The Hollow Men (comedy troupe)
Encyclopedia
The Hollow Men are an English
sketch comedy
group consisting of David Armand
, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell
, and Sam Spedding
. The Hollow Men is also the title of their TV show broadcast in the United States
by Comedy Central
. The show follows the kind of silliness from sketch comedy shows like Monty Python's Flying Circus
and The Kids in the Hall
. The first and only season, consisting of six episodes, aired in early 2005. The group's name comes from a grim T.S. Eliot poem
. In 2006 they broadcast a BBC Radio 4
sketch show, also of the same name. The radio show was recommissioned and a second series was aired in September 2007. Both series also featured Katy Brand
.
. The group's big break came when they appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe
festival in 2002, which led to gigs in New York City
and a slot at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
in Aspen, Colorado
, in 2003.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
group consisting of David Armand
David Armand
David Armand is an English comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include Fast and Loose , How Not To Live Your Life, Pulling, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Swinging, and Peep Show.He is one of the...
, Nick Tanner, Rupert Russell
Rupert Russell
Rupert Russell is an English playwright, actor, and comedian, and a member of the comedy troupe The Hollow Men. Rupert Russell was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is the author of the play Moving Parts and has also written for the radio show Dead Ringers.On May 3rd 2009 he married...
, and Sam Spedding
Sam Spedding
Sam Spedding is an English actor and comedian, and a member of the comedy troupe The Hollow Men. He was educated at Winchester College at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and Selwyn College, Cambridge. Sam Spedding has appeared on television in Absolutely Fabulous and As If, and on...
. The Hollow Men is also the title of their TV show broadcast in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. The show follows the kind of silliness from sketch comedy shows like Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
and The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...
. The first and only season, consisting of six episodes, aired in early 2005. The group's name comes from a grim T.S. Eliot poem
The Hollow Men
The Hollow Men is a major poem by T. S. Eliot. Its themes are, like many of Eliot's poems, overlapping and fragmentary, but it is recognised to be concerned most with post-World War I Europe under the Treaty of Versailles , the difficulty of hope and religious conversion, and, as some critics...
. In 2006 they broadcast a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
sketch show, also of the same name. The radio show was recommissioned and a second series was aired in September 2007. Both series also featured Katy Brand
Katy Brand
Katy Brand is an English actress, comedian and writer known for her ITV2 series Katy Brand's Big Ass Show and for Comedy Lab Slap on Channel 4....
.
History
The four members met when they were students at University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. The group's big break came when they appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
festival in 2002, which led to gigs in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and a slot at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
U.S. Comedy Arts Festival
The Comedy Festival, formerly known as the US Comedy Arts Festival, is a comedy festival held each year in Las Vegas, Nevada. From its 1985 inception to 2007, it was held annually at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, Colorado...
in Aspen, Colorado
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, in 2003.