Vic Reeves

Moir was born in Leeds, the son of Audrey (née Leigh) and James Neill Moir (1926–2004).

At the age of five, he moved to Darlington, County Durham, with his parents and younger sister Lois.

He attended Heathfield Infants and Junior School and went on to the nearby secondary school, Eastbourne Comprehensive in Darlington.

After leaving school, Reeves undertook an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering at a factory in Newton Aycliffe.

Eventually he moved to London, where he attended the Polytechnic of North London and Middlesex Polytechnic.

Moir formed the Fashionable Five, a group of five friends (including Jack Dent, who ran the original Fan Club) who would follow bands like the Enid and Free onto stage, and perform pranks (including Reeves pretending to have a brass hand, and following a Terry Scott lookalike around Darlington town centre in single-file formation).

Moir had an early breakthrough with the help of comedian Malcolm Hardee.

Before finding fame with his comedy, Moir was a member of several bands with many different names and musical styles, in which he usually played lead guitar and/or sang.

He sold tapes of his early material in the back pages of NME magazine under the name International Cod.

Mark Lamarr, later to become a team captain on Shooting Stars, was sent a tape of Moir's band Fan Tan Tiddly Span.

James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), also known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist.

He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer.

He is known for his surreal sense of humour.

In 1983, Moir began a part-time course at a local art college, developed his love of painting and eventually persuaded a local art gallery to stage an exhibition of his work.

Reeves' television début came in December 1986 on Channel 4 Television's The Tube in a comedy game show segment called "Square Celebrities", suspended by a wire to ask the "celebrities" questions.

His next appearance was on the short-lived chat/comedy show One Hour with Jonathan Ross in a game show segment known as Knock Down Ginger.

Reeves' growing TV profile led to Big Night Out being given a slot on Channel 4 the following year.

It was about this time that Reeves and Bob Mortimer rented a back room at Jools Holland's office/recording studio in Westcombe Park, Greenwich where they would spend hours writing material.

Reeves continued to work alongside Mortimer as a comedy duo in a series of 1990s programmes, The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, Shooting Stars, and Bang, Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer, some of which also featured future cast members of The Fast Show and Little Britain.

A 1994 pilot written by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson entitled The Honeymoon's Over was due to feature Chris Bell, a character from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer; however, the series was never commissioned.

The same year, Reeves made a guest appearance on the Radio 1 series Shuttleworth's Showtime, hosted by John Shuttleworth.

When Moir appeared, as Vic Reeves, on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 1998, Lamarr repeatedly played a sample from the song "Fantasia (Side A)" in an attempt to embarrass him.

Between August 1998 and May 1999, Reeves and Mortimer presented the Channel X produced BBC Saturday game show Families at War with Alice Beer.

His drawings and paintings have been used in his television shows and form a major part of his 1999 book, Sun Boiled Onions.

As well as working and performing in bands in London, including being an original member of the Industrial/Experimental band Test Dept and performing onstage with them at their debut gig (then leaving soon afterwards), Moir also joined the alternative comedy circuit under many different guises.

These included a loudmouthed American called Jim Bell, a beat poet called Mister Mystery and eventually, "The North-East's Top Light Entertainer"- Vic Reeves, whose name is derived from two of his favourite singers, Vic Damone and Jim Reeves.

His stage show Vic Reeves Big Night Out began life as a regular Thursday night gig at Goldsmith's Tavern, New Cross (now the New Cross House).

Here, he met Bob Mortimer, a solicitor who attended the show and enjoyed it so much that he soon began to participate.

Reeves played Marty Hopkirk in the BBC's 2000–2001 thriller series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), a revival of the original 1960s series, with Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie Hopkirk, and Tom Baker as Wyvern.

In 2000, Reeves presented a series entitled, Vic Reeves Examines on UK Play, featuring celebrities such as Ricky Gervais, Johnny Vegas, Lauren Laverne and Emma Kennedy discussing a topic of their choice.

The same year, Reeves presented a one-off radio show on BBC Radio 1, entitled Cock of the Wood.

In 2003, Reeves and Mortimer were listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

In 2004 Reeves and his wife, Nancy Sorrell were both contestants in the fourth series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

He also appeared in the series Catterick with Mortimer appearing as several characters.

In a 2005 poll to find the Comedians' Comedian, Reeves and Mortimer were voted the ninth-greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

In September 2005, Reeves hosted a show for Virgin Radio called Vic Reeves Big Night In produced by Mark Augustyn, for a short period on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7.00pm.

Reeves presented a historical ten-part series, entitled Rogues Gallery, which was shown on the Discovery Channel (UK) in 2005, where he investigated, and portrayed Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Captain Kidd, Claude Duval, Jonathan Wild, Rob Roy, Colonel Blood, George Ransley, Deacon Brodie, Blackbeard and Dick Turpin.

Sorrell also appeared in some episodes.

In May 2006, Reeves presented a programme on ITV Tyne Tees about Northeast comedy culture called It's Funny Up North with... Vic Reeves.

Continuing in this vein, Vic Reeves' Pirates was shown on ITV West and, subsequently, on the History Channel in 2007.