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Andy Zaltzman
Zaltzman performing at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Birth name	Andrew Zaltzman
Born	(1974-10-06) 6 October 1974 (age 50) London, England
Medium	Stand-up, radio, podcast
Alma mater	University College, Oxford
Years active	1999–present
Genres	Political comedy
Relative(s)	Helen Zaltzman (sister)
Notable works and roles	Political Animal The News Quiz The Bugle

Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian who largely deals in political and sport-related material.

He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including Political Animal, The Department and The Bugle. Since 2016 he has been a statistician for BBC Radio's Test Match Special cricket commentaries, and since 2020 the presenter of Radio 4's The News Quiz. On television, in 2024, he won the eighteenth series of Taskmaster against Babatunde Aléshé, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee, and Rosie Jones.

Early life

Born in Hammersmith, west London, Zaltzman is of Lithuanian-Jewish ancestry. He is the son of South African sculptor Zack Zaltzman and is the older brother of Helen Zaltzman, of The Allusionist and Answer Me This! podcasts.

From his prep school, Holmewood House School in Langton Green, Kent, he then attended the private Tonbridge School. He graduated in Classics at University College, Oxford. While at university, Zaltzman was sports editor for The Oxford Student.

Career

Stand-up

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Zaltzman first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1999, when he was a finalist in the prestigious So You Think You're Funny new act competition along with Josie Long, Russell Howard and David O'Doherty.

His debut full-length Edinburgh Fringe show Andy Zaltzman versus the Dog of Doom received a nomination for Best Newcomer at the Perrier Comedy Awards in 2001.

At the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Zaltzman began – initially with John Oliver – hosting Political Animal, a stand-up show in which different acts perform political-themed material; Zaltzman has hosted solo since 2006. Political Animal later transferred to BBC Radio 4.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Zaltzman performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the first time in April 2007, winning the coveted Piece of Wood Award, given to the best show as voted for by other comedians.

Other stand-up

In 2011 Zaltzman appeared as a guest stand-up comic on Russell Howard's Good News Extra. In 2013 he also contributed a review of that year's World Snooker Championship to BBC Television's regular coverage of the event.

Since mid-2014 Zaltzman has toured Satirist for Hire, where questions and comments are solicited from potential or confirmed audiences (usually via email or social media) before performing at venues, giving parts of the show a constantly evolving order and structure. In December 2014, Zaltzman performed at the Lord's Taverners charity Christmas lunch.

Radio, podcast and TV

The Department

Zaltzman and John Oliver gained their first big break when they teamed up with Chris Addison on The Department, a short-running radio show based on the premise that Chris, Andy and John, were a three-man organisation brainstorming to solve society's problems.

The Bugle

Zaltzman has co-hosted The Bugle, a weekly satirical comedy podcast, since 2007.

From October 2007 until June 2016, the podcast was hosted by Zaltzman with John Oliver. In June 2016, Oliver left the show because of other commitments. The show was officially relaunched on 24 October 2016. Producer Chris Skinner remained on the show along with Zaltzman and a rotating group of co-hosts. The first set of new co-hosts included Wyatt Cenac (US), Hari Kondabolu (US), Tiff Stevenson (UK), Nish Kumar (UK), Alice Fraser (Australia), Anuvab Pal (India), Tom Ballard (Australia) and Helen Zaltzman (UK).

The Bugle was hosted by The Times until December 2011 and the podcast has since been independent, relying upon listeners' contributions to continue.

In 2016 the podcast relaunched and became a member of the Radiotopia podcast network. In December 2018 it was announced that The Bugle would be leaving Radiotopia.

Other radio, podcast and TV

In July 2009 Zaltzman hosted a Saturday morning show on BBC Radio 5 Live entitled Yes, It's The Ashes, taking a comic look at the 2009 Ashes.

Zaltzman presented his own four-part BBC Radio 4 programme in December 2009 entitled Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100. Also featuring Rory Bremner and Bridget Christie, the show contained stand-up and sketches focusing on the last 10 years.

Zaltzman was a regular co-host, along with comedians Al Murray and Rebecca Front, of the satirical news programme 7 Day Sunday (also broadcast as 7 Day Saturday). The show had been running on BBC Radio 5 Live since starting in January 2010.

Zaltzman is also an occasional guest on the online cricket radio commentary station Test Match Sofa and on Talksport's cricket show Howzat. More recently he has appeared on Test Match Sofa's successor www.guerillacricket.com and was an occasional member of the team when they broadcast the programme from a central London sports bar for the 2015 Ashes.

He has appeared on The Weekly with Charlie Pickering on ABC Television in Australia since 2015.

In 2016 Zaltzman became the scorer for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 on the Sri Lankan tour of England. From 10 June 2016, he hosted Zaltzman's Summer of Sport podcast published by The Guardian. From 17 November 2017, he co-hosted The Urnbelievable Ashes with Felicity Ward, a podcast published by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In 2017 he wrote and performed a three-part series on ancient philosophy including Stoicism, Epicureanism and Cynicism for BBC Radio 4.

In 2018, along with comedian and occasional The Bugle co-host Anuvab Pal, he wrote and performed in Empire-ical Evidence, a look at the rise and fall of the British Empire produced for BBC Radio 4.

Having hosted one of three series of The News Quiz, sharing duties with Angela Barnes and Nish Kumar in 2020. Zaltzman has been the permanent chair since 2021, with the exception of 2024 where he shared hosting duties with comics including Geoff Norcott due to cricket broadcasting duties.

On 5 January 2024 Zaltzman was the winner of BBC's Celebrity Mastermind with a specialist subject of Auguste Rodin.

In November 2024 Zaltzman won the eighteenth series of Taskmaster, beating Babatunde Aléshé, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee and Rosie Jones.

Writing

Zaltzman has worked with Rory Bremner on a number of projects; these include Transatlantic, a US election special for BBC Radio 4, and several series of Bremner, Bird and Fortune. In June 2007, BBC2's The Culture Show commissioned Zaltzman and John Oliver to write a mock farewell speech for departing Prime Minister Tony Blair. The speech was then animated by Triffic Films, with the voice of Blair played by Bremner.

In November 2008 his first book, entitled Does Anything Eat Bankers?: And 53 Other Indispensable Questions for the Credit Crunched, was published.

Video games

Zaltzman played the host of The Bug podcast in 2020's Watch Dogs: Legion, alongside his Bugle co-host Alice Fraser. The show is highly satirical and takes direct inspiration from The Bugle in its approach and delivery.

Cricket

Zaltzman is a huge fan of cricket and in November 2008 began a regular blog for Cricinfo, named "The Confectionery Stall" after a famous piece of commentary by Richie Benaud, where he described a shot by Ian Botham during his innings at the third Ashes Test Match at Headingley, in 1981 as having "gone straight into the Confectionery Stall and out again". Alongside Jarrod Kimber, he hosts a podcast on cricket known as The Cricket Sadist Hour.

Zaltzman's blog covered the 2011 World Cup for Cricinfo, supported by a number of podcasts.

Zaltzman has also appeared on the internet radio site Guerilla Cricket, and has played for the Authors XI cricket team.

Zaltzman was the statistician on Test Match Special for the three-match Wisden Trophy series between England and West Indies in July 2020 and between England and Pakistan a month later. Whilst travelling to cover England's tour of Pakistan for Test Match Special in October 2024 he travelled with equipment for England wicket keeper Jamie Smith whose wicket keeping pads had not arrived in time for him before travelling.

Personal life

Zaltzman's wife is a barrister and they have two children, a daughter born January 2007 and a son born December 2008. Zaltzman delivered his son at home when his wife went into labour suddenly. His sister Helen Zaltzman is a comedian and podcaster. He has played club cricket for Penshurst Park Cricket Club near Tonbridge in Kent.

Works

• Does Anything Eat Bankers?: And 53 Other Indispensable Questions for the Credit Crunched. Old Street Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1905847938

References

1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
2. "Andy Zaltzman – The Comedy Club". The Comedy Club Limited. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
3. "Russell Howard interview – 'That's me and the Fringe done'". The Scotsman. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
4. "if.comedy – Newcomers". ifcomedy.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
5. "Comedy Festival Awards – Piece of Wood". Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Archived from the original on 22 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
6. "Andy Zaltzman on the World Snooker Championships 2013". Archived from the original on 22 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
7. "Andy Zaltzman: Satirist for Hire (Review)". Chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
8. ^ "The Urnbelievable Ashes Podcast". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
9. "Perrier winner and nominees profiled". 27 August 2005. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
10. Goodman, J.David. "Times of London Cancels Comedy Podcast That Mocked Murdoch". Media Decoder Blog – New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
11. "The Bugle Podcast". thebuglepodcast.com.
12. "Cricket show for comic Zaltzman". Chortle.co.uk. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
13. "BBC – BBC Radio 4 Programmes – Andy Zaltzman's History of the Third Millennium, Series 1 of 100". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
14. "BBC – BBC Radio 5 live Programmes – 7 Day Sunday – Episodes". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
15. "The Weekly with Charlie Pickering (TV Series)". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
16. "Andy Zaltzman Tour". Beyond The Joke. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
17. "BBC Radio 4 - My Life as a..., Series 1, Stoic". BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
18. "BBC Radio 4 - Empire-ical Evidence, Series 1, Episode 1". BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
19. "Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman to host The News Quiz". BBC. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
20. "Andy Zaltzman announced as the new chair of Radio 4's the News Quiz".
21. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/clyv9q977lro
22. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0023nzm
23. "BBC One - Celebrity Mastermind, 2023/24, Episode 7". BBC.
24. https://jackbern23.medium.com/ataskmaster-series-18-the-finale-the-stats-round-up-95654b82ca39
25. "Avalon Entertainment Limited – Andy Zaltzman Profile". Retrieved 22 April 2009.
26. Culture Show - Tony Blair Farewell Speech - BBC Two. YouTube. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
27. "DOES ANYTHING EAT BANKERS? And 99 Other Questions to Cheer Up the Credit Crunched". oldstreetpublishing.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
28. "Watch Dogs Legion's Podcasts Are Great When They Aren't Constantly Restarting". www.kotaku.com. Kotaku. 3 November 2020.
29. "BBC Sport - Richie Benaud - much more than a cricket commentator". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
30. "Cricket World Cup 2011 - Running between the Cricket - Video diary". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
31. "On the Road with Zaltzman". ESPN Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
32. "The Authors XI". cricketworld.com. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
33. ^ Shemilt, Stephen (4 October 2024). "Stats and pads - Zaltzman delivering Smith's kit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
34. "The Bugle 57 – Hats off to Obama, shoes off for Bush". London: TimesOnline. 21 December 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
35. Cain, Sian (2 September 2014). "All in the family: the Zaltzman comedy siblings" – via www.theguardian.com.
36. Does Anything Eat Bankers?: And 53 Other Indispensable Questions for the Credit Crunched. ASIN 1905847939.

External links

• Official site
• Andy Zaltzman on Chortle
• Andy Zaltzman at British Comedy Guide
• Andy Zaltzman at IMDb

• 1974 births
• Living people
• Alumni of University College, Oxford
• British stand-up comedians
• Comedians from Kent
• Comedians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
• Cricket statisticians
• English male comedians
• English people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
• English people of South African-Jewish descent
• English podcasters
• Jewish English comedians
• People educated at Holmewood House School
• People educated at Tonbridge School
• People from Hammersmith
• People from Royal Tunbridge Wells
• 21st-century British comedians