James Mullinger

James Mullinger

James Mullinger is an English alternative comedian and finalist in the comedy competition "Jimmy Carr's Comedy Idol". He now lives in Atlantic Canada and has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Live Solo Show and a Just For Laughs Best Comedy Show Award. He is the star of Bell Aliant's Blimey! An Englishman in Atlantic Canada which has been nominated for and won numerous awards. Mullinger is also the co-writer and co-producer of the movie The Comedian's Guide to Survival, a British and Canadian co-production about Mullinger's early struggles as a comedian. Mullinger is played in the film by James Buckley and it also stars Jimmy Carr, Omid Djalili, Paul Kaye, Gilbert Gottfried, MyAnna Buring, Kevin Eldon and many more comedians. In 2015, Mullinger began co-hosting the genre and cult film podcast Field & Mullinger's Underground Nights, where he has interviewed filmmakers such as Troma Entertainment's Lloyd Kaufman, Dylan Greenberg Lowell Dean and Joshua Ligairi. In 2016 he sold out New Brunswick's biggest indoor venue Harbour Station Arena, a process that was documented for a CBC film which aired in September 2016. The stand up special of the record breaking show was released internationally by Hulu and Amazon Prime, the first stand up special in history to be filmed in Atlantic Canada and released in the United States, England, Germany and Japan. In April 2018, Mullinger sold out the venue once again along with hundreds of other venues across Canada cementing his position as one of Canada's top comics.

Comedy career

James Mullinger began doing stand up comedy in 2005. Within a year he had reached the final of three national competitions and appeared on Jimmy Carr's DVD Stand Up.

He performed his first full-length solo show at the Camden Fringe in August 2009, titled: James Mullinger Is The Bad Boy Of Feminism.[1] The controversial subject matter and painfully funny anecdotes were a hit with both critics and audiences at the Camden Fringe in August. Both shows sold out and Time Out described it as "very funny stuff" and it was named one of the best shows by the Evening Standard, Metro and London Lite. He then toured the UK with the show culminating with two sold out shows at London's Soho Theatre in June 2010. He has toured three subsequent solo stand up shows (James Mullinger's Schooldays, An Hour of Killer Stand Up and The Man With No Shame) and continues to perform in clubs all over the world.

In May 2005 he created Upstairs at the Masons, a small comedy club in Mayfair, London. Every other week the club has several comedians performing, and have attracted comedians such as Russell Brand, Michael McIntyre, Richard Herring, Shappi Khorsandi and Stewart Lee among others to try out new material.

Since moving to Canada in 2014, James Mullinger has taken Canada by storm. Sold out shows across the country, appearances on CBC's The Debaters, movies, TV shows, festivals, awards, magazines, stand up specials - he's done it all.

In April 2016, James sold out New Brunswick’s biggest indoor venue Harbour Station with his uniquely hilarious stand up show. This record breaking show was documented for a CBC documentary film City On Fire which has aired across Canada to rave reviews and high ratings. The stand up special of the show itself was picked up by Hulu and Amazon Prime so his tales of life in Atlantic Canada are now being enjoyed by people in Germany, Japan and America.

In April 2018 he sold out Harbour Station a second time, this time beating how own record which made headlines around the world.

James tours extensively to packed houses across Canada and England and written and produced a big screen feature film starring actors from Downton Abbey and Twilight about his early years in stand up, which was described as "unmissable" by GQ Magazine and "essential viewing. A funny, realistic look at what it takes to become a stand up comedian," by the Montreal Times.

James is one of the Canada's biggest cheerleaders. He loves it here and spends his time promoting it across the world and raising money for charities and non-profits. James has raised more than $100,000 for Canadian charities. He has also become one of Canada's top comics, being nominated for both a Just For Laughs comedy award and a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Live Show.

He is also a much sought after corporate clean comedian and keynote speaker on the subjects of marketing, media and uplifting positivity celebrating where you live and work. Performing his keynote speech 'Anything Is Possible' for companies as varied as Irving Oil, TD Canada, New Brunswick School Board, Construction Association of Nova Scotia, Road Builders Association, Atlantic Canada Regional Council of Carpenters, the Crane Rental Association of North America, Moosehead Breweries, New Brunswick Immigration Symposium and hundreds more. A highly skilled MC, he has hosted the 2017 East Coast Music Awards, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards, The ContactNB Awards and the GQ Comedy Extravaganza featuring Russell Peters.

He also launched his own international magazine The Maritime Edit to share his love of small towns and cities across Canada with the rest of the world.

TV career

Mullinger's TV debut was on panel show Street Cred Sudoku alongside Robin Ince, Sue Perkins and Rufus Hound. From November 2011 to January 2012, Mullinger hosted 10 episodes of the world's first funny film review show titled Movie Kingdom for the DMAX channel on the Discovery Network. Devised and created by Mullinger alongside filmmaker Mark Murphy, the show took an irreverent view of Hollywood with honest reviews, comical interviews with A-list stars and sketches featuring comedians. Movie Kingdom was Pick of the Week in The Guardian and Mail on Sunday. Mullinger interviewed Hollywood actors Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise, George Clooney in the show and introduced other comedians such as Micky Flanagan, Rob Brydon, Andi Osho, Simon Pegg, Richard Herring and Scott Capurro.

The show was then developed with Comedy Central and became a web series titled A Moment With... Each week Mullinger would meet with the likes of Cameron Diaz, Anne Hathaway, Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Matthew McConaughey, Javier Bardem and comedians such as Greg Davies, Jerry Seinfeld, Jackie Mason, Ross Noble and Stewart Lee to discuss what makes them laugh.

Since moving to Canada in 2014 he has been the star of Bell Aliant's Blimey! An Englishman in Atlantic Canada. Partially scripted, the show follows Mullinger as he tours around Atlantic Canada performing in theatres, basements, arts centres, vineyards, food markets, aircraft hangars and anywhere else that will have him. It also features many other comedians who tour the East Coast of Canada with Mullinger. The show is currently on its third season and has been nominated for and won numerous awards.

Film career

Before moving to Canada, Mullinger had a few small parts in British films such as Crypt 3D (also known as The Convent), Vendetta and Assassin. In 2015 he began work on a screenplay titled The Comedian's Guide to Survival about Mullinger's early life as a struggling comedian with a day job with writer and director Mark Murphy. The film was released in October 2016 and stars Mullinger alongside James Buckley (who plays Mullinger in the film), Jimmy Carr and many more comedians many of whom are playing themselves. He was also the subject of a documentary film about his 2014 UK stand up tour. After moving to Canada, Mullinger starred in a documentary called "City on Fire", a film about his new home in Saint John, New Brunswick. He also appeared in a low budget hour movie titled Anonymous Zombie.

Early life

Mullinger grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire. He was educated at King Edward's School, Witley then studied English Literature and Women's Studies at Kingston University before embarking on a career as a journalist and Photo Director. He began performing stand up comedy in 2005 and quickly made a name for himself as "one to watch" (The Guardian) by reaching the final of three major comedy competitions. They were: Jimmy Carr's Comedy Idol (which resulted in a performance alongside Carr at The Comedy Store that appeared on Carr's DVD 'Stand Up'), You Must Be Joking at the Newbury Comedy Festival and Your Comedy Stars at the Edinburgh Festival.

As a journalist Mullinger interviewed Rachel Weisz, Alan Hollinghurst, Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Emily Mortimer, Dara Ó Briain, Russell Brand, Sheryl Crow, Charlie Brooker, Matt LeBlanc, Irvine Welsh, Rufus Wainwright and hundreds more. He won GQ magazine's prestigious Employee Of The Year Award a record three time during his time working for the magazine from 2000 to 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Kettle, James (6 February 2010). "This week's comedy previews". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
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