Matt Berry

Matt Berry (Born 2nd May 1974) is an English actor, writer, comedian and musician.

Early career

After graduating from art school in Nottingham, Matt moved to London and began his acting/comedy career by doing stand up at the Hen and Chickens theatre in Islington. He also worked as an actor in The London Dungeon.

Television

Matt became well know for his role as Dr Lucien Sanchez/Todd Rivers in Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place. Following that he starred in AD/BC: A Rock Opera which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade. The programme was a mock opera about the Nativity set in the 1970s and Matt also played one of the lead roles. In 2006, he teamed up with Rich Fulcher to pen and star in the macabre comedy Snuff Box, described by some as ‘the best kept secret in comedy’.

He has also appeared in The Mighty Boosh (as Dixon Bainbridge), sketch show The Wrong Door and has lent his famous voice to a number of TV adverts. Matt is most well known for his current role as Douglas Reynholm, the boss of an IT company in the Channel Four hit comedy The IT Crowd, a role that has saw him nominated for Best Male Comedy Newcomer in at the British Comedy Awards, 2007.

Film

Matt stars in the Devil’s Chair (2006) and also in the science fiction film Moon, which is due for release in mid 2009.

Music

Compositions for TV

Matt is also an accomplished musician and composer. He has composed the music for a number of TV shows including Steve Coogan’s Saxondale. In 2004 he composed and performed all the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera and also sang on the show. His largest on-screen music project to date was the composition and performance of the music for all six episodes of Snuff Box, a show with a large musical element that again saw him sing on screen.

Solo Albums

He has released three solo albums, which have all been self produced. 1995 saw the release of his little known debut, Jackpot and this was followed in 2005 by his concept album, Opium which included a large amount of spoken word. His third album, Witchazel was initially released as a free download in March 2009 and is soon to be released commercially.

Live Shows

In late 2007, Matt completed a two week live tour of songs from Opium with Brighton-based Jonas 3 as his backing band. He expressed his appreciation of Ronnie Hazlehurst’s work by performing the theme tunes to Sorry! and Are You Being Served? at his live show. He is due to showcase songs from Witchazel, again with Jonas 3 at The Scala in London in April 2009.

Written by Robyn Burrows for contactmusic.com