Nick Helm

Nicholas Tristan Phillip Helm (born 1 October 1980) is an English comedian, actor and rock musician known for his comedic confrontational delivery.[1] His routines have been described as "brash and bullish".[2] Many of his performances begin with him acting calmly and see him gradually getting more and more enraged about what he is talking about. He came to prominence following the success of his 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show Keep Hold of the Gold. In 2014, Helm made his main acting debut as lead character Andy in the BBC Three sitcom Uncle.

Nick Helm
Birth nameNicholas Tristan Phillip Helm
Born (1980-10-01) 1 October 1980
Finsbury Park, London, England
Medium
  • Television
  • stand-up
  • music
NationalityBritish
Years active2005–present
Subject(s)
Notable works and roles
Websitenickhelm.co.uk

Early life

Helm was born in Barts Hospital in West Smithfield, London, and raised in Finsbury Park, until the age of 8 when he then moved to St Albans, Hertfordshire.[3] He attended Cunningham Hill Primary School, after which he graduated to Sandringham Secondary School.[4] Following this he attended the University of Winchester.

While at secondary school Helm began writing and performing. In 1997, when he was in the sixth form, his drama teacher Louise Howes brought the school's production of Romeo and Juliet to the Edinburgh Festival.[5] Helm played the part of Prince Escalus.[3]

Career

With friends, Helm began taking shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the early 2000s with increasing levels of success.[6]

By 2007, Helm began performing solo stand-up, but also maintained his theatrical work with a 2008 Fringe show called I Think You Stink, which gained critical acclaim. Comedian Richard Herring called it a "lovely little hidden gem... funny, silly and slightly chilling... something very new and special".

Helm has worked closely with his friends on the stand-up circuit, performing mixed bill stand-up shows at the Fringe before his first fully solo show, Keep Hold of the Gold, in 2010.

In 2011, the follow up, Dare to Dream, saw him nominated for the Fosters best comedy show[7] and a joke lifted from the show won Dave's award for the funniest joke of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe: "I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves".[8]

In 2012 Helm appeared regularly on the BBC Three series Live at the Electric performing songs with backing band, The Helmettes. There were further TV appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats (including as Santa in the 2012 Christmas Special) and its spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, The Boyle Variety Performance, Russell Howard's Good News and a new show for Edinburgh, This Means War.

His 2013 Edinburgh Fringe show, One Man Mega Myth, strongly referenced Evel Knievel, and he was again nominated for Best Show in the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, losing out to Bridget Christie.[9]

Helm won the South Bank Sky Arts "The Times Breakthrough Award" on 27 January 2014.[10]

Helm also plays guitar and sings. He has so far released three solo albums. His latest album is called Hot 'n' Heavy, released on 10 May 2013.[11] He performed "He Makes You Look Fat", one of the tracks from his album, when he appeared as the stand-up guest on Russell Howard's Good News.[12]

In 2014 Helm started playing the lead role of Andy in the BBC Three sitcom Uncle.[13] The show was written by Oliver Refson, and featured songs written and performed by Helm and his band. The third and final series of Uncle was screened in January-February 2017.

Helm's comedy/music show Nick Helm's Heavy Entertainment broadcast on BBC Three in May-June 2015.

In 2015 Helm co-wrote and co-starred with Esther Smith in an episode of the BBC Three online series of short stories, Funny Valentines. The episode, titled "Elephant",[14] was nominated for a Short Film BAFTA Award in 2016.[15]

In mid-2017 Helm starred in the sitcom Loaded (Channel 4), about a group of IT entrepreneurs who become millionaires when their company is bought out, and in the food comedic documentary Eat Your Heart Out (Dave). He also performed Work in Progress shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, he starred in the online comedy series Angry Quiz Guy.

Filmography

Television
As actor
YearTitleRoleNotes
2010Big BabiesMajor Moustache (voice)13 episodes
2012-2017UncleAndy20 episodes
2013The Day They Came to Suck Out Our Brains!Ringer1.10 "Mankind Strikes Back"
2014SantageddonNick PliskinShort film
2014The MilkmanCustomerShort film
2015Funny Valentines: ElephantHimShort film; also writer
2015The Girl in the DressRobShort film
2016Hell's GardenSpade ManShort film
2017LoadedWatto8 episodes
2018Nick Helm: The Killing MachineSam MillerShort film
2018The Reluctant LandlordLemon6 episodes
2018Roast BattleSanta Claus2.06 "Christmas Special"
As himself
YearTitleRoleNotes
2010Russell Howard's Good NewsHimself3.07 "Episode: 2 December 2010"
2011Show & TellHimself1.03 "Maeve Higgins, Elis James and Nick Helm"
1.05 "Diane Morgan, Josh Widdicombe and Nick Helm"
2011So This Is Christmas!HimselfTelevision special
2012-20138 Out of 10 CatsHimself / Santa Claus6 episodes
2012Live at the ElectricHimself8 episodes
2012Nick Helm Solid Gold Super HitsHimselfTelevision miniseries
2012The Boyle Variety PerformanceHimselfTelevision special
2012The 50 Funniest Moments of 2012HimselfTelevision special
2013 '8 Out of 10 Cats' Does 'Deal or No Deal' HimselfTelevision special
2013-20198 Out of 10 Cats Does CountdownDictionary Corner Guest / Himself6 episodes
2013BBC Comedy FeedsHimself2.02 "Nick Helm's Heavy Entertainment"
2014Sunday BrunchHimself (guest)1.96 "Episode: 26 January 2014"
2014Sweat the Small StuffHimself2 episodes
201530 Greatest Disaster MoviesHimselfTelevision documentary
2015Alan Davies: As Yet UntitledHimself (panelist)3.01
2015Greatest Sci-Fi MoviesHimselfTelevision documentary
2015Live at the ApolloHimself11.06 "Episode: 14 December 2015"
2015MastermindHimself (contestant)Celebrity Mastermind 2015/16: "Episode 6"
2016Drunk HistoryHimself2.09 "Episode Nine"
2017-2018Sunday BrunchHimself (guest)3 episodes
2018Roast BattleHimself1.02 "Episode: 16 January 2018"
2018How The Young Ones Changed ComedyHimselfTelevision documentary

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2005 X3: Reunion Additional voices
gollark: The upcoming iPhone 13: is actually named the iPhone XRsMV Max++ 1000, is a 5mm thick aluminium block with screens on both sides, costs $5000, will immediately break if it is dropped, hit hard, or held wrong.
gollark: You could use a KVM switch or some VNC-type thing.
gollark: Buying some sort of very cheap computer which can still run MacOS and running something saner on your main one might be viable.
gollark: How Apple of Apple.
gollark: There are, IIRC, ways to make VMs which most stuff won't detect as virtual, but then you lose performance a lot.

References
  1. Challis, Chris (22 June 2011). "Nick Helm: Dare To Dream". The Argus. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  2. Hall, Julian (4 February 2011). "Nick Helm: Keep Hold of the Gold". The Independent. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. https://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/richard_herring_lst_podcast/episode_45_nick_helm/
  4. Dakin, Melanie (24 May 2012). "Comedian owes career to Sandringham School". Watford Observer. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  5. "Interview, Nick Helm, comedian". The Scotsman. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  6. Gilbert, Gerard (12 January 2014). "Nick Helm: Loud, aggressive – and a big pussycat off stage". The Independent.
  7. "Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2013 – Best Comedy Show". Comedyawards.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  8. Murphy, Niall (26 August 2011). "The 10 Best Jokes of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe". Broadsheet.ie. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  9. Brocklehurst, Steven (24 August 2013). "Bridget Christie wins Foster's Edinburgh comedy award". BBC News. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  10. "South Bank Sky Arts Winners 2014". Sky.com. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  11. "Hot 'n' Heavy by Nick Helm on Spotify". Open.spotify.com. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  12. "nick helm he make you look fat". YouTube. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  13. "BBC3 orders comedy starring stand up Nick Helm". The Stage. 29 April 2013.
  14. "Nick Helm: Elephant". BBC Three website. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  15. "BBC News - Entertainment - 2016 BAFTA Awards Nominations". BBC. 8 January 2016.
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