Who?
You can best sum up the nature of Phill Jupitus' career in terms of comedy and music. He became a television personality in 1996, when he joined BBC2's pop quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks as a regular team captain. Chances are you'll have seen him pop up in many other panel shows on TV, but there is more to Phill than sitting behind a desk - he is a veteran of the live comedy circuit, having taken to the stage as a stand up for well over a decade. With the trademark goatee and earring, Phill has the physical presence to match his larger than life personality.

The Early Years
Phill became a performer way back in 1984, when utter boredom caused him to quit the Civil Service and follow a radically new direction. He started performing punk poetry under the moniker Porky The Poet, supporting bands including The Style Council and The Housemartins. Jupitus went on to work extensively for indie label Go! Discs, as well as alongside political singer-songwriter Billy Bragg in the heyday of the late eighties' Red Wedge movement, and even directed videos for Bragg and Kirsty MacColl.

Indeed, his love of music continues to this day, having recently performed on stage with the likes of The Who, Madness and Ian Dury and also performing Reasons To Be Cheerful with The Blockheads to a packed sell-out crowd at London's Brixton Academy in 2000.

Phill takes the mic
As a stand up comedian, he's brandished his rapier wit on both the national and London comedy circuits for eleven years, as well as touring the UK twice.

In 1996, lightsaber in hand, Phill performed his first tour of the UK with Jedi, Steady, Go - a personal interpretation of the Star Wars story. In 1999, his second UK tour, Quadrophobia, was a huge success. Phill has seen his live material aired on TV and was himself the focus of a half hour stand up special, filmed at London's celebrated Jongleurs nightclub. This show served as an excellent showcase for both his strong material and his razor-sharp, off-the-cuff remarks when dealing with hecklers.

Winning teamster
Despite this varied career, it is as one of the team captains on Never Mind The Buzzcocks that Phill is best known. Anyone who's seen the show can attest to the chemistry that Phill shares with his fellow panellists. As with Have I Got News For You, the key to Buzzcocks' success is the contrasting personalities brought on board: Phill's irreverent banter is stirred by both host Mark Lamarr's dry martini delivery and fellow captain Sean Hughes' poetic charm.

In later series Sean's Irish nonsense was replaced with a blend of musical wimsey and just a dash of Hobbit-like surrealism in the form of Bill Bailey. In all a winning cocktail for a great show!

Phill the DJ
Phill's passion for music has been well employed on radio over the years. In 1995 he landed his own radio show on GLR, which lasted until 2000. Anyone who tuned in to his show during this time would have learned that his musical preferences include classic ska and bluebeat, as well as great rhythm and blues.

Phill has worked on Radio 4 as a regular contributor to Loose Ends, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, presented Best Sellers - a series on the life and work of Peter Sellers - and most recently wrote and presented Disneyfied, a documentary on the work of Walt Disney.

All-round entertainer
It would appear that Phill's huge presence and affable style has seen him rise to the forefront of British entertainment. He has presented several editions of the popular Top Ten series for Channel 4, while also joining another comedy panel game - It's Only TV But I Like It - as a team captain, alongside Jonathan Ross and Julian Clary.

He also found the time to play an ill-fated patient in the BBC1's hospital drama Holby City. Moviegoers will have seen Phill as an embittered sports journalist in the feature film Mike Bassett England Manager. Also stretching his acting talents, Phill became the voice of Dandelion in an animated series based on Watership Down for ITV.

More recently, in true renaissance style, Phill has provided a selection of voices for Aardman Animation's second series of Rex The Runt. And, after hosting the the Q Music awards in 2001, the Empire Film Awards the following year and the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards two years in a row, it would appear that for our man Jupitus, the sky's the limit!


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