Rob Auton is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor, poet and podcaster. He is best known for his series of shows titled after and focusing on a specific subject. These shows have been performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe nearly every year since his debut in 2012.

Rob Auton
Auton in 2013
Auton in 2013
Born (1982-09-24) 24 September 1982 (age 42)
York, England
OccupationStand-up comedian, writer, actor, poet, podcaster
Years active2008–present
Website
www.robauton.co.uk

Career

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Auton started performing live in 2008, before having his first hour-long show, The Yellow Show, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012, as well as touring it around the UK in 2013. The show was later made into a short film as part of Channel 4's Random Acts series.

He is a member of Bang Said The Gun, a stand up poetry collective founded by Dan Cockrill and Martin Galton, who perform regularly in London and have featured poets such as Roger McGough, Andrew Motion and John Hegley.[1]

In 2013, Auton won the Dave Funniest Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe Award for "I heard a rumour that Cadbury is bringing out an oriental chocolate bar. Could be a Chinese Wispa".[2]

As part of the 2014 Glastonbury Festival, Auton was given the position of poet-in-residence.[3]

Auton has performed stand-up on shows including The Russell Howard Hour and Stand Up Central, and made his acting debut in 2018 as part of the long-running TV series Cold Feet.

Auton is also a poet and illustrator, with his work having been published in a series of books by Burning Eye Books.[4]

In 2020, Auton started a podcast titled The Rob Auton Daily Podcast, with a new episode posted every day during the year. It subsequently won the award for The Best Daily Podcast at the 2020 British Podcast Awards.[5] The podcast returned for daily episodes in 2024.[6]

Selected work

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Stand-up shows

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Title Year
The Yellow Show 2012
The Sky Show 2013
The Face Show 2014
The Water Show 2015
The Sleep Show 2016
The Hair Show 2017
The Talk Show 2018
The Time Show 2019
The Crowd Show 2021
The Rob Auton Show 2023
The Eyes Open and Shut Show 2024

Books

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Title Publisher Released Notes
Bang Said The Gun: Mud Wrestling With Words Burning Eye Books 2013 As part of the Bang Said The Gun collective
In Heaven The Onions Make You Laugh Burning Eye Books 2013
Petrol Honey Burning Eye Books 2014
Take Hair Burning Eye Books 2017
I Strongly Believe in Incredible Things Mudlark (HarperCollins imprint) 2021

Acting

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Title Year Role
Cold Feet (episode 8.3) 2018 Poet
The End of the F***ing World (episode 2.6) 2019 Tommy
Miracle Workers (episode 2.4) 2019 Hank
Starstruck (episode 3.3) 2023 Brent

References

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  1. ^ "Comedian Rob Auton on his personal new Edinburgh Fringe show". euronews. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Rob Auton's chocolate joke is Fringe 'funniest'". BBC News. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. ^ Digital, Pretty Good. "Glastonbury Festival – 2014 Glastonbury Website Poet in Residence: Rob Auton". Glastonbury Festival – 21st-25 June 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  4. ^ Books, Burning Eye. "Rob Auton". Burning Eye Books. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Winners 2020". British Podcast Awards. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. ^ Reporter, Staff (23 May 2024). "6 new podcasts to listen to this week". www.ireland-live.ie. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
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