Frankie Boyle

Scottish comedian and writer known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and dark sense of humour. A stand-up comedian since 1995, Boyle first gained widespread recognition as a regular panellist on the comedy show Mock the Week from its beginning in June 2005 until his departure in September 2009. After he left Mock the Week, Boyle created and starred in the Channel 4 sketch show Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (2010) and BBC Two's chat show Frankie Boyle's New World Order (2017–2022). In 2020, he presented a four-part series on BBC Two, Frankie Boyle's Tour of Scotland. He has embarked on a number of tours, releasing several stand-up specials.

Boyle contributes occasional articles to UK newspapers, including satire and opinion pieces for the British newspaper The Guardian. He wrote a regular column for The Sun until 2012. Boyle's first fictional book, Meantime, a crime fiction novel set in Glasgow in the aftermath of Scottish Independence, was published in July 2022.

On 1 October 2009, Boyle's autobiography My Shit Life So Far was released, published by HarperCollins. His second book Work! Consume! Die!—a collection of his columns for The Sun—was released in October 2011. Boyle's third book, the political comedy Scotland's Jesus: The Only Officially Non-racist Comedian, was released in the UK on 24 October 2013. As of October 2021, the three books had sold 600,000 copies in the UK for £5 million, with My Shit Life So Far as the best-selling of these. Boyle's fourth book, The Future of British Politics, was released 12 November 2020 as one of five essays in the Futures series.

Boyle has been involved in several public controversies due to his humour. For example, comments he made while impersonating Queen Elizabeth II on the BBC were deemed "sexist and ageist" by the BBC Trust.

Boyle was an alcoholic, having started drinking at the age of 15 and stopped at 26, and is also a former drug user, who now maintains a life of sobriety.