STEVE GRIBBIN: BIOGRAPHY
THE
EARLY YEARS
Steve Gribbin was born in Liverpool in 1960, and went to
St Mary’s Roman Catholic Grammar School For Boys in
Crosby (run by the notorious Christian Brothers) until 1978.
He
first appeared onstage at the age of 13 at Lytham St Anne’s
in a talent competition. He came third behind a ventriloquist
and a Donny Osmond impersonator. He was battered, but the
performing bug had well and truly bitten him.
Growing
up in Liverpool his comic heroes were Les Dawson, The Beatles,
Monty Python, Jake Thackeray, Mike Harding and Jasper Carrott
Whilst
at school he formed a rock band called ‘Bandstand’
which played pubs, clubs, church halls and holiday camps.
Steve was the lead singer and bass player (later graduating
on to rhythm guitar). They later changed their name to ‘The
Heat’. They played everywhere from Liverpool to The
Wirral.
In
1978 he went to Goldsmith’s College, New Cross, London
SE14 (past luminaries include Derek Hatton, Blur and Julian
Clary) to study English Literature. Whilst there he met
his future double act partner Brian Mulligan during one
of the pauses in a Harold Pinter play. (‘The Birthday
Party’; Steve played Stanley).
He
returned to Liverpool in 1981, but after a compulsory stint
on the dole came back to London to study 20th Century European
Literature at Queen Mary College.
THE SKINT VIDEO YEARS
Upon leaving college in 1981, he did a succession of jobs,
such as door-to-door salesman, shop worker, building labourer
and factory hand, until May 1982 he formed the first version
of his double act, SKINT VIDEO, who were very active on
the then burgeoning ‘Alternative Comedy’ scene.
After
his original partner, John Ivens, left in 1983, Brian Mulligan
escaped from The Harold Pinter play and joined up and the
pair became fully professional in April 1984.
SKINT
VIDEO went on to become one of the major stars of the then
burgeoning ‘Alternative Comedy’ scene, touring
with The Greatest Show On Legs, as well as countless others
including Rory Bremner, Jenny Éclair, Paul Merton,
Mark Thomas and Jeremy Hardy. They specialised in topical
sketches interspersed with songs and a bit of stupid dancing,
but their relentless touring made them hugely popular on
the live circuit, winning them the ‘City Limits’
Act of the Year in 1986. (Coming second and third in 1987
and 1988)
They
were also very active politically, during the Miner’s
Strike and the Red Wedge Tours of 1986 and ’87 with
Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Robbie Coltrane and Harry Enfield.
They also did countless benefits for Amnesty International,
the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Ambulance workers, SOGAT,
and the FBU.
Regulars
at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Glastonbury throughout
the 1980’s, SKINT VIDEO also found time to record
four cassette-only albums ‘Absolute Grinners’
(1986); ‘Off Licence To Ill’ (1987); ‘Chuckledusters’
(1989) and ‘You Want Some? (Live)’ (1992), as
well as one ‘proper’ album on vinyl and cassette
‘Rebels With a Chord’ (Celtic Music, 1990).
They also released a single in 1987 called ‘Cops On
45’ which made NME Single Of The Week.
SKINT
VIDEO also appeared on many television and radio programmes,
the most notable of which were the LWT flagship comedy show
‘Saturday Live’ (1987), ‘Open Space’
(BBC2), ‘The Bandung File’ (Channel 4), ‘Cabaret
At Jongleurs’ (BBC2) and the first two series of ‘The
Mary Whitehouse Experience’ on Radio One (1989/90).
They eventually did two series of their own show on Radio
One called ‘Songlines’ (1992 & 1993).
THE SOLO YEARS
The duo split amicably in 1993, and Steve got custody of
the guitar and the sandpaper vocals. Steve immediately began
to perform solo, establishing himself as one of the top
acts on the comedy circuit.
Since
1993, Steve has notched up over 3000 gigs
He
has had 2 one-man shows at The Edinburgh Festival, ‘Natural
Born Kidder’ (1995) and ‘I’m Turning Into
My Dad!’ (1999).
In
1992 he wrote a show with Linda Smith entitled ‘Hello
Cruel World!’, which they toured in Arts Centres and
Trade Union gigs throughout the year.
Extracts from the show can be seen in the forthcoming book
‘I Think The Nurses are Stealing My Clothes (The Very
Best of Linda Smith)’ (Hodder & Stoughton, 2006)
Since
1993, he has been a regular member of the topical show at
The Comedy Store called The Cutting Edge, and has written
over 400 original comedy songs.
He
has also appeared at The Glastonbury Festival 12 times,
and The Reading & Leeds Festivals 7 times each.
His song about Oasis, which he performed at The Liverpool
Dockers Benefit at The London Palladium Theatre in 1998
(shown as a Channel 4 documentary later that same year)
reputedly really pissed the Gallagher brothers off!
In
February 2003 he appeared at the ICA in London in a debate
entitled ‘The Uses of Satire’ with Martin Rowson,
John Sargent and Edwina Currie.
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