Matthew Todd (writer)
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Matthew Todd is a playwright, stand up comedian and award-winning journalist. He is the author of "Straight Jacket - How To Be Gay and Happy", a non fiction title published by Bantam Press in June 2016 and the play Blowing Whistles. He has been the editor of the UK gay magazine Attitude since 2008 .
Career
Todd worked for gay rights group Stonewall in the early nineties before joining Attitude magazine in 1996. He has been the editor of Attitude since 2008.
For Attitude he conducted Madonna's only UK gay press interview, Daniel Radcliffe's first and only gay press interview in the world, gay rugby player Gareth Thomas's first gay press interview, Boy George's first national magazine interview after he came out of prison, Stephen Gately's first interview after he came out in The Sun and Michael Sam 's first UK gay press interview.
Todd has made numerous Television and radio appearances including on Sky News and BBC News 24 and appeared regularly on the Kate Silverton Show on BBC Radio Five Live.
As a stand up comedian Todd was a finalist of the Mardi Gras Comedy Competition and The Big Big Big New Act Competition and appeared on the ITV show "Take the Mic". In 2004/5 he ran and hosted a popular weekly comedy night at the Yard bar, Rupert St London at which performers such as Rhod Gilbert Alan Carr and Greg Davies.
Blowing Whistles
Todd's play Blowing Whistles centers around gay culture and the difficulties it presents gay men. It had a first run in June 2005 at the Warehouse Theatre, Croydon, where it was directed by Phil Willmott. Following this it was performed at Sound Theatre, off Leicester Square, London, in 2006, and it has since seen productions in Sydney (Belvoir St Theatre and Darlinghurst Theatre), Melbourne, Adelaide, Fire Island (New York), Boston, Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale. In 2012 it has been produced in San Francisco and Toronto, Canada.
It returned to London transferring to the Leicester Square Theatre in 2008 in a production by Jonathan Altaras, directed by Pete Nettell who directed the Sydney production. It received positive notices from such diverse publications as the gay press through to the right wing Spectator. The London Evening Standard compared it to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, and The Stage compared it to the work of Larry Kramer.[1]
Awards
Stonewall Journalist of the Year 2011
British Society of Magazine Editor's Men's Magazine Editor of the Year 2011
British Society of Magazine Editor's Men's Brand Editor of the Year 2015
Nominated for Stonewall Journalist of the Decade (2015)
Independent Rainbow List
In 2008, The Independent Pink (now Rainbow) List named Todd as the 90th most influential gay person in the UK.
In 2015 he was placed at 22.