Vic Reeves

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**Vic Reeves**
Born:	January 24, 1959 Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation:	Actor, writer, comedian, artist, musician
Spouse:	Nancy Sorrell
Children:	Alice Vincent Moir, Louis Vincent Moir of York, Elizabeth and Nell

James "Jim" Roderick Moir, more commonly known by the pseudonym Vic Reeves, (born January 24, 1959) is an English comedian, best known through his double act with Bob Mortimer (see Vic and Bob).

He supposedly derived the name Vic Reeves from two of his favourite singers Vic Damone and Jim Reeves. He, his father and grandfather are all called Jim Moir, and nearly all shared the same birthday (Vic was born one day too early). Whilst at the BBC, he also shared a name with James/Jim Moir a senior BBC executive.

In 2003, he and Bob Mortimer were listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he and Bob were voted the top 9th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

1 Personal life
2 Career
- 2.1 As Vic Reeves
- 2.2 Advertising
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Personal life

Jim Moir (known to his family as "Rod") was born in Leeds, but at the age of five, moved to Darlington with his mother, father and younger sister Lois. In his youth he was a fan of Monty Python. He attended Heathfield Nursery and Primary, and then went on to the nearby secondary school. He left Eastbourne Comprehensive in the town without any qualifications. Having wished to attend art school but unable to afford this, in his autobiography, he admitted to sneaking into the various classrooms and workspaces in order to work on his ideas.

Moir has two children, Alice Vincent Moir and Louis Vincent Moir of York, by his first wife Sarah Vincent, whom he married in 1990. They split in 1999 when Vincent left him to begin a relationship with her fitness instructor, Julia Jones. In a final twist, he then moved in with the couple, sleeping in the spare room. He was later briefly engaged to actress Emilia Fox, whom he met when they were both filming Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

He met his second wife, Nancy Sorrell, in 2001, and the couple married on 25 January 2003. Sorrell gave birth to twin girls Elizabeth and Nell at the William Harvey Hospital in Kent on 25 May 2006. The babies were conceived after the couple received IVF treatment.

Every now and then he appears in the British tabloids for bizarre acts with seemingly little intention to attract media attention. One such act included burying his vintage car in his back garden (which the BBC's 1997 Omnibus documentary - A Film Of Reeves & Mortimer - revolved around).

He is a keen amateur birdwatcher.

In August 2006 he attended the National Crabbing Competition at Walberswick in Suffolk along with Nancy and their twin children.

[edit] Career

Before moving to London to pursue a career in the civil service, Moir had worked as a pig farmer, a cabbage farmer, in cancer research and as a factory inspector.

He also 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 Moir pretending to have a brass hand, and following a Terry Scott lookalike around Darlington town centre in single file formation). Eventually, they formed their own band. Vic had an early break through the help of Malcolm Hardee.

In 1983 he 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 unique work. Although still primarily known as a comedian, he is also gaining a reputation as an artist. His drawings and paintings have been used in his television shows and is a major part of his 1999 book, Sun Boiled Onions. At least one exhibition/sale of these pieces occurred at the Whitechapel Art Gallery during 2002 (priced from £500 to £5000).

[edit] As Vic Reeves

As well as working and performing in bands, in London, Moir also joined the alternative comedy circuit under many different guises. These included a loudmouth American called Jim Bell, a beat poet called Mister Mystery and, eventually, "The North-East’s Top Light Entertainer" - Vic Reeves. His stage show Vic Reeves Big Night Out began life as a regular Thursday night gig at Goldsmith’s Tavern, New Cross. Here he met Bob Mortimer, a solicitor who jumped up on stage one night and ended up joining the show. His television debut came in 1989 on the short lived chat/comedy show One Hour with Jonathan Ross in the game show segment known as knock down ginger. His growing TV profile led to the Big Night Out getting a slot on Channel 4 the following year.

Reeves is one of the few comedians to have had a number one hit in the UK chart, which he did in company with The Wonder Stuff, singing Dizzy (previously a number one hit for Tommy Roe). The single's B-side was the original composition Oh! Mr. Hairdresser, recorded with The Images of Cream and supposedly featuring Bob Mortimer on the mandolin. He also released a version of Born Free which was critically acclaimed and also reached the top ten. A third single during the same period, Abide With Me, had little success, although a later team-up with EMF, covering The Monkees hit I'm a Believer was somewhat more successful.

As well as their own off-the-wall comedy shows (see Vic and Bob) -- which also featured future cast members of The Fast Show and Little Britain -- Reeves played Marty Hopkirk in the BBC's 1990s revival of the comedy thriller, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), with Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie and Tom Baker as Wyvern.

Between August 1998 and May 1999, Reeves and Mortimer presented the Channel X produced BBC Saturday night family game show Families At War alongside Alice Beer.

In 2004 he and Sorrell were both contestants in the fourth series of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

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

In May 2006 he presented a programme on Tyne Tees about Northeast comedy culture, It's funny up North with...Vic Reeves.

He is said to be in the next series of Brainiac: Science Abuse to replace Richard Hammond who quit the show, the series will likely air sometime in 2007.^[1]

He also sings the theme tune to the BBC 1 children's program "Shaun the Sheep".

Reeves is also going to present a BBC Radio 2 panel game called Does The Team Think… some time later in the year.

[edit] Advertising

Since 1998, with his comedy partner Bob Mortimer, Moir voiced the Churchill Insurance adverts. Mortimer providing the voice of the adverts' signature nodding dog, and Moir as the consumer, prompting Churchill to tell the viewing public about the insurance deals offered by the company that he represents.

Moir's contract with Churchill was terminated in March 2005 after he was embarrassingly arrested for a drink-driving offence in which he ploughed his vintage Jaguar into a stationary vehicle in Maidstone before careering into a bank and hitting a fence. For this offence he was disqualified from driving for thirty-six months as of 21 April 2005 and ordered to do 100 hours community service. However, it is believed that Reeves' voice-over for the adverts was replaced by another voice artist - albeit in the same style - long before this incident (2004 at the latest), as now has Mortimer's.

Renault Clio - part of the Papa & Nicole series, featuring Bob Mortimer and Estelle Skornik

Adverts for Guinness have quoted him as saying "88.2% of Statistics are made up on the spot"

Other work includes TV Licence advertising on BBC channels in the early 90s. This advert was a mock on BBC trailers that advertised upcoming programmes that the channels would show in the near future. The advert featured crime-drama "Detective In a Wheelbarrow", a "comedy" called "Three Blokes In A Bath", coverage of "Olympic Anvil throwing" and coverage of "pan fighting".