Mike Bubbins
| Mike Bubbins | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 April 1972 Barry, Wales |
| Medium |
|
| Education | Barry Boys' Comprehensive, University of Wales Institute |
| Genres | |
| Spouse |
Kelly Bubbins (m. 2007) |
| Children | 2 |
| Notable works and roles |
|
| Website | mikebubbins |
Mike Bubbins (born 18 April 1972)[1] is a Welsh stand-up comedian, writer, actor, presenter, and podcaster.
Originally a P.E. teacher and part-time Elvis impersonator, Bubbins co-writes and stars in his own BBC sitcom, Mammoth. He also co-hosts podcast The Socially Distant Sports Bar; hosts Scrum V Top 5 for BBC Wales; and continues to work as a stand-up.[2][3]
Early life
[edit]Bubbins was born in Barry, South Wales, and attended Barry Boys' Comprehensive.[4] As a schoolboy, Bubbins played rugby union as a flanker. In an interview with The Rugby Journal, Bubbins spoke about missing out on selection for Wales Rugby Union Schoolboys.[5]
I think professionalism happened five years too late for me. Some of the players I played with and against – Scott Quinnell, Wayne Proctor, Neil Boobyer, Nathan Budgett, Geraint Lewis, Ben Evans – went on to play for Wales. I was a real idiot. I had a short fuse and would say the wrong things to the wrong people.
He lived in Canada for three years, where he played and coached rugby, before returning to Wales to attend the University of Wales Institute as a mature student.[5] Bubbins spent a decade as a P.E. teacher, before working the UK stand-up circuit. He credits British sitcom, The Office as inspiring him into the profession.[6]
I had done a load of jobs before comedy: desk jobs, gym jobs, driving jobs, singing, rugby playing, and teaching. But I'd always loved comedy, and never stayed in a job I didn't enjoy. After ten years teaching P.E., I'd had enough, and decided to give comedy a go. I think The Office was the actual inspiration for trying comedy, and not just changing jobs again.
Television
[edit]Mammoth
[edit]In 2021, Bubbins wrote and starred in a sitcom pilot for BBC Wales, Mammoth, combining his experiences as a P.E. teacher with his love of the 1970s.[7] Three episodes aired on BBC Two in 2024, and the show was commissioned for a second series of eight episodes, plus a Christmas special.[8]
Scrum V Top 5
[edit]In November 2024, Bubbins' Scrum V Top 5 debuted on BBC Wales. Hosted from the bar in his garden, the show sees former players and sportspeople creating a top-five list. An extended version of each episode is also available as a podcast.[9]
| # | Date | Guest | Subject | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 Nov 2024 | Sam Warburton | Favourite team-mates | [10] |
| 2 | 11 Nov 2024 | Dan Biggar | Favourite opponents | [11] |
| 3 | 18 Nov 2024 | Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson | Favourite rugby moments | [12] |
| 4 | 25 Nov 2024 | Gareth Edwards | Players with whom he wished he'd played | [13] |
Acting roles
[edit]Bubbins has acted in BBC sitcoms, including Warren, where he played Bob; and Josh, in which he made a cult appearance as driving instructor, Huw. In the BBC Wales sitcom, Tourist Trap, Bubbins played Wyn - with Mari Beard as long-suffering wife Charlotte.
He portrayed an exaggerated version of himself in spoof paranormal investigation show, The Unexplainers - based on the radio show of the same name - and Pastor John in the second series of Soft Border Patrol.
Bubbins is due to guest in BBC crime mystery series, Death Valley, which stars Timothy Spall in the lead role as John Chapel.
Presenting and guest appearances
[edit]Bubbins appeared in episode 12 of Eat Your Heart Out With Nick Helm (2017); series one, episode seven of Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier (2018); and in the documentary Rhod Gilbert: Stand Up To Shyness (2019).
In April 2022, Bubbins starred in an episode of Iaith Ar Daith for S4C, in which he learned Welsh, alongside friend and colleague, Elis James.[14] This led to a viral clip of Bubbins singing Yma o Hyd alongside Dafydd Iwan.[15]
Later the same year, Bubbins co-presented eight episodes of BT Sports' clip-show, Down The Clubhouse, a spin-off from the Socially Distant Sports Bar podcast.[16][17]
In 2024, he was a guest on Channel 4's long-running cookery show, Sunday Brunch. He was also a panellist for series 17, episode eight of Would I Lie to You?, alongside Babatunde Aléshé, Jessica Knappett, and Claudia Winkleman. Bubbins told a story about a schoolboy trip to the Wimbledon Championships, and performed the Ski Sunday theme in the style of Elvis Presley.[18]
The appearance came via a recommendation from presenter and author Richard Osman, after the pair worked together on Richard Osman's House Of Games.
We had a guy called Mike Bubbins on [House Of Games] very recently, who was great. I said he would just be great on Would I Lie To You.[19]
Bubbins has also been a contestant on various quiz shows.
| Date | Show | Note | Opponents | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jan to 3 Feb 2023 | Richard Osman's House Of Games | Series 6, week 14 |
|
Won | [20][21] |
| 26 Dec 2024 | Celebrity Mastermind | Series 23, episode 3 Subject: James Garner. 20pts |
|
Won | [22] |
Recognition
[edit]Bubbins was nominated as Favourite Actor (Comedy) at the 2024 TV Times Awards for his role as Tony Mammoth in Mammoth. The show was also nominated for Best Comedy.[23]
Alongside James and Steffan Garrero, Bubbins won Best Sport And Leisure Podcast for The Socially Distant Sports Bar at the 2020 Pod Bible Awards.[24] The trio also won Best Sports Comedy Podcast at the inaugural Sports Podcast Awards in 2022.[25]
Philanthropy
[edit]In 2023, Bubbins plus podcasting colleagues Garrero and James, teamed with Save A Life Cymru to fund cabinets used to house defibrillators.[26]
The podcast has also sponsored multiple sporting clubs across Wales, including Cardiff Metropolitan University's women’s football team, Cardiff Schools U16s rugby team, Carmarthen Town FC’s Academy teams, and British Olympic bobsleigh athlete, Mica Moore.[27][28]
Bubbins has been a patron of Tenovus Cancer Care since 2022.[29]
Podcasting
[edit]Since March 2020, Bubbins has co-hosted The Socially Distant Sports Bar with sports journalist, Garrero; and fellow Welsh comedian James. Garrero described the inspiration for the podcast.[30]
I've always wanted to be involved in a project which really gets across what it’s like to talk about sport as a real fan. [This is] three friends sitting in a 'pub' telling each other about YouTube clips of sport they’ve watched, but who frequently get sidetracked by laughing.
Bubbins and John Rutledge - Eggsy from Welsh rap band Goldie Lookin' Chain - also hosts the Demon Seed podcast, which is described as "a 21st century, supernatural investigative comedy like no other."[31]
Beginning in 2015, Bubbins has played recurring character, Eli Roberts, on The Beef And Dairy Network. He also guested on episode 35 of The Moon Under Water podcast, with then-host, John Robins.
Bubbins is a two-time guest on long-running show, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast. In October 2022, he featured alongside James and Garrero; then, in July 2023, Bubbins was the main guest on episode 449. Herring was complimentary about the appearance.[32]
I loved meeting Mike Bubbins, who is an extraordinary individual and very funny indeed.
In May 2023, Bubbins made national news after an appearance on Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe, in which he spoke about the abuse he’d received while refereeing children’s rugby.[33]
Bubbins has also been on multiple episodes of improvisational comedy podcast, Pappy's, including Pay The Hotel Bill with Joe Lycett in 2016, and Inflate The Airbed, alongside Rosie Jones in 2022.
Radio
[edit]In 2013, Bubbins presented and starred in his own BBC Radio Wales show, Mike Bubbins: Day Tripper.[34] Between 2015 and 2018, he co-starred in four series of The Unexplainers with Rutledge. The show subsequently moved to television for a 2019 run, before launching as the Demon Seed podcast spin-off.
He made several appearances as a guest on BBC 5 Live's Fighting Talk and Blood On The Tracks. He has played various characters on Lucy Beaumont's BBC Radio sitcom To Hull And Back; and portrayed Mr. Lazarus in BBC Radio 4 comedy drama Dangerous Visions: Kafka's Metamorphosis.[35]
In the summer of 2021 Bubbins hosted Nothing Beats The 70s on BBC Radio Wales, drawing on his love of the 1970s and asking guests to try to disprove his theory that its music and fashion made it the best decade.[36] As part of the show, Bubbins interviewed American composer Mike Post - who went onto create the theme music for Mammoth.[37]
In October 2024, Bubbins spent a week covering for Eleri Siôn in the 10p.m. to midnight slot on BBC Radio Wales.[38] Shortly after, Bubbins and Sian Lloyd were guests on Ivo Graham's Radio 4 show, Obsessions.[39]
Stand-up
[edit]Bubbins' stand-up special, Retrosexual, was broadcast on BBC Radio Wales in May 2022. It has since been rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.[40] Later the same year, Bubbins was a featured stand-up on the third episode of Kiri Pritchard-McLean's BBC show, Live From Barry Island.[41]
A full-length stand-up TV special, Throwback, was broadcast on BBC One Wales in December 2024, following a UK tour of the same show in 2023.[42][43]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mike Bubbins on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins". Archived from the original on 5 November 2020.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins: a stand-up blogs from Edinburgh Fringe festival". WalesOnline. 17 August 2009.
- ^ Williams, Kathryn (16 February 2024). "All about Would I Lie to You's Welsh comedian Mike Bubbins". Wales Online.
- ^ a b Rugby Journal, The. "Rugby Lives: Mike Bubbins". The Rugby Journal. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
- ^ Inniss, Tom (8 August 2017). "Interview with Mike Bubbins". Voice Mag. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Mammoth - BBC1 Wales Sitcom". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Hit BBC comedy Mammoth to return for second series". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ^ "Scrum V Top 5: New series kicks off with Sam Warburton tonight". Nation Cymru. 4 November 2024. Archived from the original on 4 November 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Scrum V Top 5: Sam Warburton". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Scrum V Top 5: Dan Biggar". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Scrum V Top 5: Tanni Grey-Thompson". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Scrum V Top 5: Gareth Edwards". BBC iPlayer. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ "Press Pack W17: 23 April - 29 April". S4C. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Yma o Hyd - Dafydd Iwan a Mike Bubbins | Iaith ar Daith | S4C". YouTube. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Down The Clubhouse". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Down The Clubhouse: BT Sport to premiere new sports debate series". BT Sport. 25 July 2022. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "BBC Would I Lie to You: Who is Welsh comedian and panellist Mike Bubbins?". Wales Online. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
- ^ Richard Osman & Marina Hyde (27 March 2024). "The Rest Is Entertainment" (Podcast). Goalhanger. Event occurs at 18"21. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ Dessau, Bruce. "Richard Osman's House of Games – This Week's Guests". Beyond The Joke.
- ^ This Is Force, Jack. "People Are In Tears". Twitter.
- ^ "Celebrity Mastermind 2024/25 Episode 3". iPlayer. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Selwood, Sarah (24 October 2024). "TV Times Awards 2024 — voting is now closed". What To Watch. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "POD BIBLE POLL WINNERS 2020 – WINNERS ANNOUNCED!". Pod Bible Mag. 6 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Sports Podcast Award Winners". Sports Podcast Awards. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ Birt, Elizabeth (17 January 2023). "Socially Distanced Sports Bar urges football clubs to get defibs". South Wales Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ Garrero, Steffan (1 March 2022). "5 Reasons Why We Are Sponsoring Sports Teams". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ Garrero, Steffan. "Steffan Garrero's Post". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Meet Mike Bubbins". Tenovus Cancer Care. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ Owens, David (27 June 2020). "Three men and a podcast: How lockdown gave birth to a comedy hit". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "John Rutledge interview". British Comedy Guide. 4 April 2019. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ Herring, Richard (26 September 2022). "Warming Up". RichardHerring.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins stops refereeing boys' rugby game over abuse". BBC News. 13 May 2023. Archived from the original on 13 May 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins: Day Tripper". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ Guide, British Comedy. "Mike Bubbins". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Nothing Beats the 70s with Mike Bubbins". BBC Radio Wales.
- ^ Owens, David (13 April 2024). "How king of the TV theme tunes collaborated with Welsh comedy star". Nation Cymru. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins sits in". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Ivo Graham's Obsessions". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Radio 4 Stand-Up Specials". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Live from Barry Island". BBC. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
- ^ "Mike Bubbins: Throwback". BBC. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
- ^ Dessau, Bruce (16 December 2022). "Debut Tour For Mike Bubbins". Beyond The Joke. Retrieved 1 January 2025.