James Acaster's Real Name: James Acaster

Quick answer: James Acaster is known professionally and in published profiles as James Acaster. The Guardian, in a September 2014 interview, described him as a 29-year-old comedian from Kettering, Northamptonshire, then living in London. His official site documents his later stand-up, books, and television work (The Guardian; Official site).

Real name and early life

The sources used here do not independently document a longer legal form or a precise birth date. The 2014 Guardian interview's age is consistent with a mid-1980s birth. Acaster told the paper that Kettering "was quite a dull place" but that he "grew up with interesting and funny people." He quit A-levels to play drums in a series of bands, then tried stand-up on a course run by the Kettering Volunteer Bureau, the Guardian says, before moving to London.

Career highlights

By 2014 he had been shortlisted for the Edinburgh comedy award for three consecutive years; the Guardian singled out that year's show Recognise and the online mockumentary Sweet Home Ketteringa, and noted panel-show work and a Radio 4 series then in the works. His official biography records a record five consecutive Edinburgh Fringe "Best Comedy Show" nominations from 2012 through 2016, plus Chortle awards in 2015 for Recognise and Breakthrough Act. In 2017 he toured a three-show "Trelogy" of Recognise, Represent, and Reset; those shows and Recap became the Netflix series Repertoire, which the site calls a stand-up miniseries with an overarching narrative. He later toured Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States. His books Classic Scrapes (2017) and Perfect Sound Whatever (2019) both reached the Sunday Times bestseller list, the official site says. His official site also lists earlier Edinburgh and touring shows including Amongst Other Things, Prompt, and Lawnmower, festival dates in Melbourne and New Zealand, festival appearances at Latitude, and a 2010 third-place finish in the Latitude New Act Competition. He was also the first UK comic, the site says, to shoot more than one Netflix Original special. He co-hosts the podcast Off Menu with Ed Gamble and has hosted Perfect Sounds.

Name notes for searchers

James Acaster is the name used in interviews and credits. Searchers looking for the Kettering stand-up behind Repertoire, Classic Scrapes, or Off Menu are usually aiming at the same person.