Robert Florence

Robert Luke McBrian Florence (born 29 July 1977) is a Scottish television presenter, comedian and writer who starred in the BBC comedy sketch show Burnistoun.[1][2]

Robert Florence
PseudonymRab, The Pyramid
Born (1977-07-29) 29 July 1977
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Notable works and roles

Early life

Robert Florence was born on 29 July 1977[3] and was raised in a working-class family in Balornock, Glasgow. His father and brothers are roofers.[4]

He and future writing collaborator Iain Connell met as a pair of fifteen-year-olds at a Springburn amateur youth theatre project, Toonspeak. His sole stage appearance was at a stand-up comedy night in Petershill, Springburn, for which he dressed up as David Bowie. Florence spent a year on a film and television studies course at Cardonald College.

Career

He was a core writer of the sketch show Chewin' the Fat and with Iain Connell wrote the sitcom series Legit and Empty. Connell and Florence have recently worked on the third series of Burnistoun, which is set in a fictional Scottish city. The first series was shown on BBC 2 Scotland in early 2010; the second was shown on BBC 1 Scotland in early 2011 and the third began in August 2012. Florence has also been a performer on Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights for Channel 4.[5]

In a 2012 article for Eurogamer, Florence criticised the relationship between the video games press and publishers, characterising it as "almost indistinguishable from PR", and questioned the integrity of a games journalist, Lauren Wainwright.[6][7][8] In the controversy that followed, dubbed "Doritogate" (after a video of Geoff Keighley emerged of him sitting in front of bottles of Mountain Dew, bags of Doritos and an ad banner for Halo 4), the threat of legal action—the result of broad libel laws in the UK—caused Eurogamer to self-censor.[9] Eurogamer's editor-in-chief Tom Bramwell censored the article, and Florence consequently retired from video games journalism.[10][7][11][12]

Florence also makes an online show about boardgames called DowntimeTown and is the writer/performer/editor/creator of a review show for Xbox Live called The Independent Charles Show (sometimes purposefully misspelled The Independint Charles Show). Cardboard Children was a regular feature on boardgames that Florence contributed to UK-based PC gaming blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun between 2010[13] and 2016.[14]

Personal life

Florence is a Celtic supporter.[4] In June 2013, he lost to Greg Hemphill in a professional wrestling contest at the Kelvin Hall which served as the venue's final act before closing down.[15]

Credits

Television

Films
  • The House of Him (2014)[16]

Online series
  • consolevania (writer/actor/presenter)
  • DowntimeTown (writer/actor/presenter)
  • The Independint Charles Show (Xbox LIVE) (writer/actor/presenter)

References
  1. Donaldson, Brian (23 May 2011). "Burnistoun - Series 1". The List. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  2. English, Paul (12 October 2011). "Burnistoun funnyman Robert Florence turns Twitter stalker in hunt for female comic talent". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  3. "Screened profile".
  4. "Partners from Chewin' the Fat serve up a nourishing new broth of off-the-wall fun I say, there's two guys in my soup". The Herald. 18 June 2001.
  5. "Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights". British Comedy Guide.
  6. David Auerbach (4 September 2014). "Gaming Journalism Is Over". Slate. Archived from the original on 13 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  7. Stephen Totilo (5 November 2012). "The Contemptible Games Journalist: Why So Many People Don't Trust The Gaming Press (And Why They're Sometimes Wrong)". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  8. Zsolt Wilhelm (3 November 2012). ""Doritogate": Sind Videospieljournalisten glaubwürdig?". Der Standard. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  9. Fabien Pionneau (6 December 2012). "Doritos-gate, le scandale qui frappe la presse britannique". LesNumeriques. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  10. Bramwell, Tom (30 October 2012). "Editor's Blog: Lost Humanity 18 Aftermath". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  11. "TotalBiscuit: Games Journalism Is An Irredeemable Mess". 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  12. "Video Game Journalist Robert Florence Leaves Eurogamer After Libel Complaints". Forbes. 25 October 2012. Archived from the original on 30 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  13. Florence, Robert (18 September 2010). "Cardboard Children: DungeonQuest". Rock Paper Shotgun.
  14. Florence, Robert (27 September 2016). "Cardboard Children – Goodbye". Rock Paper Shotgun.
  15. "Funnymen Greg Hemphill and Robert Florence star as wrestling night brings curtain down on Kelvin Hall". dailyrecord. 22 June 2013.
  16. English, Paul (10 February 2014). "Burnistoun star Robert Florence: I was filming slasher film in kitchen.. as my mum was watching Corrie in next room". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
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