Ali Cook

Ali Cook (also credited as Alistair Cook) is an English actor and comedian originating from Yorkshire.[1] Cook played Sgt. Paul McMellon in the feature film Kajaki, which won the Producer of The Year Award at the 2015 British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award in 2015.[2]

For the England international cricket player, see Alastair Cook.

Ali Cook
Ali Cook as Sgt. Paul McMellon in Kajaki
Born
Alistair Cook

Yorkshire, England
OccupationActor, comedian

Cook's career started on the Channel 5 sketch series, The Jerry@Trick show with the alternative comedians Jerry Sadowitz, Phil Nichol and Boothby Graffoe. Andrew Newman, then the head of comedy at Five, spotted Cook during tapings which lead to him writing and starring in seven of his own comedy and Magic series for Channel 4, Channel 5, and Sky1. His Channel 4 Series Dirty Tricks was nominated for a British Comedy Award and The Golden Rose of Montreux.[3]

He regularly tours the UK and internationally with comedy promoters Off the Kerb in between acting commitments.[4]

Television career

Cook began on Jerry Sadowitz's television sketch show Jerry@Trick Show before moving on to co-write and star in TV series, including Monkey Magic (UK TV series) (nominated for The Golden Rose of Montreux), Psychic Secrets Revealed with Derren Brown (both for Channel 5)and the Secret World of Magic for Sky One. Cook was the star of Channel 4's late night show Dirty Tricks (nominated for a British Comedy Award and The Golden Rose of Montreux). Cook starred in the first Penn & Teller: Fool Us (ITV) hosted by Jonathan Ross. In 2011 he performed his Houdini-style water Torture Escape on The Slammer (CBBC). He has also starred in the prestigious France 2 series Le Plus Grand Cabaret du monde produced by Magic. Recent television credits include: Mr Selfridge, the role of the villainous Patrick in multiple episodes of Emmerdale in 2016 and The ABC Murders in 2018.

Television

Film

Cook portrayed Sgt. Paul "Spud" McMellon in 2014's Kajaki, which won the Producer of The Year Award at the 2015 British Independent Film Awards and was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award in 2015.[5]

Cook stars alongside Katherine Parkinson and Jay Pharoah in 2018's How to Sell A War, directed by Rudolph Herzog and produced by Film and Music Entertainment.

Other recent credits include: Muscle directed by Gerard Johnson, In the Cloud directed by Robert Scott Wildes for Sony Pictures, the role of enterprising gangster Teddy "Odd Legs" in Once Upon a Time in London directed by Simon Rumley, and British Independent Film Awards nominated thriller Isolani in which Cook was directed by Paul Wilson, 2016's The Call Up, and The Anomaly, written, directed and produced by Noel Clarke in which Cook stars opposite Ian Somerhalder, Luke Hemsworth and Brian Cox and 2013's Get Lucky, playing a professional thief alongside Luke Treadaway.[6]

In 2011 he appeared in Outside Bet, directed by Sacha Bennett, alongside Bob Hoskins, Phil Davis and Jenny Agutter. He has played the lead role in ten British short film dramas, most notably the psychotic character Greg in Andrew Saunder's and Stephen Frears' Striklem. In 2007 he wrote, produced and starred in his own comedy short, The Enchanter: The Crime Fighting Magician, a spoof of 1970s detective series, directed by Adrian Vitoria. In 2011, Cook was an executive producer on the feature film Dark Tide, starring Halle Berry.[7]

Filmography

Feature films

Short films
  • 2006 The Bus Stop, MTV Europe, Mario Cavalli
  • 2006 Missing Eunice, The Second City (Los Angeles), Mike Ross
  • 2006 Different Directions, Film Applications, Araceli Fernandez
  • 2007 Disposal inc, Symbionic, Christian Evans
  • 2007 The Enchanter, ACP, Adrian Vitoria
  • 2007 Striklem, NFTS, Andrew Saunders/Stephen Frears
  • 2010 The Turtle and the Nightingale, Igneous Features, Gershon Hinkson
  • 2012 Circles, Spencer Hudson Films, Spencer Hudson
  • 2013 Trolls, JBA Ltd, Jake Bryan Amaning
  • 2013 The Boy with a Camera for a Face, SBP, Spencer Brown
  • 2013 The Boy and the Bus, BBC Worldwide, Simon Pitts

Theatre

Cook has written and performed three critically acclaimed sell-out Edinburgh solo shows: A Touch of Vegas (2008), Pieces of Strange (2010), and Principles and Deceptions (2011).

  • Edinburgh Spotlight review 2010
  • Broadway Baby review 2010
  • Chortle review 2011
  • Baby review 2011

Stage
  • 2015, Stage, Impossible: London's Magic Spectacular, Jamie Hendry Productions, Noel Coward Theatre, London
  • 2011, Stage, One man show, Principles and Deceptions, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
  • 2010, Stage, One man show, Pieces of Strange, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
  • 2008, Stage, One man show, A Touch of Vegas, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh

Further reading
  • "Interview: Ali Cook, magician, comedian", The Scotsman, 15 August 2010, retrieved 3 February 2019
  • Arthur, Tim (5 July 2010), "Ali Cook: interview", Time Out, retrieved 3 February 2019

Notes
  1. "Magician and actor Ali Cook heads to Sudbury with new show". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. "Toronto: War Story 'Kilo Two Bravo' Set for November U.S. Release". Variety. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  3. "Making the impossible possible". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  4. "Appearances are deceptive". Metro (newspaper). 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  5. "Nominations Announced for the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2015". Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  6. "The Call Up review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. "First Look at Simon Rumley's Once Upon a Time in London". CraveOnline. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
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