JonHolmes
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Writing


Jon writes. Quite a lot of things it turns out, when you sit down and add it up. Radio and TV writing can be found in the relevant sections, but his other work has appeared in the Sunday Times, The Times, Guardian, Mail, Telegraph, The Observer and the Radio Times.

He is also an author. His books include Status Quo and the Kangaroo (2007) - reprinted as Rock Star Babylon (2008), The Twitter History of the World (co-written with Mitch Benn) (2009), The Now Show Book (aka The Now Show Book of Records - co-written with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis) (2011) and A Portrait of an Idiot As A Young Man (2017)

 

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Jon is also in demand as a speechwriter and has put words into the mouths of, among others, Leonardo Di Caprio, Keanu Reeves, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Gere, Bono, James Franco, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jimmy Fallon, the Director General of the BBC, the Controller of Radio 4 and numerous other bosses and CEOs worldwide.

Sometimes, when not hunched over a laptop, Jon MCs awards ceremonies and has also acted as host for a variety of events including:

 

       ·      Teenage Cancer Trust (Royal Albert Hall, London)

·      Children In Need Night for BBC Radio 2 (London West End)

·      Music Gigs inc: Kasabian, Frank Turner, Stereophonics, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Twin Atlantic, Duran Duran, Two Door Cinema Club

 

© Jon Holmes | 2017

About
Jon Holmes

“He loves playing with words and formats. Holmes’s mind works more quickly and more weirdly than almost anyone else on radio; only Danny Baker comes close”

- Miranda Sawyer, Observer

 

JON HOLMES is a double Bafta award-winning and nine-time Radio Academy award winning writer, comedian and broadcaster. 

He’s hosted his own shows on BBC Radios 1, 2, 4, 5Live and BBC 6 Music, written for the likes of Harry Hill, Graham Norton and Stephen Fry, thrown week-mocking jokes at Mock The Week, helped to develop the CBBC hit Horrible Histories from its journey from book to screen, (along with co-writing the first 5 series) and worked alongside Armando Iannucci on both radio and TV. His recent Radio 2 show Jeremy Vine: Agony Uncle' was a huge hit with critics and listeners. He's also the host of the podcast The The One Show Show which is very silly as it analyses TVs The One Show as though it was The Walking Dead or Westworld or some such.

His new show The Skewer, "a dizzying, dazzling, disorientating satirical river of sound" is a multi-award winning hit for Radio 4. Among many others, it's won numerous Radio Academy Awards, alongside gongs for Comedy, Sound Design, and Innovation at the New York Festival. Jon is also a three-time 'Best Producer' winner in the Audio Production Awards, and The Skewer was Best Comedy in the 2021 British Podcast Awards.  

Also on TV, Jon hosted Channel 4’s 11 O’Clock Show (after the other bloke left), occasionally crops up on things like Newsnight or The Wright Stuff and recently made acting debuts in Crackanory and Channel 4’s controversial drama 100 Days of Ukip.

His BBC Radio 4 series Listen Against (2008-2012) is 'sublime, glorious', 'a worthy successor to On The Hour' or 'so funny that it rearranges everything you thought you knew' depending on whch newspaper you read, he co-created the multi-award winning Dead Ringers and you may know him as the short one from off of BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show. He also regularly hosts the BBC Radio 4 Extra Comedy Club.

Alongside all this, he hosted the Xfm Breakfast Show in London for 3 years (where he was twice nominated for Presenter of the Year’), and hosted the weekday afternoon show on talkRADIO, which brought a daily satirical take on current affairs mixed with hard news and political interviews, yet seamlessly segued into spinning stories around deliciously surreal flights of fancy. Jon’s coverage of the Westminster Bridge terror attack, live on air as it unfolded, was widely praised.

Jon is the author of four books, the latest ‘A Portrait Of An Idiot As A Young Man' ("Poignant, charming... a masterclass in comedy writing" - Press Association) is was published in paperback by Orion. 

He is also an award-winning freelance travel writer, most regularly for the Sunday Times for whom he travels all over the world to look at it and write about it.

His radio documentary Saving Mountain Gorillas recorded in the jungle on the Rwandan / Congolese border earned him a ‘Best Broadcast’ nomination at the Travel Media Awards. His BBC report from the St Kitts Music Festival saw him nominated in the same category. He is 'Highly Commended' as Travel Writer of the Year 2020 and winner of 'Best Feature' for his attempts to help rebuild an ancient wall in Portugal.  He is nominated again for both 'Best Worldwide Feature' and 'Best Travel Writer' 2021 in the British Guild of Travel Writers' Awards. 

Once, he had to get into a four poster bed with the late actor Stratford Johns in order to wire him up to a car battery. Long story.

 

@jonholmes1

Contact Jon

Enquiries:

Vivienne Clore

020 7497 0849

vivienne@vivienneclore.com

Radio enquiries: 

Nick Canham

nick@vivienneclore.com

 

 

 

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