Barry Castagnola

 

Over the last few years, Barry has established himself as an extremely accomplished comic performer, writer and actor. As well as performing stand up on the UK and International comedy circuits, he has created, appeared on and written for numerous television projects.

Most recently, Barry has created and performed a variety of comedy characters for new television shows - The Secret Interview(TwoFour Productions – which will be broadcast in August/September), Public Eye (Objective Productions for Channel 4) and Dom Joly’s new primetime ITV show, Fool Britannia. He was also a regular cast member of the recent MTV comedy Flash Prank.

In the last year, in addition to his work as a stand up, he was also a writer for Ask Rhod Gilbert (BBC1) played the CEO in Office Party at The Pleasance Theatre in Islington and is the co-host of the topical podcast The Proper Gander.

He has performed stand up on The Comedy Store Live (Comedy Central), The Stand Up Show (BBC1), was a regular on Christian O’Connell’s Sunday Service and film quiz Popcorn (SKYONE) and also appeared in Comedy Shuffle (BBC3) and Comedy Cuts(ITV2).

Barry was the creator and one third of the spoof eco-warrior dance-music act Cyderdelic (with Marc Wootton and Liam Woodman). After two critically acclaimed Edinburgh shows (‘Fantastically innovative and astonishingly funny.’ ***** The List) and a stint on The 11O’Clock Show, Cyderdelic won the inaugural BBC2 Green Light Award for comedy, the prize for which was a one-off programme for the channel. This was then developed into a six-part series for BBC3. Cyderdelic: The Revolution Will Be Televised, narrated by the legendary John Peel and broadcast in 2004, is a hilarious combination of jaw-dropping stunts, direct action, merry mischief and character comedy. It quickly achieved cult-status and is still revered by comedy fans.

‘Impressive and hilarious’ (Daily Telegraph)

‘Unmissable. The Office meets Greenpeace’ (Zoo)

‘A Tooting popular front for the No Logo generation…The actors gleefully utilise the real-life backdrop for maximum chaos, unafraid to humiliate themselves in the pursuit of improvisational anarchy.’ (Sunday Times Critics’ Choice)

‘Unmissable’ (Zoo)

‘Revolutionary telly’ (Maxim)

‘Great comedy…comedians Marc Wootton and Barry Castagnola make fitfully amusing work of their Devonshire dunce characters’ (Time Out Critics’ Choice)

He was a cast member of the Channel 4 comedy Experimental and ITV’s Oblivious, presented The Yes/No Gameshow on Bravoand has appeared in and written for, numerous other TV shows. He also played one of the lead roles in the British film One Man and His Dog (Razor Edge Films).

In 2007, Barry co-wrote and performed in a multi-media comedy play, The Swingers, at The Edinburgh Fringe (reviews below) with award-winning actress/writer Martha Howe-Douglas (Horrible Histories, The Armstrong and Miller Show). They then performed some sketches with characters from the show on BBC3’s Comedy Shuffle and have written a TV pilot script with synopses/plot lines for another 5 episodes. Also, Barry and Martha had a comedy/drama idea optioned by Hattrick, a script of which was subsequently commissioned by Channel 4.

He is currently developing a screenplay with former Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Brendon Burns.

“Barry makes a wonderful companion for an hour. He is a fantastic storyteller and invites you along to the crazy and odd tales that pepper his life, from times travelling to more intimate and personal events. He’s easy to listen to and you are guaranteed to think he’s stopped his show 40 minutes early, because the time just flies by.”

The Fix (One of the 5 picks of the Fringe)



‘Perfect’

Three Weeks



“Castagnola has crafted a delightfully enjoyable portrait of himself as a young man…well constructed…so enjoyable” ****

Chortle.co.uk



“Such fun… an appealing hour of biographical stand up”

The Guardian(Pick of the day) ****



“A natural anecdote teller… his enjoyable show marks him out as one to watch.” ****

The List



“A confident, likeable comic … it’s his self deprecating bemusement that provides the most hilarity” ****

Metro



“His blokey charm and willingness to make himself look ridiculous carry him through the trickiest of subject matter”

Edfest ****
 
http://barrycastagnola.com
On twitter at @BarryCastagnola