Neil Cole
When not jetting around the globe presenting The World Rally Championship for the Dave channel, Neil can be found on stage at the major comedy clubs around the UK as a stand up.Previously part of the much-loved sketch group Pros from Dover alongside Phil Whelans and Richard Glover, Neil also hosted his own daily show on NME Radio.
As well as supporting Russell Brand on his live tour, Neil has notched up appearances on BBC Radio 4's comedy show, 28 Acts In 28 Minutes, and hosted interviews, promos & links at the London Premiere of Spider-Man 3 for Sony Pictures Television.
The influential motorsport-entertainment TV show he presented & co-scripted for three years, Shakedown (Sony Pictures Television, Men & Motors), was nominated two years running at the RTS Awards and another show he presented, UKTVG2's coverage of FIFA World Cup 2006, was also nominated.
As a TV presenter, Neil has an enviable wealth of experience & skills. Equally at home in a live studio environment as he is working under extreme conditions on location, he has proved himself with three years presenting for MTV Northern Europe as their main, live host (including Select, The Fridge, Dance Floor Chart, Euro Top 20 and the MTV Europe Music Awards) and 48 episodes of Sony Pictures Television's worldwide travel/motorsport/lifestyle show, Shakedown, which took him to Japan, Argentina, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, as well as throughout Europe.
Neil has also worked for ITV2 (his first presenting job was as one of the presenters on Princess Productions' daily hour-long live youth magazine show, Bedrock, which ran from 1998 - 2000), Eurosport, Al Jazeera, SpeedTV, extreme sports channel, Nation 217, Sky One, UKTVG2, and, on radio, as a regular DJ for Xfm. Most recently Neil presented for Sky Sports at The National Handball Championships.
As an actor, writer & comedian, Neil's career really began with acclaimed comedy double-act Hitchcock's Half Hour, ("The New Young Gods Of Comedy" - The Sunday Times, "Very fast, very fresh, very funny" - The Guardian) who won the coveted Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year Award in 1998 and went on to appear on BBC1's Stand Up Show, Lenny Beige's Variety Pack (BBC Choice), BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends and work in writing & development for Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. He has appeared as a solo character comedy performer in shows such as Probe at the Soho Theatre and Spank! at The Albany, and as an improviser with London Theatresports and Grand Theft Impro. On the London stage, he starred as Nero ("Powerful and compelling performance" - What's On) in Racine's Britannicus - which he also translated - as well as playing the leads in Orton plays, Loot and The Ruffian On The Stair. He recently played key roles in a couple of Sapphire & Steel Audio Books.
Neil was born in Bristol, and returned there eighteen years later for University, studying English & French Literature. He grew up in between in Essex and New Jersey, USA. He has a passion and penchant for music, movies, sport (especially extreme sports & motorsports), poker, comic books, proper books and video games. He is also writing & developing several projects & formats for TV & Radio.
Showreel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6LedkyniqQ