Simon Munnery, also known by his stagenames of Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium, is an English comedy writer and experimental standup comedian. He performs mainly to an alternative audience but has pierced the mainstream both with his BBC Radio 1 show in 1997 and his BBC2 television series, Attention Scum! in 2001.
Munnery’s experimental style is reified through his sartorial appearance: his tragically unfashionable glasses, homemade clothes (or clothes apparently donated to him by comedian Jeff Green), makeshift props, and dramatic facial hair. As ‘The League’ he often dons a hat crafted from a kettle and one of his standup shows is performed entirely with a metal bucket over his head.
His standup is perhaps best described as often satirical, often political and almost always surreal. Munnery plays harmonica and his dialogue is full of quotable remarks, inviting comparison with Oscar Wilde, (“If you’ve only ever read one book in your life… I strongly recommend that you keep your mouth shut”).
“One of the most original and talented comics in the country” – The Observer
