Comedian Bio: Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Atkinson in 2009

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, CBE, M.Sc. is one of the most famous British comedians of our time. His best known work is centred around the Mr. Bean character. This act is mainly focused on physical and somewhat childish humour. Mr. Bean doesn't talk much and mainly communicates by uttering sounds as well as using body language. Whenever he does speak it is usually in a mumbled, low-pitched voice. The character seems to be somewhat impaired in the sense that he doesn't seem to have outgrown childhood mentally. He does seem to appreciate art and in his first film is shown to work as a guard in an art museum. He consistently introduces himself as 'Bean' to others and until the film Mr. Bean on holiday his real name is never revealed. In the film however, his first name is shown to be 'Rowan', as is the actor's first name.

The humour in Mr. Bean comes from the character's ineptness at performing simple, day-to-day tasks. The episodes generally show him trying to go swimming, use a television set, drive a car, etcetera. His solutions to the problems, although creative and often absurd are often with total

Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean

disregard for others and for the norms in society. This usually results in hilarious situations where Mr. Bean himself is often a victim at first, but always comes out on top.

Besides Mr. Bean Atkinson has worked on several other wildly successful series, including Not the Nine o' Clock News, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.

Not the Nine o' Clock News was a comedy sketch show produced by BBC2. It was intended as a funny alternative to the Nine o' clock news on BBC1 which was a serious news show. It features comic coverage of news stories, parody songs, sketches and much more. It was hilarious and launched Rowan Atkinson's career.

Blackadder is discussed elsewhere on this blog, so I'll keep it short here. Blackadder is a comedy sitcom produced for the BBC. It consists of 4 series, each focusing on a different period in English history, starting in the Late Middle Ages and ending in the Great War (World War I). Each series has a member of the Blackadder lineage, who is accompanied by his servant Baldrick. There is also in every series at least one twit, in the first to series portrayed by Lord Percy, in the third season by Prince George of Wales and in the final series by Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St Barleigh. It is a true masterpiece of British comedy and if you haven't seen it yet, you should go watch it NOW.

Rowan Atkinson in The Thin Blue Line

“I don't want to buy the Queen a present sir, she's an Antichrist”. The Thin Blue Line features marvellous quotes, absurd humour and over-the-top ridicule of British law enforcement. Full of innuendo, satire and wit, this is a thoroughly enjoyable sitcom, although it is not as fast-paced as Blackadder or indeed, most modern sitcoms. It did help boost Atkinson's career though and it did the same for Ben Elton, who earlier wrote Blackadder, and went on to work on his own show, The Ben Elton Show and he worked on musicals including Love Never Dies and We Will Rock You.

Besides his work on television, Atkinson has also worked on several films. He starred in Never say never again and he took on the role of Johnny English in Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn. Both film were not written by Atkinson and received mixed reviews. Both were box office successes though.

Rowan Atkinson has become one of the best-loved comedians of our time. He has been compared with the likes of John Cleese and he is often seen as the embodiment of contemporary British humour. He remains popular and humour has brought him great wealth and fame, although he is remarkably skilled at separating his private life from his fame. He is a force to be reckoned with and well worth the time viewing.