Interviews
Richard Ayoade – The Humble Director With A Sense Of Humour
Jemima Hunter
July 2, 2021
Forty-four-year-old Richard Ayoade flashes his comedic personality over social media as tabloids named him ‘Mr Modest’ and ‘Multi-Talented.’ Whilst having a beautifully awkward sense of humour, the writer, director, comedian and actor has established himself as a comedic sensation.
Hammersmith born Ayoade was fascinated by movies, particularly Star Wars, from a young age and researched directors like Frederico Fellini and Woody Allen with enthusiasm. As a teenager, finding himself at Cambridge University, Ayoade became President of the iconic Footlights theatrical club and won the Martin Steele Prize for a production at St Catherine’s College, where he studied law. Together with John Oliver, the Vice President, Ayoade began performing and creating productions as a touring pair ‘It was incredibly uncool, so I got it completely uncontested.’
Ayoade’s parents believed the director should concentrate on vocational studies and not indulge his creative side, yet that didn’t stop him following his dreams. In 2000, the writer met Matthew Holness, and English comedian and co-wrote the Garth Marenghi’s Fright Knight stage show, which was nominated for the Perrier Award, at the Edinburgh Fringe.
A year later, Ayoade worked on a comedy horror programme for Channel 4, as a reconstruction of his previous show, named Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, which started gaining recognition and led Ayoade on to bigger productions. Following all the publicity, Ayoade played an IT technician for The IT Crowd sitcom in 2006, where he began to discover a real passion for acting. However, Ayoade has never been one to revel in finding himself in the public eye and he finds it hard to know how to react to appreciation of his work. ‘It’s consistently disappointing for anyone who encounters me.’
Since 2011 Ayoade has branched out to satirical writing, presenting and conventional cinematic work, which has made him a versatile asset to media productions. Now having been nominated for three awards and secured two winning awards at the BAFTA’s and the British Television Awards Ayoade is proving his worth in the industry and no doubt will continue to keep his audience laughing.
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