Kevin Eldon - Early Career and Lee & Herring

Early Career and Lee & Herring

Eldon was born in Chatham, Kent, England. He started on the stand-up circuit in the early '90s performing an act in character as the political poet Paul Hamilton, but has also done stand-up as himself on occasions. On the circuit, Eldon formed a friendship with the stand-up comedian Stewart Lee, which would later lead to an invitation to work with Lee on the radio series Lee & Herring's Fist of Fun with Lee's comedy partner Richard Herring. Lee and Herring would usually refer to him as "the actor Kevin Eldon", in reference to his claim to be an actor, rather than a comedian.

Eldon's work sat well with that of Lee & Herring, and he continued to work with them on all their projects, including The Lee & Herring Radio Show, Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy, providing a multitude of characters, most notably: the jelly-obsessed False Rod Hull; and Simon Quinlank, the self-proclaimed "king of hobbies", who would always be accompanied by a flask of "weak lemon drink". He also played a version of himself, as the actor Kevin Eldon. In addition to his Lee & Herring collaborations, he has worked closely with Simon Munnery and Julia Davis.