Edinburgh Fringe 2003’s legendary comedian-packed 12 Angry Men is set to be hilariously spoofed as ‘11 ½ Angry Men’m which has its world premiere at the Pleasance EICC Pentland Theatre for 17 performances from 5th – 22nd August. Written by Owen O’Neill and directed and produced by Olivier award winner Guy Masterson, and featuring Katy Tuxford’s original innovative designs from 2003.
‘11 ½ Angry Men’ features a star-studded line up featuring Joe Pasquale, Spencer Jones, Andrew Maxwell, Stephen K Amos, Terry Alderton, Mark Maier, Glenn Wool, JJ Whitehead alongside four from the original cast - Ian Coppinger, Phil Nichol, David Calvitto and Owen O'Neill.
Tickets go on sale at 10am tomorrow, Friday, here: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/11-12-angry-men
It’s the hottest day of the year, a storm is brewing, and 11½ very angry men attempt to decide the fate of a boy accused of a heinous murder in 1950’s New York City – when the world was ruled by furious white men... unlike today! The jurors would like to do the right thing and the evidence against the boy stinks, but they all have places to go and far more important issues on their minds. Will a lethal German sausage save him? Or send him sizzling to the electric chair? Needing a unanimous verdict, will they still find their way to a swift conviction?
In 2001, Comedian/Poet Owen O’Neill and producer/director Guy Masterson canvassed comedians in the Assembly Club Bar to be part of a unique EdFringe stage revival of the classic movie ‘12 Angry Men’. The response was unanimous. They could have cast it 3 times over with a Who’s Who of comedy. It took two years to put together but the result is now legendary: Sharpened pencils soon sheathed, the critics unanimously praised the production, and it became the hottest ticket in town. It went on to tour Australia and New Zealand.
23 years on, several cast members have gone on to huge acclaim: Bill Bailey won Strictly and now fills arenas; Phil Nichol won the Edinburgh Comedy Award and West End acclaim in There’s Something About Jamie; Dave Johns became ‘a fillum star’ in I Daniel Blake; and Guy Masterson won an Olivier for Morcambe and West End & Broadway triumph with The Shark Is Broken.
In true EdFringe spirit, working as a pure cooperative to enable to show to be mounted, they are relying entirely on box office success to receive even a penny for their efforts, and most of the company will also be playing in their own shows in order to afford the risk!
CAST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:
Andrew Maxwell: doesn’t just do stand-up… he commands it. Fearless, intelligent comedy, he is a global festival heavyweight. He has enjoyed numerous sell-out seasons at the Edinburgh Fringe; he has performed at The Amnesty / Channel Four’s Secret Policeman’s Ball (alongside Eddie Izzard, Chevy Chase and Dylan Moran), The HBO US Comedy & Arts Festival in Vegas (alongside Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock) and made several appearances at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. He is also a founder member of Altitude Comedy Festival, staged in the Alps. Andrew has recorded three Live DVDs with 2Entertain (Conflict Revolution, Andrew Maxwell: Live In Dublin & Andrew Maxwell: One Inch Punch). He has appeared on many TV shows including Live At The Apollo (BBC One), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! (ITV) and Mock The Week (BBC Two). He was also the King Of Comedy Winner (CH4).
David Calvitto: is a London based American actor and has been working at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2000. In 2017 he directed Brian Parks’ Enterprise which won a Fringe First award. In 2000, he appeared in Fringe First winner, Americana Absurdum, the first of 8 Fringe First winners he would be involved with as actor, director and producer. Other stage credits include the original Guy Masterson’s 2003 Edinburgh production of 12 Angry Men starring Bill Bailey, and Dave Johns and the 2014 West End transfer of the show, starring Martin Shaw and Robert Vaughn. In 2024 he was Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatrist in The Marilyn Conspiracy at the Park Theatre, London. Other UK credits, The Shawshank Redemption (Edinburgh and the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin) and The Odd Couple (Theatre at The Mill in Belfast); Calvitto was the winner of the Stage Best Actor award in Edinburgh for Horse Country in 2002. He’s also been nominated for the award three other times for The Extremists (2013), The Event (2009) and Screwmachine /eyecandy 2005.
Glenn Wool: Canadian Glenn moved to London in 1998 and quickly became an established star of the UK’s comedy circuit before becoming a globally recognised name. He is a regular opening act for Frankie Boyle, Jim Jefferies and Doug Stanhope. His TV credits include John Oliver’s 'New York Stand-Up Show', 8 Out of 10 Cats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Russell Howard’s Good News and The John Bishop Show. He also lent his voice (along with Katherine Ryan) to the BAFTA award-winning Lottie Bearshout: Good as Goaled for Disney XD. He is hugely popular addition at music festivals including Reading & Leeds, Bestival, Download, Sonisphere and Glastonbury. The episode of Jim Jefferies and Friends that he headlined for channel 7 Australia was seen by over one million people. He's a regular guest on influential podcasts such as WTF, Have A Word, Risk, the Richard Herring podcast and Dead Men Talking As well as his own Freestylin w/ Frankie Boyle and Eejits of the World w/Andrew Maxwell. Glenn’s new stand-up show Glenn Wool is Luv (Sic) will be at The Attic/Beehive at 9pm for the month.
Ian Coppinger: One of Irelands busiest award-winning comedians, he is a regular on the world comedy circuit having played to packed houses at the Edinburgh, Melbourne, Montreal Just For Laughs, Galway, Electric Picnic, Glastonbury, Dublin, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Wellington Comedy Festivals. He has also appeared at every Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny since 1995. A noted improviser Ian is a co-founder of The Dublin Comedy Improv (1992), where he still performs every week in Dublin’s International Bar. He has also guested in “Whose Line Is It Anyway? Live” at the Edinburgh Fringe and is a regular with The Comedy Store Players. He is a member of “The Improv All-Stars” alongside Stephen Frost and Steve Steen with whom he has performed in over 50 countries. This year’s he will also perform with the “Improv All-Stars” in The Frankenstein Bar at the Fringe.
JJ Whitehead - Jason John Whitehead's rangy swagger and fearless, electric wit has charmed audiences around the world, a North American who cut his comedy teeth in Great Britain. He has been a regular on British and Canadian TV and at international comedy festivals. JJ brought his honest, uncensored brand of humour to Los Angeles where he was part of the writing team behind The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central, earning them a nomination in the WGA awards for Late Night Comedy. He also opens for Jim on his national tours on the largest stages in the country. He has performed in 17 Edinburgh Fringe Festivals over the years including 12 solo shows since starting his career at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh in 1999. Some of his TV credits include The BBC Stand Up Show with Tommy Tiernan, Live at The Comedy Store, Comedy Now Uncensored in Canada and he performed Stand Up on Jim Jefferies And Friends on Chanel 9 in Australia and Comics Unleashed on CBS in America.
Joe Pasquale: Unbelievably this marks Joe’s debut Edinburgh Fringe performance! Joe’s TV career started as a runner-up on ‘New Faces’ in 1987 and since then, he has gone on to be crowned King Of The Jungle on ITV’s ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me out Of Here’; Hosted an ITV Special ‘An Audience With Joe Pasquale’; hosted the long running television series ‘The Price Is Right’ for ITV, starred in ITV’s ‘Dancing on Ice’; dangled from the ceiling of the London Palladium for ITV’s ‘Live From The Palladium’; taken part in ITV’s ‘Sugar Free Farm’; Bared all on ITV1’s ‘The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins’ for Stand-up To Cancer; appeared on five Royal Variety Performances; spent time in a Costa Rican prison for Virgin One’s ‘The Prisoner X’ documentary season; spent five days alone in the jungles of Guyana for Discovery Channels ‘Alone In The Wild Series’; had numerous guest appearances on BBC’s ‘Celebrity Mastermind’ and ‘Celebrity Chase’ and most recently winning ITV1’s ‘I’m A Celebrity – Masked Singer Special’ in 2023. Joe has racked up an impressive list of Theatre credits including - Larry Shue’s ‘The Nerd’ which prompted Time Out to describe his performance as “rib-shatteringly funny”; Tom Stoppard’s ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’, Mel Brooks ‘The Producers’, ‘Doctor In The House’ with Robert Powell and in 2022 in the starring role of ‘Frank Spencer’ in the new stage touring adaptation of hit TV sitcom ‘Some Mothers Do Ave Em’.
Mark Maier: The multi award winning writer and comedian is a highly sought-after performer on both the national and international comedy circuits. His numerous professional highlights include three series of 'Trapped' for BBC Radio 4 - a show both written and performed by Mark, The Stand-Up Show (BBC1), Dating The Enemy (ITV), Bring Me The Head of Light Entertainment, (CH5) and Five’s Company (CH5). Mark regularly performs with the critically acclaimed 'Comedy Store Players'. He founded the group 'MadLib' which performed at the Edinburgh Festival. He recently starred in Harry Hill the Movie and subsequently in his Harry Hill Teatime series where he played a variety of roles including a Geordie Father Xmas and Angela Merkel. This year he performed his one man show Jewvenile to a packed house in London at The Duchess Theatre. The stand-up show is a tribute to his father who fled Nazi Germany. This show will be at the Dining Room at The Gilded Balloon from 5th - 10th August.
Owen O'Neill: Owen is a writer of stage and screen and stand-up comedian. He has written and performed 17 original one-man plays and has won numerous awards at the Edinburgh Festival including a Fringe First, The Herald Angel award for best play and the Edinburgh Critics award for best comedy. At East 59th St Theatre in New York City, he won best actor in his one-man play, Absolution. “A white knuckle, emotionally searing piece of theatre!” (New York Times). He also adapted the ‘Shawshank Redemption’ for the stage which tours regularly in the UK and North America. His debut novel, ‘Tom Joad and Me’ was published in May 2024.
Phil Nichol: An Edinburgh Comedy Award Winner and internationally renowned comedian, actor, writer, director, and musician. He will be bringing a brand-new stand-up show for this year’s Fringe entitled ‘Aren’t We Lucky’, his first new show in 7 years. ‘Aren’t We Lucky’ will premiere at the Gilded Balloon Teviot Lounge. In addition, Phil will also be bringing back his Edinburgh Comedy Award winning show ‘The Naked Racist’ to the Gilded Balloon Teviot Wine Bar for 14 nights to celebrate its 20th anniversary since the win. Phil’s TV appearances include Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Graham Norton Show, The Standup Show and The World Stands Up, As an actor, Phil played Terry Gilliam in BBC4’s BAFTA-nominated Holy Flying Circus. He has appeared in Catastrophe (C4), Uncle (BBC 3), Man Down (C4), Siblings (BBC 1), Badults (BBC 2) and Agatha Raisin (Sky Max). On stage, Phil has appeared in London’s West End in Olivier Award nominated, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, performed with the Donmar Warehouse in New York in The Machine, and starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Christian Slater. Phil starred alongside Boy George in the original cast of Taboo, and alongside Bill Bailey in Twelve Angry Men. Most recently, Phil devised and starred as lead character Dick Marlin in Spiegelworld’s cirque-cabaret The Hook in Atlantic City for 18 months in 2024/2025.
Spencer Jones: Double Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, actor and writer whose gloriously unhinged blend of surrealism, slapstick and visual invention has made him one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary comedy. A regular standout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jones has built a devoted following for shows that gleefully dismantle traditional stand-up, with prop-driven chaos, physical absurdity and a uniquely playful logic. On screen, he known for creating and starring in the BBC series The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk, a riot of imagination that perfectly captures his singular comedic world. He also starred in Mister Winner and has appeared Kempe in Upstart Crow alongside David Mitchell, and Derek in Ted Lasso. Whether wielding homemade props, inhabiting oddball characters or diving headfirst into delightful chaos, Jones crafts performances that feel both anarchic and precisely tuned. At once childlike and sophisticated, Spencer Jones’s comedy is a reminder that the ridiculous, when done right, can be an art form all its own.
Stephen K Amos: A stalwart of the comedy scene he has charmed and entertained audiences all over the world with his natural, assured delivery and honest original material. A gifted actor, Amos has impressed critics with his performances on stage and screen. He had roles in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and has been on QI, Have I Got News For You and Live At The Apollo. He presented the critically acclaimed documentary ‘Prejudice and Pride’ on BBC Four with Susan Calman and appeared on Dave's One Night Stand. He also starred in his first TV series ‘The Stephen K Amos Show’ for BBC Two. Stephen had two second series of his hit radio series Life: An Idiots Guide for BBC Radio 4.
Terry Alderton: is unpredictable, electric, and completely one of a kind, he doesn’t just perform stand-up… he creates a full-throttle comedy experience. From explosive energy to moments of pure spontaneity, no two shows are ever the same. A true comic’s comic and one of the most respected performers on the circuit, Terry has built a reputation for leaving audiences in absolute disbelief — and stitches. He has performed on Live At The Apollo, The Harry Hill Show, The Jonathan Ross Show and at the Royal Variety Performance. As an actor he is best known for his roles in EastEnders and Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels.
GUY MASTERSON (DIRECTOR & PRODUCER) is a UCLA & LAMDA trained actor, director, writer and theatre producer of 40 years. A 32-year veteran of the Edinburgh Fringe, his company, Theatre Tours International has presented over 150 predominantly new works and associated with several of its biggest hits including 12 Angry Men (2003); One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (2004) with Christian Slater and The Odd Couple (2005) with Bill Bailey. He produced & directed the Olivier Award winning Morecambe (2009), The Shark Is Broken (2019) which transferred to the West End in 2021 and then Broadway in 2023. He also performed 11 solo works, most notably Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm, Shylock and A Christmas Carol in over 5000 performances globally since 1991. He received The Stage Best Actor Award at Ed Fringe 2001 for Fern Hill & Other Dylan Thomas and has received a further 4 nominations for his solo work. He has also directed many other award-winning solos including Justin Butcher’s Scaramouche Jones, Rebecca Vaughan’s Austen’s Women, Pip Utton’s Adolf, Owen O’Neill’s Absolution, and Peter Tate’s Picasso: Le Monstre Sacré, all of which continue to tour after many years. He is married to Brigitta for 27 years, and father to Indigo and Tallulah.
This year Guy will also be directing & presenting:
CALL ME ELIZABETH Assembly Festival - George Square Studio 2
15.30 (60mins) Aug 5-30th (not 12th)
NB: Played in two halves:
Part 1 (on odd numbered days) From Lassie to Cleopatra
Part 2 (on even numbered days) From Burton to Humanitarian
THE TAO OF LLOYD: Assembly Rooms - Drawing Room)
12:25 (60mins) Aug 6-30th (not 12th)
SCARAMOUCHE JONES: 25th Anniversary Edition: Assembly Rooms - Bijou Tent)
16:10 (90mins) Aug 6-30th (not 12th)
LUDWIG: Unfinished Business: Assembly Rooms Front Room George St
Time: 12.35pm (60mins) Aug 6-30th (not 12th)
