Alex Brooker - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)

Non-comedy TV and film credits may be found here:
Alex Brooker on IMDb

Alex Brooker was educated at the Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford, Kent, before graduating from Liverpool John Moores University in 2006. After his studies he began work as a sports writer for the Liverpool Echo, sparking a career in journalism that continues to this day with the Press Association.

In 2012 Brooker entered Channel 4's reality tv show Half A Million Quid Talent Search, which was created with the main purpose of discovering disabled talent for the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games and beyond. During the opening ceremony of this international tournament, Brooker had the opportunity to interview politicians such as Boris Johnson and Adam Hills, and featured on The Last Leg Of The Year, an end-of-year special on Channel 4 that celebrated the success of the games in making Paralympic sport part of the national - and global - conversation.

Brooker is best known as co-host of The Last Leg (known during its debut series as The Last Leg With Adam hills) on Channel 4 since 2013. This is a late-night talk show hosted by Adam Hills that offers an overview of the day's events. Although it began with a particular focus on the Summer Paralympics (regularly pulling in audiences of over one million viewers each night), featuring analysis of the day's sporting achievements and guest interviews, it has since morphed into its own unique political talk-show, broadcast each week on Friday nights, and has now been running for several series. Hills has described it as "Three guys with four legs talking about the week", a reference to the fact that Hills was born without a right foot, and Alex's right leg was amputated as a baby.

In 2015, after the Liberal Democrats had entered a coalition with the Conservatives following a hung parliament, Brooker interviewed the former's leader, Nick Clegg, on the programme, employing a huge red 'Bullshit Button' that he would press whenever the politician said something that smacked of disingenuous spin, or which Brooker considered inaccurate. Another recurring aspect of the show is the hashtag #isitok, used by Hills to ask whether certain behaviour is, or is not, acceptable in modern society - all with a sardonic, satirical twist.

In 2012 Brooker participated in The Million Pound Drop Live alongside his future co-host on The Last Leg, Josh Widdicombe. The pair won the episode, winning £25,000 each for Hull's Echoes foundation, which helps children with special needs in East Yorkshire, and for Joseph's Goal, which aims to raise awareness of NKH (Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia).

Born with hand and leg deformities, and forced to wear a prosthetic leg after his twisted right leg was amputated when he was a baby, Brooker frequently discusses his own disability in his comedy. Moreover, in 2013 he hosted a one-off documentary on Channel 4 focusing on body image, and in 2014 he became the face of a campaign entitled "End The Awkward" by disability charity Scope, which aimed to normalise disability in the public sphere by breaking the existing taboos around the subject. This involved three separate advertisements in which Brooker would guide able-bodied people through the most appropriate way to respond to potentially unsettling or 'difficult' situations in real life.

Alongside his work on The Last Leg, Brooker has also featured on British comedy shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Climaxed, and Room 101, as well as appearing as himself on Channel 4's Very British Problems.

An avid fan of Arsenal F.C., he regularly appears on the "Footballistically Arsenal" podcast to wax lyrical about the beautiful game. What is more, in 2018 Brooker joined the Leeds Rhinos' Foundation PDRL (Physical Disability Rugby League) team.