Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer.

He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an offbeat, energetic performance style that fused elements of surrealism, observational comedy, slapstick, satire and music.

When performing, he usually wears browline glasses and a dress shirt with a distinctive oversized collar and cuffs.

Hill was born in Woking, Surrey on 1 October 1964[1] and grew up in Staplehurst, Kent, where he attended the local primary school.

[5] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Hill nearly returned to work at the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital London, after filling in the form after "A few drinks".

Hill hosted the show as himself, and each week he was joined by various guest performers, as well as regular character actors including Al Murray and Burt Kwouk.

The show featured a variety of other celebrity guests during its run including Rolf Harris and Ronnie Corbett.

In a similar format to Fruit Corner, Hill performed a series of sketches, with celebrity guests making cameo appearances.

For Christmas that year, a VHS containing a 100-minute compilation of the best material from the series, as well as unseen sketches, was released by BBC Video.

Hill's screen wife Mai Sung also made several appearances on the show, mainly on the theme of trying to steal his Abbey National bank savings book.

Stouffer would normally sit in a throne, supported by a rubber arm in the style of Rod Hull, and was employed to intimidate guests during Hill's standup routines.

[10] In October 2001, Hill moved to ITV in a lucrative deal, in which he created an all-new show, Harry Hill's TV Burp, where he would take a look at the week's television, showing clips from various British television programmes, and framing them with funny commentary or intercutting additional footage.

The series would feature a regular stable of all new characters, including the Knitted Character, a small knitted rabbit, Wagbo, a demon love child whose parents are reportedly Wagner Carillho and Mary Byrne of X Factor fame, and an interpretation of Heather Trott from EastEnders, played by Steve Bernham, as well as a doll of The Apprentice star Alan Sugar, who would regularly rap before clips of The Apprentice were introduced.

The show was piloted in December 2001, before running for fifteen full series between 2002 and 2012, before being cancelled to allow Hill to work on other projects.

The show won a number of BAFTA awards, and spawned five Best of TV Burp DVD compilations, and a book based on the series, which was released for Christmas 2009.

While many of his well-known characters, such as Stouffer and Garry Hill, his fictional layabout son from his first marriage, remained, it also showcased several new characters, including Speed Camera Boy, an outsider who is half boy and half speed camera, and Evelynne Hussey, a one-woman band who played a number of different instruments.

The film also stars Matt Lucas, Julie Walters, Johnny Vegas, Sheridan Smith, Simon Bird, Marc Wootton, Jim Broadbent, and band The Magic Numbers.

[12][13] The film sees Hill embark on a road trip to Blackpool with his Nan (Julie Walters) when he discovers that his hamster has only one week to live.

[16] Tea Time saw Hill welcome guests to a spoof comedy kitchen and ask them to cook bizarre things.

Guests for the first series included Paul Hollywood, Joey Essex, Gok Wan, Martin Kemp and Jason Donovan.

In a similar style to Harry Hill's TV Burp, the show includes various clips from television and film, often attributed or related somehow to the current guests.

Using archive clips, this TV Burp-style show pokes fun at television, with each episode themed around a specific genre.

[21] In 2002, Hill published a novel entitled Flight from Deathrow, based around the unlikely fictional antics of real-life celebrities and politicians, as seen through the eyes of a storyteller who drifts in and out of a coma.

In 2010, Hill released Livin' the Dreem, a fictional account of a year in his life with frequent references to pop culture.

[25] Between July and October 2003, Hill presented a Sunday morning comedy and music show on Capital Radio called "Funch".

On 8 March 2023, Hill joined math-rock band Black Midi onstage during their residency at the Village Underground in London.