Waen Origen Shepherd is an English composer, actor and comedian. Originally from Yorkshire, England, he now lives in London.
Career
Following his days as a stand-up poet and fringe actor, Shepherd started out performing bizarre experimental monologues at the early Cluub Zarathustra, touring with spoof techno band and Edinburgh sell-out The Pod with fellow comedian/musicians Tim Hope and Julian Barratt. He hosted the undergroundcabaretGritty Fingers and smashed up Cornish pasties in the guise of ranting Northern madman William Whicker. He graduated from Oxford University in 1993, with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology. He went on to co-write and narrate award-winning animation The Wolfman, before writing, directing and starring in his own animation Origen's Wake for Channel 4's Comedy Lab series. Since then, Shepherd concentrated on developing a number of comedy characters on stage, partly through his work as one half of Shepherd & Farnaby in their shows Animal Pie and Peterford Golf Club, and partly through his solo work on the comedy circuit. In 2003, Shepherd created a deluded monster in the form of Gary Le Strange, melding his love of composing with that of creating original comedy characters. He went on to win the Perrier AwardBest Newcomer for that debut performance. He achieved cult success, hosting a "Club Le Strange" comedy evening at The Albany in London. Shepherd enjoys portraying exaggerated or absurd characters, and appeared in two series of BBC2's science fiction comedy, Hyperdrive, as Captain Helix. He has also appeared on BBC Radio 2's Out to Lunch programme. In 2007, Shepherd appeared in a short film by Tim Plester entitled World of Wrestling, in which he played 'Exotic' Adrian Street, a wrestler with the flamboyance of a drag queen. He also has had two roles in Series 1 of We Are Klang as 'The Juggler' and a Hungarian prince. Shepherd played the role of deluded teacher, Mr. Kennedy, in the award-winning second and third series of The Inbetweeners. Shepherd was cited as one of the Top 50 British comedians by The Times and he is included as one of the Top 50 Cult Comedian Icons in the Rough Guideseries of books. Shepherd's dedication to British comedy has been honoured by the inclusion of his name on the famous Comedy Carpet at Blackpool, under the guise of Gary Le Strange. Shepherd has written several theme tunes and music for television and radio. He is the series composer for Crackanory and Murder in Successville, both produced by Tiger Aspect. He has composed music for several films, including the 2015 feature-film The Ghoul directed by Gareth Tunley.
