Mike Wozniak

Michael James Wozniak[1] (born 8 November 1979) is a British comedian, writer and actor.

Mike Wozniak
Wozniak in 2022
Born
Michael James Wozniak

(1979-11-08) 8 November 1979
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Comedian, writer, actor
Years active1990s–present
Notable workMan Down

He portrays Brian in the Channel 4 sitcom Man Down and is a member of the team that makes Small Scenes for BBC Radio 4.[2][3]

Early life

Wozniak was born in Oxford, was raised in Portsmouth, and has a twin sister.[4] He has Polish and Welsh ancestry.[5]

Education

Wozniak was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School.

He studied Medicine at St George's, University of London and worked as a doctor for several years before pursuing comedy.[5][6][4]

Career

Wozniak worked doing live sketch comedy starting in the late 1990s, and began stand-up comedy in 2007.[7][8]

He won the Amused Moose Laugh-Off contest at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008.[9][10] He was nominated for the comedy newcomer award the same year.[9][11][12] Wozniak performed at the Adelaide Fringe in 2009.[7] Wozniak was nominated for the Edinburgh Best Comedy Show in 2013.

Television

Wozniak's first major role in television came when he was cast in the series Man Down in 2013 alongside Greg Davies, who created and starred in the show.[13] He played strait-laced financial adviser Brian, a friend of Davies' character.[13]

In 2015, he wrote physical comedy Ruby Robinson for Sky Arts. It starred Kim Cattrall and a troupe of acrobats.[14][15]

Wozniak appeared and came second in series 11 of Taskmaster, which started broadcast in March 2021.[16] He has a long history with Taskmaster, having won the original Edinburgh Fringe version of the show in 2010.[17]

He also appeared on The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) which originally aired on channel 4 on the 16 April 2023.

In May 2023 it was announced that he will be taking part in Junior Taskmaster, a Taskmaster spin-off for children aged 9–11, as the assistant of the Taskmaster, who will be played by Rose Matafeo.[18]

Film

In 2016, Wozniak played the role of Josh in Alice Lowe's Prevenge.[19]

Wozniak made his directorial debut with a dramedy entitled Sump, released in 2017 and screened at various film festivals.[2][8] The film has a 14 minute run time and features a character named Sally, played by Jeany Spark, whose husband is trapped in a cave with others.[20]

In 2022 Wozniak played the alien Gordan in the science fiction comedy film We Are Not Alone.

Podcasts

On his St. Elwick's Neighbourhood Association Newsletter Podcast, Wozniak plays the role of host Malcolm Durridge. The show focuses on the neighbourhood association newsletter of St Elwick's, a fictional ward of Exeter, forced through budgetary cuts to change from a printed edition to the "cheapest alternative": a podcast.[21]

Wozniak also appears frequently in different roles on the Beef And Dairy Network Podcast, ten episodes of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017-2018.[22]

In 2021, he started Three Bean Salad Podcast with Henry Paker and Benjamin Partridge.[23]

Radio

Wozniak has appeared frequently in Tim Key's Late-Night Poetry Programme as a character called Jiffy, notably in the episodes "Accountancy" and "Cuisine".[24] The show is an anarchic comedy series where Key plans to recite poetry above the Norwegian fjords.

Filmography
Title Year Actor Writer Role Notes
Comedy Lab 2010 Yes Various
Gary: Tank Commander 2011 Yes Bradshaw
Stand Up for the Week 2012 Yes
Live at the Electric 2012 Yes Various
It's Kevin 2013 Yes Various
Badults 2014 Yes Harry
Lovesick 2014 Yes Doctor
Crims 2015 Yes Photographer
Prevenge 2016 Yes Josh
Josh 2015–2016 Yes Phil
The Moonstone 2016 Yes Superintendent Seegrave
Walliams & Friend 2015–2016 Yes Various
Drunk History 2015–2017 Yes Various
Man Down 2013–2017 Yes Yes Brian Writer for various episodes in this series.
Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans 2019 Yes Owen Bowen
Dial M for Middlesbrough 2019 Yes Neil
Taskmaster 2021 Yes Himself Runner-up
Richard Osman's House of Games 2021–2022 Yes Himself Weekly winner
We Are Not Alone 2022 Yes Gordan
The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off 2023 Yes Himself Contestant[25]

References
  1. "Man Down l Greg meets Mike Wozniak l Comedy on 4" (video). youtube.com. Channel 4. 16 October 2013.
  2. "Mike Wozniak". PBJ Management. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  3. "Mike Wozniak stars as 'Brian' in new series of 'Man Down'". PBJ Management. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  4. "The Polish Pompey Prankster". Portsmouth Grammar School Opus (3): 25. 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. "Comedian profile: up-and-coming comic Mike Wozniak". The Guardian. 10 April 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. Meakin, Nione (9 July 2009). "Mike Wozniak – In Clown Shoes, Komedia, Brighton, July 15". The Argus. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
  7. "Edinburgh award-winning stand-up Mike Wozniak comes to Up the Creek, Greenwich". News Shopper. 23 January 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  8. McMahon, Vanessa (30 December 2018). "Interview with Mike Wozniak for SUMP (2017)". FilmFestivals.com. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  9. "Amused Moose Laugh Off 2008". Amused Moose Comedy. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  10. Herring, Richard (23 September 2008). "Warming Up". Richard Herring. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  11. "Nominees and Winners". If.Comedy. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  12. Arthur, Tim (15 December 2008). "Best comedy gigs of 2008". Time Out London. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010.
  13. "Mike Wozniak on Man Down". ATV Today. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  14. "Ruby Robinson". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  15. "Matt Lipsey directs Ruby Robinson for Sky Arts". Curtis Brown. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  16. "Taskmaster series 11 line up". Twitter. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  17. "Mike Wozniak interview - Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  18. "Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak to host Junior Taskmaster". British Comedy Guide. 16 May 2023.
  19. "Prevenge". Western Edge Pictures. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  20. "Sump (Directed by Mike Wozniak) | NFF Official Selection". Norwich Film Festival. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  21. "St.-Elwick's-Neighbourhood-Association-Newsletter-Posdcast". Anchor.fm. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  22. Guide, British Comedy. "Beef And Dairy Network - Radio 4 Comedy". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  23. "Mike Wozniak launches a new podcast". Chortle. 1 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  24. Key, Tim. "Accountancy". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  25. "The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off". The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
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