Ayoade has written three comedic books centring on film: Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey (2014), The Grip of Film (2017), and Ayoade on Top (2019). He has provided his voice to a number of animated projects, including the films The Boxtrolls (2014), Early Man (2018), and Soul (2020) and the television shows Strange Hill High (2013–14) and Apple & Onion (since 2018). He presented the factual shows Gadget Man (2013–2015), its spin-off Travel Man (2015–2019) and the 2017 revival of The Crystal Maze. Ayoade has frequently appeared on panel shows, mostly prominently on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and served as a team captain on Was It Something I Said? in 2013. Richard Ayoade became famous for playing Moss in the IT Crowd and went on to present Gadget Man, Travel Man and The Crystal Maze. Ayoade co-starred in the American science fiction comedy film The Watch in 2012 and his second film, the black comedy The Double, premiered in 2013, drawing inspiration from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novella of the same title. After directing music videos for Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kasabian, Ayoade wrote and directed the comedy-drama film Submarine in 2010, an adaptation of the 2008 novel by Joe Dunthorne. Ayoade appeared in the comedy shows The Mighty Boosh (2004–2007) and Nathan Barley (2005), before gaining exposure and recognition for his role in The IT Crowd. He and Matthew Holness debuted their respective characters Dean Learner and Garth Marenghi at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, bringing the characters to television with Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) and Man to Man with Dean Learner (2006). He has often worked alongside Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, Matt Berry, Matthew Holness, and Rich Fulcher.Born in Hammersmith, Ayoade served as the president of Footlights at St Catharine's College, Cambridge (1998–1999). You can juxtapose things, there are a thousand juxtapositions an A-level student could come up with.”įollow Far Out Magazine across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Richard Ellef Ayoade (born ) is an English comedian, film director, screenwriter, television presenter, actor, and author best known for his role as the socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd (2006–2013), for which he won the 2014 BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance. While talking about the book, Ayoade commented on the beauty of the book’s fundamental paradoxes: “ Catcher in the Rye is the funniest book and the saddest book. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye had a huge impact on Ayoade’s artistic sensibilities because the book showed him that there was no real distinction between humour and sadness which is why it is considered to be a classic now. Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected writings about Philip Larkin by Clive JamesĪmong these brilliant books, J.An Evening at the Talk House by Wallace Shawn.The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.On Film-making: An introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander MacKendrick.Michael Haneke’s Cinema: The Ethic of the Image by Catherine Wheatley.Cultural Amnesia by Clive James (especially The Problem with Sartre).
The Brain-Dead Megaphone by George Saunders.
His last play An Evening at the Talk House is a masterpiece and his book of essays is great too.” In addition, Ayoade has also named some essential books on filmmaking that have taught him a lot.Ĭheck out the full list below. He also cited American actor and writer Wallace Shawn as one of his personal favourites: “Wally Shawn is one of my favourite writers. “Poetry is very hard to explain because you are extemporising in generally rubbish language about something that isn’t missing any non-essential words.” “I’m not very articulate about good literature but you know when you’re in good hands,” Ayoade said in an interview while describing the beauty of the poetic explorations of T.S.