Stand-up comedy and theatre When
The Comedy Store opened in London in 1979, Sayle responded to an advert in
Private Eye for would-be comedians, and became its first
master of ceremonies. In 1980, comedy producer
Martin Lewis saw Sayle perform at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe and became his manager. Sayle became the leading performer at
The Comic Strip. He appeared on
The Comic Strip Album (1981) and recorded
Cak! (1982). He also appeared in the stage show, film and comedy album of ''
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' (1981–1982). An example of Sayle's humour was his attack on American phrases: "If you travel to the States ... they have a lot of different words than like what we use. For instance: they say 'elevator', we say 'lift'; they say 'drapes', we say 'curtains'; they say 'president', we say 'seriously deranged
git!'" In 1988, Sayle played the role of Trinculo the King's jester in Shakespeare's
The Tempest, directed by
Jonathan Miller at
the Old Vic theatre in London. With artists such as
Isy Suttie and
Jim Bob, Sayle appeared at the fourth "
Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People" event at the
Bloomsbury Theatre in December 2011. In January and February 2012, he compered four nights of stand-up comedy at the
Soho Theatre. He completed a full UK stand-up tour in October and November 2012 and a sixteen-night residency at the Soho Theatre in January and February 2013, where he performed new material. He played a further ten nights at the Soho Theatre in April 2013. He also performed at the 2013
Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Radio Sayle's early work included several performances for
Capital London. In 1981, he wrote and performed the radio series,
Alexei Sayle and the Fish People, for which he won a Pye Radio Award (later known as the
Sony Radio Awards). An album based on the show,
The Fish People Tapes, again featuring Sayle, was released in 1984. This was followed by ''Alexei Sayle and the Dutch Lieutenant's Trousers'', the name being a reference to
John Fowles' ''
The French Lieutenant's Woman. Sayle returned to Radio 4 in 2016 with Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar, which has run for five critically acclaimed series so far. In 2019, he narrated the dramatisation of four of his short stories in the series Alexei Sayle's The Absence of Normal'', again on Radio 4. A second series was broadcast in 2021. Since February 2022 Sayle has presented BBC Radio 4's ''Alexei Sayle's Strangers on a Train''.
Television Sayle's first high-profile television appearances were on
Central Independent Television's late-night alternative cabaret show
O.T.T. (1982). He left nine weeks into the show's run to tour Australia with the Comic Strip. He played various roles in the situation comedy
The Young Ones (1982–1984), along with
Adrian Edmondson,
Rik Mayall,
Nigel Planer and
Christopher Ryan. In the programme Sayle portrayed several members of an
Eastern European family; the Balowskis. In 1985, he appeared in the
Doctor Who serial
Revelation of the Daleks. In a column for a British tabloid newspaper around the same time, he indicated that he wanted to become the "first Socialist
Doctor." He also appeared in several episodes of
The Comic Strip Presents... between 1985 and 1993, playing the two leading roles in ''
Didn't You Kill My Brother? which he co-wrote with David Stafford and Pauline Melville. Sayle has co-written and starred in many other programmes, including three series of Alexei Sayle's Stuff (1988–1991), two series of The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1994–1995) and one series of Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round'' (1998). In 1989, Sayle was awarded an International
Emmy for
Stuff. In conversation with
Mark Thomas on BBC Radio 4's informal chat-show
Chain Reaction, Sayle revealed that the first he knew of the award was when he watched
Channel 4 News and saw, to his amazement,
Benny Hill collecting the award on his behalf. In 1990, Sayle had a
fatwa proclaimed against him by a Muslim cleric from
Syria after a joke on his BBC comedy show
Stuff, which has never been withdrawn. Sayle was signed in 1992 to a seven-year contract to play an Eastern European chef as a regular character on the American sitcom
The Golden Palace, the sequel to
The Golden Girls, but was fired and replaced by
Cheech Marin before the pilot was filmed. The series was cancelled after one season. In 1994, he presented the miniseries
Drive, which gave advice for safe driving through Sayle's signature form of humour interspersed with serious pieces. In 2008, he wrote and presented ''Alexei Sayle's Liverpool'', a three-part television series in which he reconnected with his home town. He stated in the programmes that on first hearing that Liverpool was to be awarded the
European Capital of Culture, he received much criticism for describing the city as "philistine". He now feels that he does not know whether or not his original statement was true but as a result of making the series he does now consider Liverpool to be his home, and he has vowed to go back there more often in the future. Sayle also narrated the
Public information film (PIF)
Moon Lighters about two moon creatures, Biblock and Hoblock and the dangers of
lighters. Sayle replaced
Rolf Harris as the narrator for the
Nick Jr. and
Milkshake! series
Olive The Ostrich. Episodes featuring Sayle's narration commenced broadcasting on 22 July 2013.
Film Sayle alternates his comedy work with performances as a
character actor ranging from serious (
Gorky Park, 1983) to humorous (
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989). He appeared in the 1992
Carry On film,
Carry On Columbus along with other modern comedians, including Comic Strip founder
Peter Richardson, as well as surviving members of the original
Carry On team. He narrated the 2023 political documentary film
Oh, Jeremy Corbyn: The Big Lie and the 2024 sequel,
The Big Lie II: Starmer and the Genocide.
Music Sayle has released five comedy singles with full musical backing, and one live recording from the Comedy Store in London 1981. This was "Dedication", released as a double A side with Alex Arundel, the London-based Scottish songwriter and founding member of Alternative Cabaret, with the song "When The Gold Runs Dry" being the other A side. Sayle's most successful single was "
'Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?", which achieved Top 20 chart success in the UK upon re-release in 1984. Produced by
Clive Langer and
Alan Winstanley (who also produced for
Madness and
Elvis Costello), the record (in its
12-inch version) achieved notoriety owing to its extensive use of profane language. The two follow-up singles, "Didn't You Kill My Brother?", and "Meanwhile", were taken from the album
Panic, the cover of which parodies the cover of the
Michael Jackson album
Off the Wall.
Writing Sayle has written two short story collections, five novels, including a
graphic novel and a radio series spin-off book, as well as columns for various publications. His book
Great Bus Journeys of the World, co-written with David Stafford, is mostly a collection of his columns for
Time Out and the
Sunday Mirror. He was one of eight contributory authors to the
BBC Three competition
End of Story, in which members of the public completed the second half of stories written by established authors. The winning entry to Sayle's story,
Imitating Katherine Walker, was written by freelance writer Arthur Allan. Sayle's autobiography,
Stalin Ate My Homework, which deals with his early life, and which he describes as a 'satirical memoir', was published in 2010. In 2012 he joined
The Daily Telegraph as a motoring columnist. In early 2015 he toured giving readings from the second volume of his autobiography
Thatcher Stole My Trousers, published in 2016.
Internet In November 2020, Sayle began hosting a monthly podcast,
The Alexei Sayle Podcast. Produced/co-hosted by Talal Karkouti; guests have included
Josie Long,
Stewart Lee,
Omid Djalili,
Lise Mayer,
Diane Morgan and
Jeremy Corbyn. He also launched a
YouTube channel, showcasing videos of various bike rides. ==Personal life==