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Give me your scum, your pimps, your hustlers, hucksters, hookers and harlots. Give me the dope smokers, the pill poppers, the nose fiends, the uptown dragon chasers and the backstreet freebasers. I want the rockers and the rollers. I want the clubbers, the skaters, the homos, the heteros, the bi's, the she-males, the undecided, the deviants and the deviated. Anybody who's anybody and the somebody who's nobody. Hear the call, it's holy rollin' Jesus time; arise you gods!'
Winner of the 2003 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act and a star of BBC2's Live Floor Show, The Reverend is not your average holy man. With his heavy metal music, black leather, sunglasses and love of hot-tub bible classes, he cuts a pretty intimidating figure. A true two-fisted Tennessee trailer-trash TV evangelist, he makes the sinners swing from the rafters.
Having managed to offend virtually every religious group and been barred from most places of worship, The Reverend has taken to spreading the Word of the Lord on the BBC, as well as around comedy clubs all over the UK. He was a regular on both series of BBC Scotland's Live Floor Show, for which he was nominated for a Scottish BAFTA best newcomer award. His success on the show secured him a weekly spot when the show later transferred to BBC2 network for a 10-part series.
His Edinburgh Fringe show with Frankie Boyle provoked massive, diverse reactions and was simultaneously hailed as the most exciting and original as well as the most offensive and dangerous show on the fringe. This show led to The Rev and Frankie being commissioned to write on the Channel 4 Jimmy Carr vehicle, Distraction and its subsequent re-commission.
The Reverend has written for Channel 4's 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Channel 4 Radio as well as for BBC 2's Mock The Week. He stole the show at the Reading Festival, his festival debut, and his Edinburgh Festival Show, What Would Charlie Sheen Do? received 5-star reviews.
'The man is a tornado, a fount of pitch-perfect jokes coupled with quite masterful timing and material that flouts the very laws of censure.........Utterly challenging and well-crafted, it is, of course, howlingly funny.' The Metro*****
'Laugh? I almost shat myself. Rarely at the festival do you get a) amazing Scottish comedy and b) comedians who can send you into a fit of absolute hysteria for an hour's class. The two comedians from BBC's 'Live Floor Show' appeared laid-back and blasé, yet have killer lines and must rank among the best Scottish performers at the festivals. An absolute must-see.' The List
Frankie Boyle & The Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolfe III, 2003 Edinburgh Fringe
'Imagine Jimmy Swaggart, Shane McGowan, Elvis and a tramp's pants blended together. Not pretty, but very funny.' Scotland on Sunday
'I liked the vicar best' Robert Plant, Live Floor Show