Andy Hollingworth has been photographing comedians for 30 years.
No one else.
Just comedians.
He has been lucky enough to work with some of the greatest stand ups and comedy actors in the world – Steve Martin, Rowan Atkinson, Victoria Wood, Rhod Gilbert, Michael McIntyre, Sarah Millican, Ricky Gervais, Ken Dodd, Romesh Ranganathan, Rik Mayall and Bill Bailey among them.
In addition to this, for the last twelve years he has been documenting the archives of some of the most important exponents of the art – Victoria Wood, Spike Milligan, Terry Jones, Alexei Sayle & Lise Meyer. He has worked with the Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Stand-Up Archive, The Grand Order Of Water Rats, The Laurel and Hardy Museum, The British Library and The British Music Hall Society.
Andy has photographed over 28,000 comedy tickets dating back to 1895. One day he hopes to find a use for this.
He has had solo exhibitions at the Grosvenor Museum Chester (twice), The South East Museum Of Photography (Daytona USA), Bury Art Museum (three times) Showtown Museum, The Dimbola Museum, Snap Galleries and the National Media Museum as well as contributing to two shows at the Oriel Colwyn (including the Terry Jones exhibition).
In 2023, he returned Stan Laurel’s hat to the top of Cobh Cathedral in Southern Ireland – the scene of what the comedian would call ‘the greatest day of his life’. This journey was filmed as ‘The Last Dance Of The Cuckoos’ documentary, voiced by Harry Hill and shown to much acclaim at the ‘Slapstick’ silent film festival and venues across Britain and the USA.
His portraiture work encompasses studio, television & radio recordings, live shows and backstage images. He has images in a number of important permanent collections including the National Portrait Gallery, Bury Art Museum, Lancaster Museum, Ilford Imaging, The Southeast Museum Of Photography and The Comedy Store.
Andy rarely gives interviews and has taken part in two podcasts in twenty years, preferring to stay very much behind the camera.
He gets nervous.
During this presentation, Andy discused his inspiration and working techniques and told the stories behind some of his most iconic images.
(c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
(c) Andy Hollingworth Archive
(c) Andy Hollingworth Archive