Richard Ayoade

Richard Ayoade
Ayoade in 2011
Born (1977-05-23) 23 May 1977 (age 47)
Hammersmith, London, England
EducationSt Catharine's College, Cambridge (BA)
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actor
  • writer
  • director
  • presenter
Years active2000–present
Spouse
Lydia Fox
​
(m. 2007)​
Children3 Esme, Ida and third child born 2015
FamilyFox (by marriage)

Richard Ayoade (/ˌaɪoʊˈɑːdi/ EYE-oh-AH-dee; born 23 May 1977) is a British[1][2] comedian, actor, writer, director and presenter. He played the role of socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance.

Ayoade was the president of the Footlights club whilst a student at the University of Cambridge. He and Matthew Holness debuted their respective characters Dean Learner and Garth Marenghi at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, bringing the characters to television with Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) and Man to Man with Dean Learner (2006). He appeared in the comedy shows The Mighty Boosh (2004–2007) and Nathan Barley (2005). After directing music videos for Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, he wrote and directed the comedy-drama film Submarine (2010), an adaptation of the 2008 novel by Joe Dunthorne. He co-starred in the American science fiction comedy film The Watch (2012) and his second film, the black comedy The Double (2013), drew inspiration from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novella of the same title.

Ayoade has frequently appeared on panel shows, most prominently on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and served as a team captain on Was It Something I Said? (2013). He presented the factual shows Gadget Man (2013–2015), its spin-off Travel Man (2015–2019), and the revival of The Crystal Maze (2017–2020). He has also voiced characters in a number of animated projects, including the films The Boxtrolls (2014), Early Man (2018), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), Soul (2020), and The Bad Guys (2022), as well as the series Strange Hill High (2013–2014), Apple & Onion (2018–2021), and Krapopolis (2023–present).

Ayoade has written three comedic film-focused books: Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey (2014), The Grip of Film (2017), and Ayoade on Top (2019), as well as the children's book The Book That No One Wanted to Read (2022),[3] illustrated by Tor Freeman.[4]

  1. ^ Jenkins, Tom (31 March 2014). "Richard Ayoade: What I Find Funny". Port Magazine. Retrieved 21 August 2022. Richard Ayoade is a British actor, writer, director and TV presenter.
  2. ^ Bose, Swapnil Dhruv (19 October 2021). "Richard Ayoade names his 10 favourite films of all time". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved 21 August 2022. British actor and filmmaker Richard Ayoade is well known for his particular brand of comedy
  3. ^ "Walker Books - The Book That No One Wanted to Read". www.walker.co.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Tor Freeman". torfreeman.com. Retrieved 9 January 2024.