Andy Zaltzman


Andrew Zaltzman is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked extensively with John Oliver and their work together includes Political Animal, The Department, and The Bugle. His performance style is centred on verbal dexterity, and on his love of puns, especially in extended "pun runs".
Since 2016 he has been the statistician for BBC radio's Test Match Special cricket commentaries.

Early life

Zaltzman is of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry. He is the son of South African sculptor Zack Zaltzman and is the older brother of Helen Zaltzman, of The Allusionist and Answer Me This! podcasts.
From his prep school, Holmewood House School in Langton Green, Kent, he then attended the private Tonbridge School. He has a degree in Classics from University College, Oxford. While at university, Zaltzman was sports editor for The Oxford Student.

Career

Stand-up

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Zaltzman has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1999, when he was a finalist in the prestigious So You Think You're Funny new act competition along with Josie Long, Russell Howard, and David O'Doherty.
His debut full-length Edinburgh Fringe show Andy Zaltzman versus the Dog of Doom received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Comedy Awards in 2001.
In 2004, Zaltzman began – initially with John Oliver – hosting Political Animal, a stand-up show in which different acts perform political-themed material; Zaltzman has hosted solo since 2006. Political Animal later transferred to BBC Radio 4.
Zaltzman also appeared in a late-night show with fellow stand-ups Daniel Kitson, David O'Doherty, and Alun Cochrane entitled The Honourable Men of Art, at The Stand in 2006 and 2008.
YearShow nameNotes
1999So You Think You're FunnyNew act competition. Finalist
2000The Comedy ZoneNew act showcase
2001Andy Zaltzman versus the Dog of DoomNominated for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Comedy Awards
2002Andy Zaltzman Unveils the 2002 Catapult of Truth
2003Edinburgh and BeyondShowcase. With John Oliver and Rob Deering
2004Erm... It's About The World... I Think You'd Better Sit DownWith John Oliver
2005John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman issue a list of demands and await your response with interestWith John Oliver
2006Andy Zaltzman Detonates 70 Minutes of Unbridled Afternoon-
2007Andy Zaltzman, 32, Administers His Emergency Dose of Afternoon Utopia, Steps Back And Waits To See What Happens-
2008Andy Zaltzman Boldly Unbuttons The Cloak of Civilisation, But Is Perplexed And Perturbed By What He Finds Lurking Beneath-
2010Andy Zaltzman Swears to Tell the Truth, Half the Truth, and Everything But the Truth-
2011Andy Zaltzman: Armchair Revolutionary-
2013Andy Zaltzman: Satirist for Hire-
2014Andy Zaltzman: Looks At Some Of The News And Is Confused By Most Of It-
2016Andy Zaltzman: Plan Z-
2017Andy Zaltzman: 2017 – The Certifiable History.-
2018Right Questions, Wrong Answers.-

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Zaltzman performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the first time in April 2007, winning the coveted Piece of Wood Award, given to the best show as voted for by other comedians.

Other

In 2011, Zaltzman appeared as a guest stand-up comic on Russell Howard's Good News Extra. In 2013 he also contributed a review of that year's World Snooker Championship to BBC Television's regular coverage of the event.
Since mid-2014, Zaltzman has toured Satirist for Hire, where questions and comments are solicited from potential or confirmed audiences before performing at venues, giving parts of the show a constantly evolving order and structure.
In December, 2014 Andy performed at the Lord’s Taverners charity Christmas lunch without incident.
From 10 June 2016 Andy is hosting Zaltzman's Summer of Sport podcast published by The Guardian.
From 17 November 2017 Andy has co-hosted The Urnbelievable Ashes with Felicity Ward, a podcast published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

''The Department''

Zaltzman and John Oliver gained their first big break when they teamed up with the multi-Perrier Award nominated Chris Addison on The Department, a short-running radio show based on the premise that Chris, Andy and John, were a three-man organisation brainstorming to solve society's problems.

''The Bugle''

Zaltzman has co-hosted The Bugle, a weekly satirical comedy podcast, since 2007.
From October 2007 until June 2016 the podcast was hosted by Zaltzman with John Oliver. In June 2016 Oliver left the show due to other commitments. The show was officially re-launched on 24 October 2016. Producer Chris Skinner remained on the show along with Zaltzman and a rotating group of co-hosts. The first set of new co-hosts included Wyatt Cenac, Hari Kondabolu, Tiff Stevenson, Nish Kumar, Alice Fraser, Anuvab Pal, Tom Ballard, and Helen Zaltzman.
The Bugle was hosted by The Times until December 2011 and the podcast has since been independent, relying upon listeners' contributions to continue. In 2016 the podcast relaunched and became a member of the Radiotopia podcast network.
In December 2018 it was announced The Bugle would be leaving Radiotopia.

Writing

Zaltzman has worked with Rory Bremner on a number of projects, these include Transatlantic, a US election special for BBC Radio 4 and several series of Bremner, Bird and Fortune. In June 2007, BBC2's The Culture Show commissioned Zaltzman and John Oliver to write a mock farewell speech for departing Prime Minister Tony Blair. The speech was then animated by Triffic Films, with the voice of Blair played by Bremner.
In November 2008, his first book, entitled Does Anything Eat Bankers?: And 53 Other Indispensable Questions for the Credit Crunched, was published.

Radio

In July 2009, Zaltzman hosted a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 5 Live entitled Yes, It's The Ashes, taking a comic look at the 2009 Ashes.
Zaltzman presented his own four-part BBC Radio 4 programme in December 2009 entitled Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100. Also featuring Rory Bremner and Bridget Christie, the show contained stand-up and sketches focusing on the last 10 years.
Zaltzman was a regular co-host, along with comedians Al Murray and Rebecca Front of the satirical news programme 7 Day Sunday . The show had been running on BBC Radio 5 Live since starting in January 2010.
Zaltzman is also an occasional guest on the on-line cricket radio commentary station Test match Sofa and on TalkSPORT's cricket show Howzat. More recently he has appeared on Test Match Sofa's successor and was an occasional member of the team when they broadcast the programme from a central London sports bar for the 2015 Ashes.
In 2016 Zaltzman became the scorer for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 on the Sri Lankan tour of England.
In 2017 he wrote and performed a three-part series on ancient philosophy including Stoicism, Epicureanism and Cynicism for BBC Radio 4.
In 2018, along with comedian and occasional The Bugle co-host Anuvab Pal, he wrote and performed in Empire-ical Evidence a look at the rise and fall of the British Empire produced for BBC Radio 4.
In 2020, he will host one of three series of The News Quiz, sharing hosting with Angela Barnes and Nish Kumar

Cricket

Zaltzman is a huge fan of cricket and in November 2008 began a regular blog for Cricinfo, named "The Confectionery Stall" after a famous piece of commentary by Richie Benaud, where he described a shot by Ian Botham during his innings at the third Ashes Test Match at Headingley, in 1981 as having "gone straight into the Confectionery Stall and out again". Alongside Jarrod Kimber, he hosts a podcast on cricket known as The Cricket Sadist Hour.
Zaltzman's blog covered the 2011 World Cup for Cricinfo, supported by a number of podcasts.
Zaltzman has also appeared on the internet radio site Guerilla Cricket, and has played for the Authors XI cricket team.
Zaltzman was the statistician on Test Match Special for the three-match Wisden Trophy series between England and West Indies in July 2020.

Personal life

Zaltzman's wife is a barrister and they have two children, a daughter born January 2007 and a son born December 2008. Zaltzman delivered his son at home due to his wife entering labour suddenly. His sister Helen Zaltzman is a comedian and podcaster.
Zaltzman voted 'remain' in the UK's Brexit vote. He said later, in an interview for The Guardian, "I could understand the result of the referendum. I voted to remain and I feel European as much as I feel British, but I could see that there were good arguments on both sides, it’s just that the bad arguments seemed to completely drown them out. The whole tone of the leave campaign was negative and xenophobic, and a lot of the remain campaign was just selfish. It seemed to focus on people’s personal finances rather than any idea of what we should be aspiring to as a nation and a continent."

Works