Kevin Bridges
Introduction '''Kevin Andrew Bridges''' (born 13 November 1986) is a Scottish stand-up comedian. His 2012 television series ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' was based on his stand-up routines.He has appeared on many television panel shows including ''Would I Lie to You? '', ''Have I Got News for You'' and has performed on ''Live at the Apollo'' and ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow''.
Career ===Stand-up===Bridges began performing on stage when he left school shortly after turning 17, doing stand-up comedy gigs at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow and then throughout the UK. Bridges said he was inspired to try stand up after reading Frank Skinner's autobiography. At 18, he reached the final of Channel 5's ''So You Think You're Funny'' competition at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2006, Bridges performed his first full-length solo show at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, to a sold-out audience and much critical acclaim. Moving into bigger venues every year, Bridges sold out his hometown festival in 2007, 2008 and 2009.He performed at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Bridges appeared on ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' on the BBC, where he performed at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Bridges returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2009 with his show 'An Hour to Sing For Your Soul'. He was nominated for best newcomer in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.In 2010, Bridges took part in ''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'', a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London. Bridges won the breakthrough award at the 2010 Chortle Awards.His debut DVD, titled ''Kevin Bridges: The Story So Far... Live in Glasgow'', filmed at Glasgow's SECC, was released on 22 November 2010, and went on to sell over 350,000 copies. In 2012, Bridges embarked on his second stand-up tour of the UK, The Story Continues. The tour broke box office records, selling out the SECC five times and selling over 45,000 tickets on the first day. Bridges would perform 136 dates during the tour included ten sell out shows at the SECC in Glasgow. His second DVD, titled ''The Story Continues...'' was released on 12 November 2012.In 2015, Bridges embarked on his third stand-up tour of the UK, A Whole Different Story. The tour saw Bridges sell over 500,000 tickets across 145 dates, including 16 sell out shows at The Hydro in his home city of Glasgow. During the tour, he recorded his third DVD, which went on to sell over 300,000 copies, including 40,000 in its first week, outselling fellow comedians Michael McIntyre and John Bishop.Bridges became disillusioned with stand-up after his 145 night tour in 2015.After having a discussion with his dad, he decided to take a sabbatical from performing. During this period he moved to Spain and was eventually inspired by the freedom he had to return to stand-up. When Bridges returned from Spain, he did "three or four" unannounced work-in-progress gigs to test out his new material.After over a year away from stand-up, Bridges returned in 2018 with his Brand New Tour which included a record 19 sold out nights at The Hydro. Bridges was awarded the 'Gie it Laldy' award by the CEO of the Scottish Event Campus, in recognition for playing forty-six shows across the SEC Centre and The Hydro. He has also sold more tickets for the Scottish Event Campus than any other solo artist. His Brand New Tour was also voted the UK's Ticket of The Year in a poll conducted by Ticketmaster. Bridges is the first comedian to top the annual poll voted for by Ticketmaster customers.===Television===Bridges' television career started on Comedy Central UK, in April 2008, with a set on ''The World Stands Up''. Shortly thereafter, he appeared on ''Comedy Store'' (also on Comedy Central). His performances on these shows and on the comedy circuit and at festivals led to his being given his first mainstream TV break on 5 June 2009 on BBC One's ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow''. Bridges was critically commended for his performance. Over 5 million viewers saw his debut and his entire 25-night run at the Edinburgh festival sold out in hours, with extra shows being subsequently added and also selling out. Bridges went on to be nominated for the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly Perrier) in the best newcomer category.His TV work since then has included BBC One's ''Live at the Apollo'' and also a "Best of British Special" (Episode 7 of the 8th series) of ''8 out of 10 Cats'', in July 2009.He also appeared in BBC 2 Scotland's ''Gary: Tank Commander'' (episode 6). Bridges appeared in ''Rab C Nesbitt'' in the first episode of the new series in 2010, on ''Mock the Week'' in February 2010, and has appeared twice in ''Would I Lie To You?''. He was a guest on the BBC One show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' on 28 May 2010.Since June 2010, Bridges is a regular performer on Channel 4's ''Stand Up for the Week''. His six-part BBC One series, ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story? '', began on 8 February 2012.Bridges was asked to appear in ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here'', but turned it down.In 2014 BBC One commissioned three specials hosted by Bridges. ''Live At The Commonwealth'', filmed at the Glasgow's Theatre Royal to coincide with the city hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games, featured internationally renowned comedians from the Commonwealth. ''Live At The Referendum'', also filmed at the Theatre Royal, brought together four of the UK's top comedians to give their views on the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In the third special, ''Kevin Bridges: What's The Story – Referendum Special'', Bridges took to the streets gathering grassroots opinions from across Scotland and beyond about the referendum.===Radio===On 6 March 2010, Bridges took part in the BBC 5 Live show ''Fighting Talk'', where he came second behind Greg Brady, becoming the youngest person ever to appear on the show at the time (a record since broken by fellow comedian Jack Whitehall). In November 2010, he was also a contestant on BBC Radio 4's ''The Unbelievable Truth''.
Personal life Bridges is the son of Andy and Patricia Bridges and has a brother, John, who is ten years older. He grew up in the Hardgate area of Clydebank and attended St Mary's Primary and St Columba's High. Kevin married Kerry Monaghan in 2019.In December of 2022, Bridges announced the birth of his first child, a son named Liam, born in May of that year.
Filmography + List of acting performances in film and television Year Title Role Notes 2009 ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' Himself  2009 ''Gary: Tank Commander'' Eddy Television acting debut  Episode: Stagging On 2010 ''Sports Relief 2010'' Himself 2010 ''Channel 4's Comedy Gala'' Himself  2010 ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' Mambo Episode: Heal  2010 ''You Have Been Watching'' Himself  2010 ''You Have Been Watching'' Himself  2010 ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' Himself  2009–2010 ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' Himself  2010 ''Comedy Central at the Comedy Show'' Himself  2010 ''Kevin Bridges: The Story So Far Live in Glasgow'' Himself Also writer  2010 ''Breakfast'' Himself (comedian)  2010 ''Mock the Week'' Himself  2011 ''That Sunday Night Show'' Himself  2011 ''Red Nose Day 2011'' Presenter  2010–2011 ''Stand Up for the Week'' Host  2010–2016 ''Have I Got News For You'' Himself  2010–2012 ''Live at the Apollo'' Himself  2010–2011 ''Grouchy Young Men'' Himself Television series  2011 ''BAFTA Scotland Awards'' Host  2011–2019 ''A League of their Own'' Himself  2012 ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' Himself Also writer and producer, Television special  2012 ''Kevin Bridges: The Story Continues...'' Himself Live recording released to DVD 2014 ''Kevin Bridges Live At..'' Himself  2014–2020 ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' Himself Contestant  Team Captain 2015 ''Kevin Bridges: A Whole Different Story'' Himself Also writer and producer  Live stand-up DVD 2017 ''All Round to Mrs. Brown's'' Himself Interviewed guest 2018 ''Kevin Bridges: The Brand New Tour Live'' Himself Stand-up comedy DVD  Also writer and producer  Released to streaming platforms  2023 Kevin Bridges: The Overdue Catch Up Himself Stand-up Comedy DVD  Also writer and producer  Released to streaming platforms
Stand-up DVDs TitleReleasedNotes ''The Story So Far...Live in Glasgow''  22 November 2010 Live at Glasgow's SEC Centre ''The Story Continues...'' 12 November 2012 Live at Glasgow's SEC Centre''A Whole Different Story'' 23 November 2015 Live at Glasgow's SSE Hydro''The Brand New Tour'' 7 December 2018 Live at Glasgow's SSE Hydro''The Overdue Catch-Up'' 4 December 2023 Live at Cork's Opera House
Awards and nominations  2012 ''Kevin Bridges: What's the Story?'' Best Writer
Bibliography ===Non-fiction===*''We Need to Talk About . . . Kevin Bridges'' (Penguin, 2014)===Novels===*''The Black Dog'' (Wildfire, 2022)
References
External links *