When Manford was seventeen, he got a job as a glass collector at a local pub.^[6] While working there, he became interested in comedy after watching the likes of Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard and Johnny Vegas perform at the local comedy club. Kay recommended him to do the Higher National Diploma in media and performance at the University of Salford.^[7] Despite not having the required A Level grades, he was accepted into the programme and eventually upgraded to a full degree. His brother Colin has also followed him into comedy and is also a University of Salford graduate.^[8]

Career[link]

Television and radio[link]

Manford hosted a breakfast show on Xfm Manchester^[9] until May 2008.^[10]

From June 2007 until November 2007, he was Paramount Comedy's continuity announcer and writer.^{[citation needed]} In June 2007, he took over from Dave Spikey as a team captain on 8 out of 10 Cats.^[11]

He presented his own show, Tonightly, which aired every weekday from 1–22 August 2008 and appeared as a celebrity supporter for inventor Kin Kam in a special charity edition of BBC2's Dragons' Den for Sport Relief.

In March 2010, Manford was announced as host of a new comedy show called Comedy Rocks, featuring stand up comedians, as well as musical performances. A pilot was shown on ITV1 on 26 March 2010, and a six-part series began on ITV1 on 14 January 2011. On 26 May 2010, he was announced as the new presenter of BBC One's The One Show from July 2010.^[12] He resigned from the programme in November 2010, following allegations surrounding his private life.^[13][14]

He also makes up one half of the Home Team (with Peter Andre) on the ITV1 game show Odd One In.

In July 2011, Manford presented Show Me The Funny, a reality show on ITV1 involving 10 comedians, in which one is voted off each week.^[15] The live final was filmed in Hammersmith Apollo in August 2011.

Stand-up[link]

After a successful first UK tour,^[16] and high sales of the following DVD, filmed live at the Manchester Apollo, he started his "Turning Into My Dad" tour on 14 July 2010.^[17]

In March 2010, Manford 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 on 30 March.^{[citation needed]}

During a live appearance in November 2010, Manford announced that he was quitting comedy and touring to concentrate on family matters. His last scheduled gig was to be at the O2 Arena in London in November 2011. He has since confirmed he will be back on tour in 2013.

Acting[link]

Manford performs the voiceover on the Churchill Insurance adverts,^{[citation needed]} and is one of the voices in the BBC comedy sketch show, Walk on the Wild Side. He appeared in Channel 4's Shameless in series four as a security guard that is seduced by Karen Maguire.

Manford has a minor voice acting role in the Xbox 360 video game Fable III, playing a character called 'Jammy' who teaches the player how to use mortars. Pvt. Jammy dies early in the game.^{[citation needed]}

The Laugh Inn[link]

In 2011 Jason became one of the shareholders of the Chester based comedy club, The Laugh Inn. He is actively involved in getting big comedians to appear at the comedy club such as Russell Kane,Sarah Millican, John Bishop and Michael McIntyre. Jason frequently visits the club to watch the shows and support the circuit comedians as well as performing impromptu or unannounced shows.

He is often involved in promoting shows and gives his fans freebies and promotions on a regular basis.

Influences[link]

Manford cites Billy Connolly as his comedy hero,^[18] after seeing him when Manford was 8, and comics such as Tommy Cooper and Peter Kay heavily influenced his comic style.^[6] In 2009 in an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Manford talked about his passion for musicals, expressing an interest in taking a singing and acting role on stage, and giving a short, impromptu performance of "Suddenly Seymour".

Personal life[link]

Manford married actress Catherine in October 2007. On 20 August 2009, his wife gave birth to healthy twin daughters.^[19][20] His wife gave birth to their third daughter in December 2010. The family live in Stockport, Greater Manchester.^[21]

On 18 November 2010, Manford resigned as co-host of The One Show to "concentrate on his family" following his admission to a number of allegations published in tabloid newspapers in regards to exchanging sexually-oriented Twitter messages with fans.^[22][22]

In November 2008, Manford became patron of Savebabies,^[19][23] a charity campaigning for newborn screening.^[24]

According to Would I Lie To You?, he got dumped by a girlfriend when he was sixteen in McDonald's and refused to go to McDonald's for ten years afterwards.

Manford is an outspoken supporter of Manchester City.^[25]

Awards and nominations for stand-up comedy[link]

• Winner of the 1999 North West City Life Comedian of the Year
• Winner of the 2000 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year
• Finalist in the 2000 Channel Four So You Think You're Funny competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Nominated for the 2001 Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Comedy
• Nominated for the 2005 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his debut one-man show Urban Legend
• Winner of the 2005 Writers Guild of Great Britain and The List's Best Comedy Newcomer for his debut Edinburgh show Urban Legend
• Winner 2006 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act
• Winner of the 2006 North West Comedy Awards category for Best Stand up on the North West Circuit

Notable television credits[link]

• 2000 - The Best Manchester Comedy (BBC)
• 2000 - BBC New Comedy Awards (BBC)
• 2002 - Gloves Off (Channel M)
• 2002 - Interference (Channel M)
• 2005/06 - Richard & Judy (Channel 4)
• 2006 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4)
• 2006 - 100 Greatest Funny Moments (Channel 4)
• 2006 - Modern Worries (E4 pilot)
• 2007 - Shuffle (BBC Three)
• 2007 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team captain
• 2007 - Would I Lie To You? (BBC One)
• 2007 - Premier League All Stars Extra Time
• 2007 - Live at the Apollo (BBC One)
• 2008 - Tonightly (Channel 4)
• 2008 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team captain
• 2008 - Live At The Apollo (BBC One)
• 2009 - Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
• 2009 - Comic Relief (BBC One)
• 2009 - Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow (BBC One)
• 2009 - As Seen on TV (BBC One) Team Captain
• 2009 - Live at the Apollo (BBC One)
• 2010 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team Captain
• 2010 - Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
• 2010 - Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford (ITV1)
• 2010 - Frank Skinner's Opinionated (BBC Two)
• 2010 - The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)
• 2010 - The One Show (BBC One)
• 2010 - Odd One In (ITV1)
• 2011 - Epic Win (BBC One)
• 2011 - Born To Shine (ITV1)
• 2011 - Show Me The Funny (ITV1)
• 2011 - Chris Moyles' Quiz Night (Channel 4)

Television credits in an acting role[link]

• 2005 - Cutting It – Comic (BBC One)
• 2005 - Gideon's Daughter – Comic (BBC)
• 2005 - Ideal – Jack (BBC Three)
• 2007 - Shameless – Security guard (Channel 4)
• 2009 - Walk on the Wild Side – Multiple voices (BBC One)

Stand-up DVDs[link]

• Live at the Manchester Apollo (16 November 2009)
• Live 2011 (14 November 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jason Manford Official site
• Jason Manford Comedy CV
• Jason Manford Chortle
• Jason Manford's Urban Legend review Chortle, 2005
• Seven Sundays (Short film) YouTube
• Forum for fans of comedian Jason Manford
• Jason Manford Interview Spoonfed, 22 October 2008
• Jason Manford at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Manford on Twitter

This film-related article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (October 2009)

Doctor Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown, Ph.D. is a fictional character and one of the lead characters in the Back to the Future film trilogy, in which he is the inventor of the first time machine, which he builds out of a DeLorean sports car. The character is memorably played by actor Christopher Lloyd in all three films, as well as in the live action sequences of the animated series. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta in the animated series. The character's appearance and mannerisms are loosely inspired by Leopold Stokowski and Albert Einstein.^[1] In 2008, Dr. Emmett Brown was selected by Empire magazine as one of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, ranking at #76.^[2]

Character background[link]

According to Back to the Future: The Game, Emmett was born in 1922.^{[episode needed]} He refers to himself as a "student of all sciences", and is shown to be a passionate inventor. Scientists are his role models, as evidenced by the names of his pet dog, whom he calls Copernicus in 1955, and his later dog, whom he calls Einstein in 1985, and the portraits of Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein found in his laboratory (which were on a wall in his home in 1955), and his favourite author is Jules Verne. When looking through his ancestral history, he reveals to Marty that his family name was originally von Braun, indicating a German background (and possibly alluding to a relation to the real-life and contemporary rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who was brought to America after the Second World War).

His character is one who can be absent-minded at times, and despite being seen around fictional Hill Valley, the setting for all three films, evidence in the three films indicates that he is regarded as strange, eccentric, or crazy. He often enunciates his words with wide-eyed expressions and broad gestures ("Great Scott!" being one of the character's well-known catchphrases), and tends to use large words or phrases over short ones: for instance, referring to a school dance as a "rhythmic ceremonial ritual" in the first film.

The only friends the character is shown to have are Marty, and Marty's girlfriend, Jennifer. The films do not depict how Doc originally met Marty, however production notes and word from creators Bob Zemeckis and Bob Gale have stated that they met several years prior to the events of the first film when Marty sneaked into his lab after being warned to stay away from Doc by his parents. Doc was happy to be revered as being cool and hired Marty as his part-time lab assistant.^[3]

Doc has been involved in illegal and criminal enterprises within the scope of the films—albeit as a means to obtain items he could not purchase legally—but shows naïveté over the repercussions of his actions, excitedly telling Marty how he cheated Libyan terrorists out of stolen plutonium, saying "they wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and, in turn, gave them a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts!"

The character begins the trilogy somewhat innocent and very enthusiastic over the possible applications of his discovery, and actively tries to alter the past or future of various principal characters, in efforts to improve their lives. However, events throughout the story, particularly in the second film, bring him to the conclusion that time travel should not be used because of the hazards involved, and that the time machine should be destroyed. In the third film, after realizing he has unwittingly altered history by preventing the death of Clara Clayton in 1885, Doc expresses regret for inventing the time machine at all, remarking that it has "caused nothing but disaster."

However, after being left behind in 1885 when Marty departs in the DeLorean for 1985, Doc starts a family with Clara. He creates another time machine and builds it into a steam locomotive, which he uses to transport his family to 1985 (to collect his dog, Einstein) after having traveled to an unspecified point further in the future (presumably 2015 in order to give the locomotive a hover conversion akin to the DeLorean and to show his wife and children society beyond their natural years, which is also reinforced by Doc's answer to Marty's question if he is going "back to the future", and Brown answered in the negative, stating they have "already been there!"). The trilogy ends with Doc and his family departing 1985.

[edit] Events from Back to the Future series

[edit] Back to the Future

On Saturday, November 5, 1955, Doc came up with the idea of the flux capacitor (which is what makes time travel possible) after slipping off his toilet while standing on it to hang a clock and bumping his head on the edge of the sink. The idea came to him in a vision he had after being knocked out. The time machine project suffered a setback on Wednesday, August 1, 1962 when Doc's mansion at 1640 Riverside (later John F. Kennedy) Drive burnt down.

In the original movie, after the fire Doc moved into his former garage (which was down the hill from the mansion and was not affected by the blaze), addressed as 1646 Riverside Drive. There were rumors that he had deliberately burnt it down to claim the insurance money to fund the time machine. Whether or not that was the case, Doc still had to use up most of his family's fortune to fund the creation of his time machine. Doc moved to his garage and sold the rest of his estate to developers, but he was soon back on track. On Monday, May 23, 1983, he was commended and given a civic award for unspecified reasons. Another indicator of Doc's moneymaking could have been a large truck he owned which was advertised as "Dr. E. Brown 24-Hour Scientific Services". This truck may simply have been used to transport cumbersome materials, however it also suggests Brown offered himself as a contractor to those in need of technical and scientific help in order to make money to defray the cost of building the time machine.

Doc finally finished installing his time machine into a DeLorean sports car in 1985, using plutonium to power the time circuits and the flux capacitor, and was apparently killed by the group of Libyan terrorists who had given it to him as they wanted a nuclear weapon in return, but Doc, in an act of either extreme courage or extreme foolhardiness, merely gave them "a shoddy bomb casing full of used pinball machine parts."

Marty, who had witnessed the first time travel experiment, was accidentally sent back to 1955, where he tried to warn the 1955 version of Doc about the terrorists. Doc did not want to know too much about his own future and ripped up the warning letter Marty had written him. Doc successfully sent Marty back to the future by harnessing the energy from a bolt of lightning as it struck the Hill Valley clock tower on Saturday, November 12, 1955 at 10:04 pm. Sometime after these events, one can surmise, Doc decided to take the risk, taped together Marty's warning letter, and discovered the truth about that night in 1985. When 1985 rolled around again, it turned out the Doc wore a bulletproof vest for protection, apparently modified to resist rifle fire. After dropping Marty home, Doc went 30 years into the future. He went to October 21, 2015 and while he was there, he observed a chain of disastrous incidents that destroy Marty's life, and then skipped back in time to find the origin, tying it to a specific incident in 2015 that occurred between Marty's son, Marty Jr. and Biff's grandson, Griff. While there, he got an "all natural overhaul" to his body which added 30 or 40 years to his life and made him look younger, just like back in 1955. (This had little effect on his appearance, and was written into the script to allow the actor not to wear "old" makeup through the second and third films). He also got the DeLorean hover-converted and installed a "Mr. Fusion". The Mr. Fusion reactor eliminated the need for plutonium, and allowed the time machine to operate off ordinary household garbage. Afterward, Doc returned to 1985 to pick up Marty (and Jennifer, who happened to be there) to take them to 2015.

[edit] Back to the Future Part II

Doc had discovered that Marty's son, Marty Jr, was to go to jail for committing a crime, an event which would end up destroying the McFly family. Doc devises a plan for Marty to pose as Marty, Jr. (since the father-son resemblance was uncanny), as well as to prevent the crime from occurring. Doc then discovered that Marty had bought a sports almanac to take back to 1985 with him. Doc lectured Marty about how he had not invented the time machine for financial gain (though, ironically, he had mentioned in the first movie that he would go ahead in time 25 years and one of the things he would do is find out the next 25 World Series winners. Even so, it is never said that he would use it for gambling, or any other profitable trick.) Unknown to Doc or Marty, a now-elderly Biff Tannen overheard the conversation and later stole the DeLorean and the Almanac while Doc and Marty were rescuing 1985 Jennifer from the future McFly family house. Later in the film, it is revealed that Biff went back to November 12, 1955 and gave the Almanac to his 1955 teenaged self. On their way back to the DeLorean Doc had become convinced of the profound hazards involved in time travel and decided once they return to 1985, he would destroy the time machine, as time travel is just too dangerous to be used.

Doc, Marty, and Jennifer arrived back in 1985 only to discover that history had been altered. Biff's wealth had led to a total alteration of Hill Valley to Biff's wishes and supposed alterations to the entire world's history (such as Richard Nixon still being in office and the Vietnam War still being fought in 1985). In this version of history, Doc has been committed to an insane asylum since 1983 (he was committed on the same day he won his award in the "proper" history). It is speculated that since Biff was warned by his older self upon delivery of the almanac that a "crazy, wild-eyed old man who claims to be a scientist" would ask about it someday, Biff was the one who had Doc committed, but no concrete evidence is provided in the film. It is also possible that Doc actually went insane due to the changes in the timeline, which only he would be aware of and be unable to reconcile with how he knew history should have unfolded.

Doc and Marty headed back to 1955 to correct the timeline, and while Marty tracked down Biff to get the almanac from him, Doc attempted to make repairs to the time circuits, which had developed a fault and kept re-setting the Destination Time setting to January 1, 1885. When Doc discovered Marty had got the Almanac, he orderd Marty to destroy it. Using matches from "Biff's Pleasure Palace," Marty burned the almanac in front of the same billboard he used to hide the time machine in the first movie. He also accidentally switched on the time circuits, which was set at 1885. Their mission of stealing the almanac and setting history straight was accomplished. However this success was quickly followed by Doc, in the DeLorean, being sent back to 1885 when a bolt of lightning struck the DeLorean, causing a gigawatt overload. Once in 1885, Doc set himself up as a blacksmith while trying to fix the DeLorean, but had to give up as suitable parts to repair the DeLorean's destroyed microchip would not be invented until 1947 (the actual date of the invention of the transistor.) He buried the DeLorean in the abandoned Delgado Mine on the outskirts of town and wrote a letter to Marty to be delivered just minutes after the DeLorean was struck by lightning. The letter was held by Western Union for the next 70 years, 2 months and 12 days, and given to Marty in 1955.

It also appears that Doc has made other travels to different time periods before coming back for Marty in 1985 because he has a suitcase full of vintage money for, as he calls it, "all monetary possibilities."

[edit] Back to the Future Part III

Marty received the letter and ran to the 1955 Doc, who had just sent the younger Marty back to the future. He initially disbelieved that Marty had returned, but eventually came to his senses. Marty and Doc uncovered the DeLorean and repaired it, but Marty discovered that on September 7, 1885 (one week after he wrote the letter), Doc would be murdered by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Biff's great-grandfather. Marty headed back to September 2, 1885, the day after Doc wrote the letter and five days before Doc's death, to save his friend.

Marty located Doc, and once again Doc had to make repairs to the time machine after it ran out of gas (hard to come by in 1885 since cars wouldn't exist in the United States until 23 years later) when its fuel line was ruptured. While making a plan to use a train to push the DeLorean to 88 mph, Doc saved a teacher, Clara Clayton, from falling into a ravine after a snake spooked her horses. The ravine was, in the proper timeline, called Clayton Ravine after Clara fell into it. They fell in love at first sight, much to the despair of Marty who saw Clara as a distraction. Doc and Clara danced at the town festival on September 5, where Marty managed to save Doc from being shot early by Buford Tannen (It is also possible that this was supposed to have been the fatal event - Tannen told the Doc that the last man shot with the gun took two days to die along with that with his small gun, he predicted Doc would be dead by suppertime Monday). Doc and Clara also had their first kiss that night.

Later, Doc realized he would have to leave Clara behind when he went back to the future with Marty on Monday. He said goodbye to her and told her the truth about where he came from. Naturally, she did not believe him and slapped him. Broken-hearted, Doc went to have a glass of whisky at the Palace Saloon, where Marty found him next morning (Monday) with the same glass of whisky. After drinking the whisky, he immediately fell down drunk. Marty and Chester the bartender managed to revive Doc with an extremely spicy concoction called "wake-up juice" which included tabasco sauce, and afterwards Doc and Marty hijacked a train to use to push the DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour (141 km/h). Clara reappeared, having seen Doc's train model plan and realized Doc was telling the truth, but nearly fell off the train. Doc managed to save her, with help from Marty's hoverboard (a piece of technology from 2015), but decided to stay behind with Clara in 1885 (or that he realized he had not enough time to get in the time machine and attempting to do so might strand Marty in 1885 as well). Marty managed to get home, but the time machine was destroyed less than a minute after his arrival by a modern locomotive plowing through it, meaning he could not go back to rescue Doc and Clara from the past.

Over the next 10 years, Doc and Clara married (they marry on December 15, 1885 according to the animated series episode, "Solar Sailors") and had two sons, Jules and Verne, named after their favorite author. Doc also built a new time machine, this time using a steam locomotive. The Brown family take off to visit the future (to get the train hover-converted) and then back to 1985 to pick up Einstein (his dog), and visit Marty and Jennifer (when and where Marty thought he would never see Doc again due to the time machine being destroyed), before heading off to times unknown.

[edit] Back to the Future: The Ride

Although Back to the Future: The Ride is not taken as canon by some,^{[citation needed]} it reveals that the Brown family eventually moved back to the 20th century and that by 1991, Doc had set up the Institute of Future Technology. He modified a time-traveling DeLorean to seat eight, which comes in handy after Biff steals the time machine again and the audience, in their own time-traveling DeLorean, must help Doc chase Biff through time. The ride was featured at Universal Studios in Hollywood, Florida and Japan. The Florida and Hollywood versions closed in March and September 2007 respectively and were both replaced with The Simpsons Ride, which opened in May 2008. The Hollywood ride has since also been replaced with The Simpsons Ride.

[edit] Back to the Future: The Animated Series

This series starts in 1991 after the events from Part III and the Ride, where Doc, Clara, Jules and Verne now live in a farmhouse outside Hill Valley with Einstein the dog. The family, along with Marty, have traveled through time in both the train time machine and a rebuilt and improved DeLorean (which looks the same externally as before it was rebuilt, but is drastically different inside).

The Simpsons Ride[link]

In The Simpsons Ride, in a tribute to the ride it replaced, Back to the Future: The Ride, Emmett Brown has a brief cameo voiced over by Christopher Lloyd. It should be noted that in the animated series of Back to the Future, Brown was voiced by Dan Castellaneta, also the voice of the Simpson family patriarch Homer Simpson.

In the cameo, Professor Frink, Doc's colleague as it is revealed in the ride, is shocked to discover that Doc's Institute has been turned into Krustyland, a theme park built by Krusty the Clown. So, he drives a DeLorean time machine back in time to save the institute, where, two years earlier, Doc is about to sign a contract with a banker, named Mr. Freidman, to save the Institute. However, as Doc is about to sign, Frink drives the DeLorean into the banker. Doc becomes upset at Frink, and complains that he has to sell his Institute to "that mercenary clown", who happens to be Krusty. Krusty then appears and puts a Krustyland sign in front of the Institute, and Frink complains that he created a time paradox. Doc asks Krusty if there's anything he can do for him, to which Krusty responds he can sell tickets at the front gate if he "gets a haircut". Doc says it takes him three hours a day "Just to get it like this!". It is then presumed that the Institute of Future Technology became Krustyland.

Back to the Future: The Game[link]

Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as Dr. Brown in Telltale Games' Back to the Future: The Game. As of July 2011, five episodes have been released. Set 6 months after the end of Part III, Marty is missing Doc as the bank sells his belongings. Suddenly, the DeLorean arrives and Marty finds he is imprisoned in 1931, destined to be gunned down by a mob. By collaborating with a younger Emmett Brown, (voiced by James Arnold Taylor), Marty is able to rescue Doc, as well as ensure the safety of his grandfather, Arthur McFly. However, their meddling inadvertently changes the future of Young Emmett, and Marty winds up in an alternate 1986 ruled over by Doc, who is now Hill Valley's First Citizen. Marty is able to convince Doc to go back to 1931 and try to fix the timeline, but in 1931 Doc changes his mind and attempts to stop Marty from fixing it. The original timeline was restored, however, and he was erased from existence, but later events cause the entire city of Hill Valley to be erased, back in 1876. Marty and Doc fix the timeline once more, but upon returning to 1986 three alternate versions of Marty appear.

In other media[link]

Doc is a playable character in the first level of the video game of Back to the Future Part III. In the game, he must ride his horse to prevent Clara Clayton from falling into the ravine, using a pistol to fend off enemies.

In 2011 American Singer Britney Spears joked that Dr. Emmett Brown was her favorite scientist for "I Am FIRST: Science is Rock and Roll".

Doc Brown has made several non-canon appearances. Lloyd first reprised the role for the 1985 Huey Lewis & The News "The Power of Love" video. In the mid-2000s, Lloyd reprised the role of Brown in commercials for satellite giant DirecTV, in newly-filmed footage interspersed with clips from the first Back to the Future film. In one variation of the commercials, Lloyd runs down the fiery trail left by the Delorean in a scene taken directly from the film, while in a newly-recorded voiceover Lloyd hails the service as being "TV from outer space!" In 2011 Lloyd appears as Brown in commercials for the Argentine Electronics Store Garbarino and for Nike.

In September of that year, Lloyd reprised the role for an eBay charity auction promotion. Nike had produced 1500 reproductions of the 'futuristic' trainers Doc gave Marty McFly in 2015 (Back to the Future Part II), with all net proceeds from the auction going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for research into Parkinson's disease.

Back to the Future Part III footage of Lloyd was incorporated into the 1990 ZZ Top "Doubleback" video.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Emmett Brown

• Emmett Brown at the Internet Movie Database

Daniel Sloss (born 11 September 1990) is a Scottish comedian, actor and writer,^[1][2] notable for having become established as a professional live and television performer whilst still in his teens. He was the first stand-up comedian to perform on Channel 4's Paul O'Grady Show (2009),^{[citation needed]} the youngest comedian to perform a solo season in London's West End^[3] and in 2010, aged 19, was commissioned by the BBC for the sitcom pilot The Adventures of Daniel.^[4]

Early life[link]

Sloss was born in Kingston upon Thames and moved with his family to Fife in Scotland aged four. He attended East Wemyss and then secondary school at Waid Academy in Anstruther. He was offered a place at the University of Dundee to study history but decided to take a gap year to see if he could make comedy work as his full time career. He rejected the offer at the beginning of the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe.

Comedy career[link]

Sloss performed his first live comedy "open spot" at The Laughing Horse in Edinburgh August 2007 after completing their two day standup comedy course. His set was five minutes long.

His first Edinburgh Festival Fringe was in August 2008 where he shared a 30 minute show with fellow comic Davey See.^[5] Life in 2D ran for 10 days in the Espionage venue as part of the Free Fringe. That same Fringe, aged just 17, Daniel became one of the youngest-ever finalists in the UK's premier So You Think You're Funny? comedy competition, the final of which is hosted by the Gilded Balloon venue during the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2009 he sold out his debut full length Edinburgh Festival Fringe season Daniel Sloss – Teenage Kicks and later^[when?] took this show to London to the Soho Theatre to become the youngest comedian to perform a solo season in the venue as well as in London's West End.

In 2010 he brought his second solo show Daniel Sloss – My Generation to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and again sold out the entire run, transferring the show to the Soho Theatre in September and then, due to demand, to London's Bloomsbury Theatre in November. This show went on to tour Scotland in autumn 2010 and January 2011.^{[citation needed]}

In March 2011 Daniel made a sellout return to the Sydney Comedy Festival and then embarked on a tour across South East Asia with fellow comic Craig Hill. In August^{[year needed]} Daniel premiered his show The Joker at the Edinburgh Fringe with a Live Nation produced a 50 date national tour (supported by Kai Humphries) in the autumn.^{[when?][citation needed]}

He regularly performs at all the major UK and Irish comedy clubs and in April 2010 made his Australian debut,^[6] appearing on Australia's top-rating TV panel show Good News Week, and performing a series of club shows as well as premiering his solo show as part of the Sydney Comedy Festival.

Aged sixteen and seventeen he also wrote material for comedian Frankie Boyle for two series of BBC's Mock the Week.^[7] He was the first stand-up comedian to perform on Channel 4's Paul O'Grady Show (2009)^{[citation needed]} and was commissioned by the BBC in April 2010 to pilot his own sitcom The Adventures of Daniel,^[4] which transmitted on 23 August 2010, substantially out-rating the other 2 comedy pilots in the series of 3. He featured on series 2 of BBC1's Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow on 18 September 2010 and two weeks later, on the first series of BBC2's The Rob Brydon Show alongside other guest Stephen Fry as well as on Channel 4's 8 out of 10 Cats. In January 2011 he performed on ITV1 Jason Manford's Comedy Rocks^{[citation needed]} and in March^{[year needed]} was part of the BBC's Comic Relief marathon online broadcast with David Walliams called 24 Hour Panel People as a panellist on Mock the Week.

From December 2010 Daniel embarked on his first ever headline live tour, performing My Generation with support from Davey See, Chris Forbes and Kai Humphries and with most dates in Scotland. On 6 March 2011 he performed his first set at the Hammersmith Apollo alongside comedian Dara Ó Briain to support wildlife charity Our Disappearing Planet.^[8]

Personal life[link]

Sloss lives with in Edinburgh.^[2] He has studied acting since he was eight years old, ran his own monthly comedy club at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy for a year and his hobbies include playing computer games, watching Robot Wars, comedy films and playing football.

Daniel is managed by Marlene Zwickler and Associates, based in Edinburgh.^[9][10]

Television appearances[link]

• Paul O'Grady Show, Channel4, September 2009
• Most Annoying People of 2009 (Contributor), BBC Three, October 2009
• Good News Week, Network Ten Australia, April 2010
• The Adventures of Daniel, BBC Three, August 2010
• Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, BBC One, September 2010
• The Rob Brydon Show BBC Two, October 2010
• 8 out of 10 Cats, Channel 4, October 2010
• The Most Annoying People of 2010, BBC Three
• Jason Manford's Comedy Rocks, ITV1, January 2011
• Comic Relief's 24 Hour Panel People, Mock the Week, BBC Three/BBC Online, March 2011
• 8 out of 10 Cats, Channel 4, August 2011
• Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask, Dave, February 2012^[11]

Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows[link]

• 2008 Life in 2D^[12]
• 2009 Daniel Sloss – Teenage Kicks^[13]
• 2010 Daniel Sloss – My Generation^[14]
• 2011 Daniel Sloss – The Joker^[15]

London seasons and touring solo shows[link]

• 2009 Daniel Sloss – Teenage Kicks, Soho Theatre
• 2010 Daniel Sloss – My Generation, Soho Theatre and Bloomsbury Theatre; touring
• 2011 Daniel Sloss – My Generation, touring
• 2011 Daniel Sloss – The Joker, touring (supporting Kai Humphries)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Daniel Sloss Official website