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Vic Reeves
Vic Reeves (right) with Bob Mortimer during the Big Night Out tour.
Birth name	James Roderick Moir
Born	(1959-01-24) 24 January 1959 (age 53) Leeds, England
Medium	Stand up, Television
Years active	1989–present
Genres	Surreal humour, Physical comedy
Influences	Monty Python, Spike Milligan, Malcolm Hardee, Eric Morecambe, Steve Martin
Influenced	Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Noel Fielding, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, Harry Hill
Spouse	Sarah Vincent (1990-1999) (two children) Nancy Sorrell (2003 to date) (two children)

James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob). He is known for his surreal and non sequitur sense of humour.

In 2003, he and Bob Mortimer were listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Reeves and Mortimer were voted the 9th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.^[1]

Personal life[link]

Early life[link]

James Roderick Moir was born in Leeds, the son of James Neill (1926–2004) and Audrey Moir (née Leigh). At the age of five, he moved to Darlington with his parents and younger sister Lois. He attended Heathfield Nursery and went on to the nearby secondary school, Eastbourne Comprehensive in Darlington.

Marriage[link]

Moir has four children; the eldest two are Alice Vincent Moir (born May 1993) and Louis Vincent Moir (born July 1997 in York), by his first wife Sarah Vincent, whom he married in 1990. They divorced in 1999.

He met his second wife, Nancy Sorrell, in 2001, and the couple married on 25 January 2003. Sorrell gave birth to twin girls Elizabeth and Nell at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent on 25 May 2006.

He now lives in Charing, near Ashford.^[2] He is a keen amateur birdwatcher. In August 2006 he attended the National Crabbing Competition at Walberswick in Suffolk along with Sorrell and their twin daughters.

Moir buried his classic Austin A40 Somerset in his back garden, as shown on the BBC's 1997 Omnibus documentary - A Film Of Reeves & Mortimer. He also appeared on the ITV show Mr and Mrs with his wife Nancy Sorrell.

Career[link]

After school, Moir undertook an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering, before moving to London and becoming a factory inspector.

He also formed the Fashionable Five, a group of five friends (including Jack Dent, who ran the original Fan Club) who would follow bands like The Enid and Free onto stage, and perform pranks (including Moir pretending to have a brass hand, and following a Terry Scott lookalike around Darlington town centre in single file formation). Eventually, they formed their own band. Reeves had an early breakthrough with the help of comedian Malcolm Hardee.

In 1983, he began a part-time course at a local art college, developed his love of painting and eventually persuaded a local art gallery to stage an exhibition of his unique work. Although still primarily known as a comedian, he is also gaining a reputation as an artist. His drawings and paintings have been used in his television shows and form a major part of his 1999 book, Sun Boiled Onions.

As Vic Reeves[link]

As well as working and performing in bands, in London, Moir also joined the alternative comedy circuit under many different guises. These included a loudmouth American called Jim Bell, a beat poet called Mister Mystery and, eventually, "The North-East’s Top Light Entertainer" - Vic Reeves. His stage show Vic Reeves Big Night Out began life as a regular Thursday night gig at Goldsmith’s Tavern, New Cross (now the New Cross House). Here he met Bob Mortimer, a solicitor who attended the show and enjoyed it so much that he soon began to participate. His television debut came in December 1986 on Channel 4 Television's The Tube in a comedy game show segment called "Square Celebrities", suspended by a wire to ask the "celebrities" questions. His next appearance was on the short-lived chat/comedy show One Hour with Jonathan Ross in a game show segment known as Knock Down Ginger. His growing TV profile led to Big Night Out being given a slot on Channel 4 the following year. It was about this time that Vic and Bob rented a back room at Jools Holland's office/recording studio in Westcombe Park, Greenwich where they would spend hours writing material.

Reeves continued to work alongside Bob Mortimer as a comedy duo in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, and Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer, some of which also featured future cast members of The Fast Show and Little Britain.

Reeves is one of the few comedians to have had a number one hit record in the UK Singles Chart, which he did in company with The Wonder Stuff, singing "Dizzy" (previously a number one hit for Tommy Roe). The single's B-side was the original composition "Oh! Mr. Hairdresser", recorded with The Images of Cream and supposedly featuring Bob Mortimer on mandolin. He had also released a version of Born Free, which was critically acclaimed and also reached the top ten. A third single during the same period, Abide With Me, had little success. All three tracks appeared on his album, I Will Cure You, released in 1991. In 1995, Reeves collaborated with EMF, covering The Monkees hit "I'm a Believer". Before finding fame, Reeves appeared in the Shakin' Stevens video promo for "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For".^[3]

A 1994 pilot written by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson entitled The Honeymoon's Over was due to feature Chris Bell, a character from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer. The series was never commissioned. The same year, Reeves made a guest appearance on the Radio 1 series Shuttleworth's Showtime, hosted by John Shuttleworth.

Between August 1998 and May 1999, Reeves and Mortimer presented the Channel X produced BBC Saturday night family game show Families at War alongside Alice Beer.

Reeves played Marty Hopkirk in the BBC's 2000–2001 thriller series Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - a revival of the original 1960s series, with Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie and Tom Baker as Wyvern.

In 2000, he presented a series entitled, Vic Reeves Examines on UK Play. The programme featured celebrities such as Ricky Gervais, Johnny Vegas, Lauren Laverne and Emma Kennedy discussing a topic of their choice. The same year, Reeves presented a one-off radio show on BBC Radio 1, entitled Cock of the Wood.

In 2004 he and Sorrell were both contestants in the fourth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Along with Mortimer, he appeared in the series Catterick as several characters.

In September 2005 Reeves hosted a show for Virgin Radio called Vic Reeves Big Night In produced by Mark Augustyn, for a short period on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7.00pm.

In May 2006 he presented a programme on ITV Tyne Tees about Northeast comedy culture, It's Funny Up North with... Vic Reeves.

Reeves presented a historical ten-part series, entitled Rogues Gallery, which was shown on the Discovery Channel (UK) in 2005. In the series, he investigated, and portrayed Anne Bonny & Mary Read, Captain Kidd, Claude Duval, Jonathan Wild, Rob Roy, Colonel Blood, George Ransley, Deacon Brodie, Blackbeard and Dick Turpin. Nancy Sorrell also appeared in some episodes. Continuing in this vein, Vic Reeves' Pirates was shown on ITV West, and subsequently on The History Channel in 2007.

In 2007, Reeves hosted a show called Vic Reeves Investigates: Jack the Ripper. Reeves, with the help of historians and leading experts, tried to discover who Jack the Ripper was. At the end of the show, he came to the conclusion that Jack the Ripper was Francis Tumblety.

He was the main presenter of Brainiac: Science Abuse during the fifth and sixth series, replacing Richard Hammond, who quit the show. The series began on 8 May 2007.^[4]

Beginning in June 2007, Reeves presented a BBC Radio 2 panel game called Does the Team Think….

In late 2007, Reeves appeared in a weekly radio-based sketch show on BBC Radio 2, entitled Vic Reeves' House Arrest. The first episode was broadcast on 17 November 2007 and the series ran for six episodes. The show's premise was that Reeves had been put under house arrest for "a crime he didn't commit", and each episode consists of the various events that take place in and around his house on a particular day. Reeves' comedy partner Bob Mortimer plays his housecall-making hairdresser, Carl, while other performers include The Mighty Boosh star Noel Fielding as a local vagrant who comes to Reeves' door on a weekly basis looking for work, and Reeves' wife Nancy Sorrell in multiple roles.^[5]

On 20 February 2008, Reeves appeared onstage at the BRIT Awards to present the "Mastercard British Album" award to winners, Arctic Monkeys. He was visibly disorientated and event co-host Sharon Osbourne called him a "pissed bastard" and repeatedly told him to "piss off".^{[citation needed]} There have been claims by The Sun newspaper that Reeves' addled state was due to his autocue failing. In ITV's Teletext music magazine Planet Sound interview, which took place half an hour after the show, Reeves stated that he was trying to read the autocue, and was pushed away by Osbourne whilst trying to do his job. He called Osbourne's behaviour "unacceptable". Planet Sound defended Reeves, saying "for the record" he was not drunk, and declared that there are better people to present live awards ceremonies than the Osbournes, such as Jonathan Ross.

On 27 February 2008, Reeves announced that he and Mortimer were working together on a new sitcom about super heroes who get their powers through a malfunctioning telegraph pole.^[6] He also reiterated his desire to bring back Shooting Stars for a 6th series. Along with his son, he is also featured in one edition of a factual TV series for Five, Dangerous Adventures For Boys, based on the best-selling book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys.

In February 2009, Reeves appeared as presenter of the first episode of My Brilliant Britain, one of the new television shows commissioned for UKTV People channel's relaunch as Blighty.^[7]

On 25 August 2009, Reeves appeared as a guest on the BBC One programme The One Show alongside Bob Mortimer

Series 6 of Shooting Stars began airing on 26 August 2009 with Reeves returning as co-host with Mortimer, along with Ulrika Jonsson and Jack Dee as team captains.

Reeves appeared as one of the guests in Reece Shearsmith's Haunted House, a light-hearted radio discussion show which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in two parts, either side of Halloween. The first part aired on 29 October 2009 and the second on 5 November 2009.^[8]

Reeves also lends his voice to the Virgin Atlantic Airlines onboard safety video, alongside Dani Behr.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2011, Reeves commemorated the Royal Wedding by painting 100 plates bearing a picture he drew of William and Kate, with the slogan "Our future King and Queen, Bill and Cath." He also painted a vase, which bore a shirtless William. The plates were priced at £100GBP each.^[9]

In July 2011, Vic rejoined Bob for a selection of YouTube Improvised Comedy Sketches, in association with Fosters - They released their "Afternoon Delight" clips every weekday afternoon in July.

Television appearances[link]

Reeves has appeared without Mortimer on a number of British television shows, primarily game shows, poll programs and charity telethons. These include:

Books[link]

For books on or by Reeves and Mortimer, see Vic and Bob#Books

• Vic Reeves' Vast Book of World Knowledge - a surreal encyclopaedia with text and artwork by Reeves. Atlantic Books, Released in October 2009.^[10]
• Vic Reeves Me:Moir (Volume One) - autobiography by Vic Reeves, Virgin Books, 2006
• Sunboiled Onions - diary, paintings and drawings by Vic Reeves, Penguin Books, 1999

Advertising[link]

For advertisements featuring both Reeves and Mortimer, see Vic and Bob#Advertising

Reeves has appeared in television advertisements for a number of products, both with comedy partner Mortimer, and alone.

• An advertisement for Guinness quoted Reeves as saying "88.2% of Statistics are made up on the spot"

• He has done (solo) advertising work for a variety of products including MFI, Müller Light, First Direct, Churchill Insurance, Cadbury's Boost, Mars Bar, Fanta, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Domestos bleach, Maryland Cookies, and he cross-dressed for a 2008 advertisement for 888 Holdings' Bingo website 888 Ladies.