Richard Ayoade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Ayoade
Ayoade at Waterstones, London in 2024
Born	(1977-05-23) 23 May 1977 (age 48) Hammersmith, London, England
Education	St Catharine's College, Cambridge (BA)
Occupation	Comedian actor writer director presenter
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Lydia Fox ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2
Family	Fox family (by marriage)

Richard Ayoade (born 23 May 1977) is a British comedian, actor, writer, director, and TV presenter. He is well-known for playing the shy IT expert Maurice Moss in the TV show The IT Crowd (2006–2013). For this role, he won a BAFTA award in 2014 for Best Male Comedy Performance.

Ayoade was in charge of the Footlights comedy club when he was a student at the University of Cambridge. He created characters like Dean Learner and Garth Marenghi, bringing them to TV in shows like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004). He also appeared in comedy shows such as The Mighty Boosh (2004–2007).

Beyond acting, Ayoade has directed music videos for famous bands like Arctic Monkeys and Vampire Weekend. He wrote and directed the movie Submarine (2010). He also directed the film The Double (2013).

You might also know him as the host of TV shows like Gadget Man (2013–2015), Travel Man (2015–2019), and The Crystal Maze (2017–2020). He has lent his voice to many animated characters in films like The Boxtrolls (2014) and Soul (2020). He has also written several books about film and a children's book.

Early Life and Education

The ADC Theatre, home of Footlights

Richard Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, London, on 23 May 1977. His mother was Norwegian, and his father was Nigerian. When he was young, his family moved to Ipswich.

By age 15, he became very interested in films beyond popular blockbusters. He started exploring movies by directors like Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman. He attended St Joseph's College in Ipswich.

From 1995 to 1998, Ayoade studied law at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. While there, he became president of the Footlights club, a famous amateur theatre group. Many well-known comedians, like David Mitchell and John Oliver, were his classmates at Footlights.

Career Highlights

Early Comedy Shows

Ayoade started his career by co-writing and performing in stage shows with Matthew Holness. Their show Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight was nominated for an award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000. They later created the TV show Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004), a funny spoof of old horror TV dramas. Ayoade wrote, directed, and acted in it.

He also appeared in The Mighty Boosh TV show from 2004 to 2007. He played the character Saboo, a shaman. In 2006, he brought back his character Dean Learner for a comedy chat show called Man to Man with Dean Learner.

The IT Crowd and Directing Films

In 2006, Ayoade began his most famous role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd. Moss is a brilliant but socially awkward IT technician. The show was very popular and ran for four seasons. Ayoade won a BAFTA award for his performance in 2014.

He also became known for directing music videos. He directed videos for popular bands like Arctic Monkeys ("Fluorescent Adolescent") and Vampire Weekend ("Oxford Comma").

In 2010, Ayoade directed his first full-length movie, Submarine. It's a comedy-drama about a teenager growing up in Wales. The film was praised by critics. He was nominated for a BAFTA award for his work on Submarine.

Voice Acting and TV Presenting

Ayoade has voiced many animated characters. He was Mr. Pickles in The Boxtrolls (2014) and Treebor in Early Man (2018). He also voiced characters in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) and Soul (2020). From 2018 to 2021, he voiced Onion in the Cartoon Network series Apple & Onion. More recently, he voiced Professor Rupert Marmalade IV in The Bad Guys (2022).

He became a popular TV presenter, hosting Gadget Man from 2013 to 2015, where he explored new inventions. He then hosted Travel Man from 2015 to 2019, where he traveled to different cities with a celebrity guest for 48 hours. From 2017 to 2020, he hosted the game show The Crystal Maze.

Ayoade has also written several books. His first, Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey (2014), is a humorous look at filmmaking. He also wrote The Grip of Film (2017) and Ayoade on Top (2019). In 2022, he released a children's book called The Book That No One Wanted to Read.

He has hosted the British Academy Television Awards multiple times, including in 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2024, he voiced characters in animated shows like Monsters at Work and Dream Productions.

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

Music Videos Directed

See also

In Spanish: Richard Ayoade para niños