User:Jamesthomas2011/Laurence Clark

Laurence Clark is British stand-up comedian with cerebral palsy.

Stand-up comedy
Laurence Clark topped Shortlist magazine’s Britain’s Ten Funniest New Comedians in 2009.

Clark's first live stand-up show, The All-Star Charity Show, won critical acclaim at Edinburgh Fringe in 2003. The show was named Critics' Choice in The Times and Laurence was described as a "powerful comedy voice" and "stunningly hard-hitting" by critic Kate Copstick in The Scotman's round-up of the best of the fringe.

His next show, The Jim Davidson Guide to Equality, cleverly cut and drew comparisons between Jim Davidson's stand up and Tony Blair's manifesto speeches. Jim Davidson once cancelled a show in Plymouth because there were wheelchair-users in the front row. So disabled comedian Clark turned the tables on him by refusing to perform if Jim Davidson is in his audience.

In Jim Fixed It for Me, Clark attempted to come to terms with having appeared on Jim'll Fix It as a child and not getting a Jim’ll Fix It badge.

In 12% Evil Clark used his usual mixture of stand-up comedy interspersed with video clips and Powerpoint slidesto take a close look at some of the stereotypes around disability, for example pitiable, brave, invisible, comical, charlatans, charity cases and scroungers. In an interview with the BBC he said he was keen to discover why so many infamous villains are disabled in order to make them even more sinister - Richard III, Long John Silver and Captain Hook. Clark even added Heather Mills-McCartney to the list as well.

In 2008 Clark took his most contraversial stand-up show, ‘Spastic Fantastic’ to the Edinburgh Fringe. The show followed his attempts, as someone with cerebral palsy, to reclaim the word ‘spastic’. These attempts ranged from him slipping the word into conversations at parties to posing on the streets as a market researcher for Spazz Stick lipbalm. He even filmed my acapela boy band of people with cerebral palsy, called ‘Spastic Fantastic’. The show was a critical success, receiving an impressive total of eight 4 and 5 star reviews.

Clark's 2011 fringe show Health Hazard focused on the dangers of privatising the British National Health Service. He has recently won a commission from the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad to produce a new show for 2012.

Clark also occasionally performs as part of the comedy collective "Abnormally Funny People", with Steve Best, Liz Carr, Tanyalee Davis, Chris McCausland, Steve Day and Simon Minty.

Television
Clark has appeared on Are You Having A Laugh? TV and Disability (BBC2); Embarrassing Bodies (Channel 4); The Heaven and Earth Show (BBC 1); The London Programme (ITV) and I'm With Stupid (BBC 3). In October 2004 he was a guest reporter on Newsnight (BBC 2), presenting a film about disability and the UK Abortion Act. Clark and his family are the subject of a documentary film called ‘Jokes, Nappies and Wheelchairs’ to be screened in February 2012 on BBC 1, narrated by David Tennant.

Acting
On stage Clark has acted with the Graeae Theatre Company, playing Richard in their forum theatre play The Trouble with Richard. He also appeared in David Thacker’s A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Octagon Theatre in Bolton, about which the Guardian said “his wheelchair-assisted Wall is indeed ‘the wittiest partition that I ever heard discourse.’”

Personal life
Laurence Clark lives in Liverpool, UK, with his wife and two children.