Jonathan Pie
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| Jonathan Pie | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | 21 September 2015 |
| Created by | Tom Walker |
| Portrayed by | Tom Walker |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Political correspondent |
Jonathan Pie is a fictional character created and portrayed by English actor and comedian Tom Walker. A political correspondent, Pie appears in a series of comedic online videos in which he rants angrily about British, American, and Australian politics,[1][2] with the videos being presented as though he were a real reporter giving his personal opinions before or after filming a regular news segment.
History
The first spoof news report featuring Pie, released just after the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, was responding to mainstream media reports that gave particular weight to Corbyn's past relationship with Diane Abbott.[3] Walker was soon approached by several media companies, including RT UK. He worked with RT for several months before leaving in July 2016, just before his appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.[4]
The character received international coverage after the 2016 American presidential election, when his comments on Donald Trump's victory went viral and became a YouTube trending video.[5] The video had more than four million views as of early 2020, more than ten times any of his preceding videos.
Pie has occasionally appeared as the London correspondent for the Australian satirical news and current events programme The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.[6]
Pie went on his second tour in 2018 with Back to the Studio. He performed 45 dates in the UK, five dates in Australia, and six dates in the US.[7] In January 2020, a collaboration with environmental filmmaker Franny Armstrong led to a 13-minute mockumentary called Pie Net Zero.[8] Some episodes, including the post-US election episode, were co-written with Andrew Doyle.[9] Doyle's contribution began when the live show started.[10]
In 2022, he started showing up in The New York Times' opinion page. In first video he compared Boris Johnson with Donald Trump for an American audience as serial liars full of entitlement who had never met an ordinary person, besides – maybe – their chauffeur, selling out their allegedly beloved country to the highest bidder.[11] After this first video, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he made other videos criticizing Tory politicians for accepting donations from Russian oligarchs.[12] In a September 2022 video, Pie condemned Conservative Party rule for worsening the United Kingdom's energy crisis, rising inflation, and labor strikes, while also criticizing the Tory election of new prime minister Liz Truss.[13]
Live tours
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Jonathan Pie Live | 51 UK dates |
| 2018 | Back to the Studio | 55 UK dates & 6 Australian shows |
| 2019 | Fake News | 24 UK dates |
| 2020 | Fake News: Australia | 7 dates |
| 2021 | The Corona Remix | 44 dates. Extended & rescheduled dates from previous tour due to COVID-19 pandemic[14] |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Jonathan Pie in America | BBC |
| 2021 | Jonathan Pie: The World's End | Spanner Films |
References
- ^ "Everything You Need To Know About Jonathan Pie". The Debrief. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- ^ Ryan Barrell (4 July 2016). "Spoof News Reporter Jonathan Pie Is Very Angry About The Brexit Aftermath". Huff Post Comedy. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
- ^ Bienaimé, Pierre (5 November 2015). "Q&A with Jonathan Pie, the 'reporter' furiously delivering the real news". Konbini. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
- ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (17 July 2016). "Mr Angry of TV comedy severs links with Putin network on way to Edinburgh fringe". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
- ^ York, Chris (11 November 2016). "Jonathan Pie Blames The Left For Trump, Tories And Brexit". The Huffington Post Comedy. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
- ^ Quinn, Belinda (3 May 2018). "Jonathan Pie explains why politics has lost the plot". The Brag. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- ^ BWW News Desk. "Jonathan Pie Premieres New Show in U.S. This Fall, Back to the Studio in Select Cities". BroadwayWorld.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
- ^ "Pie Net Zero". Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Doyle, Andrew (25 November 2016). "Jonathan Pie Said The Left Was Wrong, Not The Right Was Right". Huffington Post: The Blog. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "The Comedian's Comedian Podcast with Stuart Goldsmith: Episode 233 – Jonathan Pie (Tom Walker and Andrew Doyle)". British Comedy Guide. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ Pie, Jonathan (4 February 2022). "'The First Thing You Need to Know About Boris Johnson Is He's a Liar'". The New York Times Opinion. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
- ^ Pie, Jonathan; Westbrook, Adam (11 March 2022). "Opinion | Welcome to Londongrad, Where Kleptocrats Wash Their Money Clean". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
- ^ Pie, Jonathan; Adam Westbrook (5 September 2022). "Opinion | The Conservatives Made Everything in Britain Worse (Yes, Even the Weather)". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ^ "Jonathan Pie Tickets". viagogo.com/au. Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2019.