Andre Vincent was born May 1964 in Woolworth's Department Store Penge, and has not stopped appearing in the most unusual of places since.

He started his career as a professional show-off at an early age, becoming a star-struck stage brat, working when any theatre company needed a street urchin, a herald or a small child to upstage everyone. He became a boy chorister, to the delight of his family whose dream was for him to follow his nan into the world of opera and become a top class tenor.

Unfortunately for his family he followed the career path of another relative, his great-grandfather, who was an acrobat on the olde variety stage. So when young Andre stopped singing, due to his voice breaking, he went back to the boards and spent most of his time there arguing with theatre directors that not only could Hamlet be fat, he should be fat. Disheartened by this small-mindedness, he packed up his greasepaint and ran away to the circus.

After a quick stint of training in Paris and with a backpack full of equipment, Andre started travelling the world entertaining the masses at circus and theatre festivals everywhere. With skills in abundance and his unique style of improvisation, he has performed in strange places from a bullring in Columbia to a baseball stadium in Nova Scotia to Vietnamese refugee camps in the South China Sea.

With all this moving about, Andre had to think about where his career was going when he found himself working at Disney World Florida at the end of 1988. Mask work and regimented smiling were really not his forte. A friend tried to change his sad demeanour by taking him to a comedy club in Orlando and three hours later a new chapter opened in his life. He kept returning to the club, speaking to comics and schmoozing the management, and within a few months he was on the road compering at small stand-up clubs in the southern states of America.

His apprenticeship in Georgia and Alabama was good enough in the eyes of his peers to get gigs in other states of the U.S. and the pinnacle of this work was opening for Bob Hope in Columbus, Ohio in 1992.

With his head swelling and his tongue tripping one-liners, he returned home to conquer the comedy circuit of the U.K., and in no time at all established himself as one of the top stand-ups in the country today.

REVIEWS FOR:

Hoorah For Cancer- André Vincent Is Unwell:

"Getting cancer was one of the best things to happen to Vincent, giving this solid circuit performer enough material for an exceptionally brilliant show a rich seam of strong, observational comedy. He always gets people laughing through his accomplished stand-up skills, evident in his scalpel-sharp ad-libs and outstanding one-liners."
CHORTLE

"Aside from his ability to sustain a single narrative for a full hour, with thought-provoking originality and biting humour, Vincent also uses video to deliver one of the most disarming punch lines you’re ever likely to see on the Fringe."
THE SCOTSMAN

"An improvising comedy genius"
THE GUARDIAN



"He possesses the energy of Lee Evans with the improvisational Skills of Paul Merton and is one of the best comedians in the business."
THE TIMES

"Ferociously funny"
THE SUNDAY TIMES

"Honesty and truth (and funny lines) are comedy essentials and fortunately Vincent has come more than prepared. Physically and vocally reminiscent of Phill Jupitus, this corpulent comic is an utterly welcoming presence, lacing his blokeish jollity with welcome shots of rage and giggling incomprehension. He immediately puts the audience at ease, discussing his 'little issue' in an entirely matter-of-fact yet utterly compelling manner, he manages to hone in on the absurdity of each situation, while retaining an impressively level-headed perspective."
METRO

"He is an experience comedian whose collection of anecdotes, one-lines, a somewhat warped view on situations created a fresh, original and purely exciting and brilliant performance. There really was nothing wrong with this show. It deserves to sell out, it deserves to tour to packed houses, and Andre deserves to continue going from strength to strength. It really is infectious comedy, and for Andre it was literally side splitting. See it now, this is a rare gem of an idea performed perfectly. Go Go Go because remember, he may not be around for long! I do hope not actually, because Andre Vincent Is Unwell is extraordinarily brilliant"
NOWT2DO.COM

THE EARLY EDITION
"Andre Vincent, on the other hand, is brash and loud and careers headlong into delicate topics with all the subtlety of an enraged wildebeast. In spite, or perhaps because of, this however, Vincent is the only panel member to really step away from safe material and take risks. His wonderfully tasteless one-liners about 9/11 and basement-dwelling Austrian families may get a few groans but they’re certainly memorable."
THE SCOTSMAN- 2010
 
http://www.andrevincent.co.uk
On twitter at @vinny64