English comedian and master impressionist best known as the star of the hit BBC series Dead Ringers. With a catalogue of over 350 impressions Jon is regarded by many as the best impressionist in the UK.
Biography
Jon Culshaw began his radio career in hospital radio in Ormskirk. His first job was at Red Rose Radio (now Rock FM) in Preston in 1987, where even then he used to occasionally read the weather in the voice of Frank Bruno.
He worked as a DJ on the commercial radio station Viking FM, based in Hull, in the late 80s, and had a breakfast show on Pennine Radio (now The Pulse of West Yorkshire) and Radio Wave in Blackpool. After working as a voice artist for a number of year, Jon landed the gig which made him a star: voicing around forty characters for Spitting Image.
Culshaw appeared on BBC Radio 2′s It’s Been a Bad Week, appeared as a guest on the BBC2 Star Trek Night Quiz in August 1996, and was also a regular guest on the Chris Moyles afternoon show on BBC Radio 1 from 1998–2002.
Culshaw was also one of the main stars of the BBC Radio 4 comedy impression series Dead Ringers, which ran from 2000 to 2007, and the BBC Two television series of the same name, from 2002 to 2007.
Comedy on the Television
Between 2001 and 2002 he had a programme on ITV called Alter Ego where he interviewed male celebrities in their own style of speaking, a form of simultaneous translation. On ITV he also appeared on 2DTV, a cartoon version of what Dead Ringers would do when transposed to TV. Using the same production team, in early 2004, he had his own programme, The Impressionable Jon Culshaw which was commissioned for ITV1.
In 2005, Culshaw was a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief does Fame Academy.
In January 2006, he began presenting the BBC show Jon Culshaw’s Commercial Breakdown shown on Friday Nights. In 2006, he received an honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.
In January 2008, he appeared on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack, as part of a pub-quiz team, with Chris Moyles. In May 2008 he appeared in the BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain.
On 31 October 2009, Culshaw started a new comedy sketch show with Debra Stephenson, The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson. Its third series began on 26 October 2011.
He also was invited as a guest speaker at the Cambridge Union Society, answering questions and responding to requests for impersonations.
Jon Culshaw has developed an excellent reputation on the after dinner circuit with his popular impressions and naturally entertaining persona.
