Ed Gamble

This article is about the British comedian. For the Canadian archer, see Edward Gamble.

Ed Gamble
Gamble in Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster 2023
Birth nameEdward Stephenson Gamble
Born (1986-03-10) 10 March 1986 (age 38)
Hammersmith, London, England
MediumStand-up comedian, podcast host
EducationKing's College School
Alma materDurham University
Spouse
Charlie Jamison
​
(m. 2021)​
Websiteedgamble.co.uk

Edward Stephenson Gamble[1][2] (born 10 March 1986) is an English comedian, best known for co-presenting The Off Menu Podcast with James Acaster. He studied at Durham University, where he began his comedy career performing with the Durham Revue,[3] and was a finalist in the 2007 Chortle Student Comedy Awards.[4]

Early life and family

Gamble was brought up in Raynes Park, southwest London.[5] His mother, a nurse and health visitor for the NHS, and father, a solicitor, separated when he was four – he was raised mainly by his mother. He has a younger half-sister and half-brother on his father's side.[6]

He attended King's College School for secondary education, a private day school for boys in Wimbledon.[7] At school, he "used humour as a defence mechanism". He said that "There's no way that people could make jokes about my weight if I was making them myself, faster and better. Aside from losing weight, this was the best way to ward off bullying, and there was no way I was going to lose weight. I loved food."[8]

He attended Durham University, where he studied philosophy and met fellow comedians Nish Kumar, Nick Mohammed and Tom Neenan.[3][9] He was a member of Hatfield College.[10]

Career

Ed Gamble - Interview with Waffle TV at Glasgow University Freshers Week 2012

Gamble's early work was alongside Ray Peacock, with whom he presented two different series of The Peacock and Gamble Podcast, totalling over 100 episodes. He also appeared on television, performing a 15-minute set on the extended version of Russell Howard's Good News on BBC Three in late 2010. He performed with Peacock at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011, 2012 and 2013, as well as supporting Greg Davies on his successful Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog Tour in 2011. Gamble also recorded a series of radio shows with Peacock on FUBAR Radio.

In 2014, Gamble debuted solo at Edinburgh Fringe with the show Gambletron 5000, returning in 2015 with Lawman and in 2016 with Stampede. His stand-up performances contain much observational comedy, often aimed at himself, including discussion of his Type 1 diabetes, which he was diagnosed with as a thirteen year old; he chose that as the central topic of his 2018 Edinburgh Fringe show Blizzard[11] and his Amazon Prime Video special Blood Sugar.

Gamble was a regular panellist on the BBC panel show Mock the Week from July 2015. In the same year, he appeared with Amy Hoggart in Almost Royal, a faux-reality show on BBC America, where the two portrayed siblings Georgie and Poppy Carlton. The show was shown on E4 in the UK and was followed by a second series in 2016. He guest-hosted the Elis James and John Robins Show on Radio X in 2017 and 2018. Since 2018, Gamble has presented the podcast Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster with fellow comedian James Acaster as well as a weekly Radio X show with Matthew Crosby since 2019.

Gamble won the ninth series of Taskmaster in 2019.[12] In 2022, Gamble featured in the second "Champions of Champions" special with fellow winners from series six to ten: Liza Tarbuck, Kerry Godliman, Lou Sanders and Richard Herring. He finished in last place.[13] In October 2020, Gamble began presenting Taskmaster The Podcast, the official podcast companion to the TV show, following the series' move to Channel 4 from Dave.[14] In 2023, Gamble hosted a non-broadcast pilot of Foodmaster, a food-themed spin-off of Taskmaster.[15]

In 2020, Gamble narrated adverts for second hand car website Cazoo.[citation needed]

In 2020, Gamble was a guest judge on Great British Menu and, in February 2022, he became one of the judges for Series 17, 18 and 19.[16]

In May 2022, Gamble was announced as one of six rotating co-hosts joining Alexander Armstrong on Pointless to replace Richard Osman, alongside Sally Lindsay, Konnie Huq, Lauren Laverne, Alex Brooker and Stephen Mangan.[17]

Gamble appeared with Acaster on the fifth series of Celebrity Hunted (2023), which tasked participants with evading "Hunters" around the UK for a fortnight. During their appearance they ate in a Michelin starred restaurant,[18] called into Gamble's Radio X programme,[19] and released a video mocking the Hunters.[20] Acaster also gave Gamble a tattoo.[21] Gamble escaped after Acaster goaded the Hunters to the Taskmaster house and squirted them with a water gun. Gamble met with his wife and hid in a brewery and a climbing centre, but was caught soon after.[22][23]

In 2022, Gamble toured the UK with his stand-up show Electric.[24] In 2024, a poster advertising Gamble's Hot Diggity Dog tour fell foul of Transport for London's ban on junk food advertising; to comply with the rules, an image of a hot dog was replaced with a cucumber.[25]

In October 2023, Gamble published his debut book, titled Glutton: The Multi-Course Life Of A Very Greedy Boy, an autobiography focused through his lifelong obsession with food.[15][26]

In January 2024, he hosted The Traitors: Uncloaked, which was a visual podcast that accompanied the second series of The Traitors. It returned with Gamble as host for the third series in January 2025.

Personal life

Gamble has type 1 diabetes, which he has addressed as part of his performances.[11][27]

Gamble married TV producer and member of Supermilk Charlie Jamison on 9 September 2021, after postponing three times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28][29] The couple have been together since 2011.[30]

References

  1. ^ "Ed Gamble Interview". 19 August 2021.
  2. ^ "BLOOD SUGAR PRODUCTIONS LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
  3. ^ a b Dipper, Andrew (16 March 2013). "Interview: Peacock & Gamble". Giggle Beats. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Ed Gamble, comedian tour dates". Chortle: The UK Comedy Guide.
  5. ^ Gamble, Ed; Acaster, James (December 26, 2018). "Ep 4: Nish Kumar (Christmas Special)". Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster (Podcast). Plosive Productions. Event occurs at 18:00. Retrieved 20/11/24.
  6. ^ Carson, Sarah (12 April 2024). "Ed Gamble: 'I need to make sure I'm the best posh straight white man in comedy'". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  7. ^ Jones, Alice. "Ed Gamble: From podcast star to Pointless host as the new Richard Osman".
  8. ^ Butter, Susannah (13 October 2023). "Ed Gamble: I was the FFG (funny fat guy) until I lost 7 stone". The Times. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Interview with Ed Gamble". Voice Magazine. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Ed Gamble: From Hatfield to Hammersmith Apollo". Palatinate Online. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  11. ^ a b Woodfield, Jack (2 August 2018). "Type 1 diabetes shows to hit Edinburgh Fringe Festival". Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  12. ^ Debnath, Neela (6 September 2019). "Taskmaster Series 9 contestants". Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  13. ^ Sarrubba, Stefania (23 June 2022). "Taskmaster: Champion of Champions star makes surprising decision over trophy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Official Taskmaster podcast to dissect the antics of series 10 on Channel 4". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b Richardson, Jay (11 July 2023). "Ed Gamble pilots culinary Taskmaster spin-off Foodmaster". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  16. ^ Calman-Grimsdale, Lawrence (24 February 2022). "Great British Menu 2022: Who are the chefs this year?". SquareMeal. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  17. ^ Manning, Charlotte. "Richard Osman: Pointless star's replacements confirmed by BBC". Metro News. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Off Menu and off grid: James Acaster and Ed Gamble are Hunted". Chortle. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  19. ^ "James Acaster and Ed Gamble take part in Celebrity Hunted". Chortle. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Ed Gamble and James Acaster mock Channel 4's Hunted team with green screen". Radio X. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  21. ^ "Celebrity Hunted: James Acaster gives Ed Gamble a tattoo 'to commemorate being on the run'". Virgin Radio. 12 April 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  22. ^ Chase, Stephanie (19 April 2023). "Celebrity Hunted eliminates two more stars". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Celebrity Hunted sees two more stars captured". Virgin Radio. 19 April 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  24. ^ Pape, Liam (17 May 2022). "Ed Gamble: 'Terrifying ego and an astonishing lack of self-esteem got me into comedy'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  25. ^ Gecsoyler, Sammy (27 March 2024). "Mind the grub: comic Ed Gamble's hotdog banned from tube ads". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
  26. ^ Bennett, Steve. "Ed Gamble writes his first book : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  27. ^ Packer, Amy (10 June 2019). "Comedian Ed Gamble reveals having a cold gave him diabetes at age of 13". mirror. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  28. ^ "You'll Do, Marriage with Ed Gamble and Charlie Jamison". BBC Sounds. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  29. ^ "Ed Gamble finally marries after postponing wedding three times". Evening Standard. 10 September 2021.
  30. ^ "Ed Gamble: 'Terrifying ego and an astonishing lack of self-esteem got me into comedy'". the Guardian. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.