Frankie Boyle

Francis Martin Patrick Boyle (born 16 August 1972) is a Scottish comedian and writer.

He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and dark, often controversial sense of humour.

A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recognition as a regular panellist on the comedy show Mock the Week from its beginning in June 2005 until his departure in September 2009.

Boyle first performed stand-up at the University of Sussex Student Union, later gaining his big break after performing at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh and winning an open-mic event at the 1996 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

His comedy influences include Sir Billy Connolly, Bill Hicks and Spike Milligan.

Boyle was a regular on the BBC panel show Mock the Week from its first episode on 5 June 2005 until 17 September 2009.

A programme in which the panel comment humorously on news stories from the British media, Mock the Week was hosted by Dara Ó Briain, who in an episode of Live at the Apollo referred to Boyle as "the dark heart of Mock the Week.".

He is known for his morbid sense of humour, which plays on negative images of celebrities, politicians and society (particularly his home country Scotland).

On 2 October 2009, Boyle announced via the Mock the Week's Facebook fan page that he was leaving the show to concentrate on other projects.

Boyle has since criticised both the show's production team and the BBC Trust.

He claims the show did not cover enough major news stories and was too restrictive on his risqué comedy act, because the producers and the BBC Trust were afraid of "frightening the horses".

He is seen in archive footage of Mock the Week on the 2009 Christmas Special, which aired on 22 December 2009, as a series of "Best Bits and Festive Clips", in a compilation celebrating the show's 100th episode on 5 July 2012 as well as in archive footage on the 2012 Christmas Special, which aired on 27 December 2012.

In October 2009, Boyle piloted a sketch and stand-up show for Channel 4, entitled Deal With This, Retards to be produced by RDF Scotland subsidiary the Comedy Unit.

After he left Mock the Week, Boyle created and starred in the Channel 4 sketch show Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (2010) and BBC Two's chat show Frankie Boyle's New World Order (2017–2022).

Boyle mentioned on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that the original title of the show had been dropped, due to its offensive nature, and been renamed Tramadol Nights and aired from the end of November 2010.

An official page launched via Channel 4's official website, which confirmed that the show's full name is Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights and the series was made up of six episodes.

Boyle caused controversy on the show with his comments about Katie Price and Dwight Yorke's disabled son, Harvey.

On 21 August 2011, it was revealed that Channel 4 had given Boyle permission to record a pilot for a topical talk show in October of that year, which would be called Frankie Boyle's Rehabilitation Programme (despite the controversy surrounding Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights).

Channel 4 head of comedy Shane Allen told the press that "it's very much like Parkinson or Wogan, but with paedo jokes" and that the show would feature Boyle "in a studio, riffing off the audience a bit with some people challenging what he says".

The pilot's format is similar to his later Autopsy shows and to Frankie Boyle's New World Order, with Boyle making controversial statements which are discussed and challenged by his guests.

It was included on the DVD release of The Last Days of Sodom.

The Boyle Variety Performance was broadcast on 19 August 2012 and featured Boyle with guests Rob Delaney, Nick Helm, Katherine Ryan and Tom Stade.

A few days after the show was broadcast, Boyle attracted criticism after he posted jokes on Twitter about the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

In 2014, Frankie Boyle starred in the short comedy film Gasping for BBC Scotland, written by Greg Hemphill.

The title refers to an expression in Scottish English, communicative of an irresistible compulsion to do something, such as smoke a cigarette; or, as here, to drink alcohol.

The short feature is an at-times-farcical but generally deadpan treatment of a man's attempted recovery from alcoholism.

Frankie Boyle's Referendum Autopsy was released on 28 September 2014, and Frankie Boyle's Election Autopsy was released on 17 May 2015, through BBC iPlayer.

Featuring guests Katherine Ryan and Sara Pascoe, Boyle dissected the Scottish independence referendum, 2014 and general election.

Frankie Boyle's American Autopsy dissected the buildup and fallout of the United States presidential election, tackling topics such as feminism, entertainment, propaganda, and guns.

Special guests include Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, Michelle Wolf, Desiree Burch, and Richard Osman.

A show similar to his BBC iPlayer exclusive "autopsy" shows, Boyle returned to TV on BBC Two, with his Frankie Boyle's New World Order, which follows a very similar structure to the aforementioned programmes, where Frankie makes two statements, and discusses them with his guests.

The show premiered on 8 June 2017 and was cancelled in 2023.

In 2020, he presented a four-part series on BBC Two, Frankie Boyle's Tour of Scotland.

He has embarked on a number of tours, releasing several stand-up specials.

Boyle was born and raised in Pollokshaws, Glasgow, to Irish Catholic parents from Crolly in County Donegal.

He attended St Conval's Primary and Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow.

After leaving school, he worked as a library assistant over the summer and attended Langside College.

He then studied Urban Planning at Aston University for a year before leaving and beginning a BA in English literature at the University of Sussex.

He graduated from university aged 22 and his first job was working in a mental health hospital.

He then went to a teacher-training college in Edinburgh and had placements in schools, but by then was performing as a stand-up comedian.