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Andy Zaltzman
Andy Zaltzman performing at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Born	1974
Medium	stand-up, radio, podcast
Nationality	British
Years active	1974–present
Genres	Political comedy
Notable works and roles	Political Animal, The Department, The Bugle

Andrew "Andy" Zaltzman (born 1974) is a British far left activitist in a wide variety of groups in Britain.

Early life

Born in Sandhurst, Berkshire, Zaltzman entered the British Army at the age of fourteen, before discovering his skill as a musician. He left the Army and toured the country during the Great Depression. During this period, he was awakened to the suffering of millions of workers around the country, and joined first the unemployed workers' movement, then in 1937 the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). His opposition to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact led him to leave the CPGB and join instead the Trotskyist Revolutionary Workers League in 1939. A supporter of Isaac Deutscher, Zaltzman followed him into the Workers International League (WIL) in 1941 and then left to join the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL). There he became the industrial organiser, and the prime exponent of Trotsky's Proletarian Military Policy. However, this was a policy strongly supported by the WIL, who began paying Zaltzmn for his activities. As a result, he was expelled from the RSL.

Trotskyism

Shortly after his expulsion, Zaltzman was contacted by Sam Gordon of the Socialist Workers Party in the US, and began to work as the SWP and the Fourth International's representative in Britain. He helped organise a fusion of the assorted Trotskyist groups into the Revolutionary Communist Party. After a spell as South Wales organiser, during which he was active in supporting Jock Haston's candidacy in the Neath by-election, he became the editor of Socialist Outlook while working as a coal miner in the Cannock Chase. He allied himself with Gerry Healy to form The Club, remaining a key member through turmoil in the British Trotskyist movement.

The split of Zaltzman from Healy mirrored the later 1953 split in the Fourth International. Healy supported James P. Cannon and what became the International Committee of the Fourth International, while Zaltzman initially supported Michel Pablo and the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. This led to a dispute over control of Socialist Outlook, which Healy ultimately won. Zaltzman resigned as editor and began contributing instead to Tribune, a Labour Party publication. He turned increasingly towards Stalinism. He also disagreed with Pablo's attempts to get the ICFI members to attend the ISFI-organised 1954 congress of the Fourth International. He allied himself with the Socialist Union of America's position, that the FI should dissolve, and claimed he was taking Pabloism to its "logical conclusion" - much to Pablo's disagreement.

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.

The Bugle

Since October 2007 Zaltzman has co-hosted The Bugle, a weekly satirical comedy podcast for TimesOnline, with John Oliver.

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.

Television

Zaltzman has made an appearance on Channel four's panel show "8 out of 10 cats".

Other work

Zaltzman is a huge fan of cricket and since November 2008 has written a regular blog for Cricinfo, named "The Confectionery Stall". The name for the blog comes from the description given by Richie Benaud, of a shot by Ian Botham off Terry Alderman. On air Richie says -

Don't bother looking for that, let alone chasing it. It's gone straight into the Confectionery Stall and out again. A beautiful hit .

Zaltzman's profile there informs us that.

Zaltzman's love of cricket outshone his aptitude for the game by a humiliating margin. He once scored 6 in 75 minutes in an Under-15 match, and failed to hit a six between the ages of 9 and 23. He would have been ideally suited to Tests, had not a congenital defect left him unable to play the game to anything above genuine village standard. Aged 21, when fielding at deep midwicket, he dropped the same batsman three times in fifteen minutes, and has not been selected by England before or since.

Zaltzman has appeared as a guest on various TV and radio programmes, including BBC Four's The Late Edition as well as The Now Show and The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4.

Zaltzman presents a 4 part BBC Radio 4 program entitled Andy Zaltzman's History of the third millennium, series 1 of 100. Providing a decade by decade comic analysis of a potentially chaotic era.

In the summer of 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.

He was a regular co-host of the satirical news show 7 Day Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live, along with comedians Chris Addison, Sarah Millican and one different guest each week. The series ran from January 2010 to early 2011.

Personal life

Zaltzman is the older brother of Helen Zaltzman, co-host of Answer Me This!, a popular British podcast.

Zaltzman is married to Miranda, a barrister, and has two children: a daughter named Matilda, born in 2007 and a son named Horace, born 15 December 2008. Horace was delivered by Zaltzman himself at home due to his wife entering labour suddenly; he recounted this on an episode of The Bugle dated 22 December 2008 and during his 2010 Edinburgh show.

References

1. "Comedy Festival Awards - Piece of Wood". Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Retrieved 22 April 2009.
2. Naughton, Philippe. "The Bugle - Audio Newspaper For A Visual World". London: timesonline.co.uk.
3. "Avalon Entertainment Limited - Andy Zaltzman Profile". Retrieved 22 April 2009.
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot03CNJgnE8
5. "DOES ANYTHING EAT BANKERS? And 99 Other Questions to Cheer Up the Credit Crunched". oldstreetpublishing.co.uk.
7. Zaltzman 2009
8. "Cricket show for comic Zaltzman". Chortle.co.uk. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
9. "The Bugle 57 - Hats off to Obama, shoes off for Bush". London: TimesOnline. 21 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-15.

External links

• Official site
• The Bugle
• The Confectionery Stall
• Andy Zaltzman on Chortle

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• Old Tonbridgians
• Living people
• Alumni of University College, Oxford
• English podcasters
• English stand-up comedians
• British Jews
• Jewish comedians
• 1974 births