Andrew Maxwell

Andrew Maxwell is more than a stand-up comedian – he’s an intrepid social commentator and political protagonist on a mission to liberate minds with the power of comedy.

 

Born from the bloodlines of two street preaching Grandfathers in the heart of Dublin, the passion to speak out has always been rich in his veins and this is most evident when he’s in front of an audience.

 

Renowned for his sharp, fast paced streams of consciousness and well-observed retort, Maxwell builds the crowd by challenging the controversial or taboo. He engages any audience he faces with a myriad of subjects and lures them into his riotous world.

 

Most recently his highly acclaimed Edinburgh Festival 2004 show ‘This is My Hour’ which explored what you would say and do if you only had an hour left to live, challenged the audience to combat fear and turn that fear into positivity. Andrew’s confidence in articulating even the most topical socio-political subject matter with both intelligence and boyish charm makes for a highly appealing and intimate experience with each and every show. Consistently his live performances at this year’s festival sparked top class reviews and he won the Bank of Scotland Herald Angel Award for Comedy.

 

Maxwell was raised in Kilbarrack in the Northside of Dublin, where The Commitments film was set and Bono went to school. As one of the few Protestant families in the area, and the only ones who housed African students on a regular basis, the Maxwells were well versed in religion and international politics and this influence is apparent in Andy’s comic conjecture.

 

Andrew’s natural flair for commentary and the urge to challenge folk and change perspectives led him to the world of stand-up comedy and its open mic forum. It was in 1992, aged 18, that he took the stage for the first time at a local club run by Ardal O’Hanlon.

 

Two years later he went on a mission to crack the rest of the world and has been prolific on the international stand-up circuit ever since. Warm up slots on the hottest TV shows Jonathan Ross, Johnny Vaughan and ‘They Think Its all Over’ soon followed – in fact, Jonathan Ross still delights in telling his audiences that Andy once made one particular heckler cry. Aside from that Andrew is renowned as an all round nice guy and now you’re more likely to catch him in front of the camera as his own TV career takes off. Recent credits include RISE, Ch4 as the USA correspondent interviewing the likes of Sandra Bullock, Val Kilmer and Jodie Foster and a regular guest slot on Dara O’Briain’s popular current affairs show The Panel now showing on Ireland’s flagship channel Network 2.

 

Currently, Andrew Maxwell is planning a West End run of his sell-out show from the Edinburgh Festival ‘This Is My Hour’ and is a contestant of Channel 4’s new reality TV hit ‘Kings of Comedy’.