Frankie Boyle is a Scottish comedian and writer known predominantly for his cynical and
very dark material. The Glaswegian's uncomprimising humour has gained him many loyal fans and the constant fury of the
Moral Guardians. It goes without saying that if you're easily offended, and aren't aware of who Frankie Boyle is, it's best to move on and forget this page ever existed.
Whilst he got his first big break at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh, Boyle reached a mainstream audience due to his appearance as a regular on
Mock the Week. Described as the
"dark heart of Mock the Week" by host Dara Ó Briain, he quickly became the most popular member of the panel show. However, his risque jokes soon caused friction with the production team and
the BBC Trust. Eventually, Boyle decided he had enough and left the show permanently toward the end of 2009, claiming that the higher-ups were too scared of "frightening the horses".
In November 2010,
Channel Four released his new sketch show,
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights. Whilst Boyle isn't withdrawing from public life completely, he has said his latest stand-up tour is his last, as he wants to spend more time with his family and is tired of touring.
Tropes:
- The Alcoholic: Regularly describes himself as a teetotal alcoholic.
- Pitch-Black-To-The-Point-Of-No-Return-On-An-Infinite-Journey-Into-Hell Comedy
- Rotting-Corpse-Pile-Consisting-Of-Many-Infants Comedy
- Executive Meddling: The reason why Frankie left Mock the Week and the reason why Tramadol Nights didn't keep its original title, Deal With This, Retards.
- Humans Are Bastards: His work holds a very cynical outlook on people and society as a whole. A frequent source of his material is the latest horror someone has inflicted on the world.
- Insult Backfire: When someone mentioned his likeness to one of the Proclaimers.
Frankie Boyle: "Someone told me I look like one of the Proclaimers. One of them?! They’re twins, you daft bastard!"
- Berserk Button: Though this is what set him off on stage once, and had him taking a pause in between touring because he was close to a breakdown. Being a comedian is a job too, and you can get overworked it seems.
- Playing Against Type: In surprising moment that even takes back Dara, Frankie (momentarily) takes the moral high ground.
Dara: "I can't believe you're taking the moral high ground."
Frankie: "It's been a while. God, it looks strange up here."
- Refuge in Audacity: Summed up with this from Dara
Dara Ó Briain: "There's a line in the sand, right, and you can't even see the line in the sand. You're actually out of sand into, like, tropical tundra regions."
- Refuge in Vulgarity: Tramadol Nights is quite fond of this.
- Self-Deprecation: He's about as kind to himself as he is to his other targets. A fact that's often forgotten by his critics.
- Token Evil Team Mate: The comedy equivalent on Mock the Week, and any other panel show he appears on.
- Too Soon: His answer to "Lines you wouldn't hear in a superhero movie", just after The Dark Knight was released.
- When He Smiles: He has quite a charming smile for someone so evil.
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