Jay Foreman (born 4 October 1984) is an English comedian, YouTuber, cartography enthusiast, educator, and singer-songwriter.
Jay Foreman | ||||||||||
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![]() Foreman in 2015 | ||||||||||
Born | Stanmore, London, England | 4 October 1984|||||||||
Education | University of York | |||||||||
Spouse |
Jade Nagi (m. 2021) | |||||||||
Children | 2 | |||||||||
Relatives | Darren Foreman (brother) | |||||||||
Musical career | ||||||||||
Genres | Musical comedy | |||||||||
Instruments |
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Years active | 2005–present | |||||||||
Website | www | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2006–present | |||||||||
Subscribers | 1.55 million[1] | |||||||||
Total views | 217.8 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: 14 July 2024 |
Early life and education
editForeman was born on 4 October 1984.[2] He was raised in a Jewish household in Stanmore, London, with his brother and sister.[3] His brother Darren is a beatboxer and musician going under the pseudonym Beardyman.[4]
From 1996 to 2003, Foreman was educated at Queen Elizabeth's School,[5] a state grammar school for boys in Barnet, north London, followed by the University of York, where he began performing comedy songs on acoustic guitar in 2005.[6]
Career
editForeman was featured as the BBC New Talent Pick of the Fringe 2007, won Best Newcomer at the Tuborg Musical Comedy awards 2009,[7] and came third at the Musical Comedy Awards 2010.[8]
In 2009, Foreman contributed jingles to the weekly comedy podcast Answer Me This!,[9] and in 2011 and 2012, supported comedian Dave Gorman on Dave Gorman's PowerPoint Presentation tour.[10]
Foreman presented The General Election Xplained, a series of educational videos to explain the election process for schoolchildren in Key Stages 3 to 5.[11]
For several years, he has also performed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which include Disgusting Songs For Revolting Children (And Other Funny Stories), No More Colours and Mixtape.[12]
Jay Foreman's songs have been heard on BBC Radio 4, Radio 4 Extra, The One Show, and London Live TV.[13]
YouTube
editForeman created his YouTube channel in April 2006. Its content focuses on a variety of comic educational series such as Unfinished London, Politics Unboringed, and Map Men (presented with Mark Cooper-Jones), as well as music videos for his songs and clips from his comedy shows.
Unfinished London
editUnfinished London is a series of educational YouTube videos that began in 2009, with each video or set of handling a specific area of the evolution of London's infrastructure, urban planning, and local government. The series was initially only meant to exist as a single episode to function as a skills showcase but the reception convinced Foreman to continue making them.[14]
Politics Unboringed
editPolitics Unboringed was a series of educational YouTube videos that ran between 2015 and 2017. Each episode is roughly five minutes long and handles various topics relating to British politics. Foreman has no plans to bring the series back, stating that "with everything that’s going on, I now find it impossible, irresponsible even, to maintain the cheery, neutral tone that the series used to have."[14]
Map Men
editMap Men is a edutainment mini-series[15][16] which premiered in 2016, and is currently in its fourth season. Foreman writes and presents the show with its co-creator Mark Cooper-Jones.[15][16][17] A mix of comedy and geography,[17] its videos regularly attract 1-5 million views on YouTube.[18][15][16]
Personal life
editForeman married Jade Nagi, in 2021.[19] They have two children: Ellis, born in July 2022 and another son born November 2023.[20][21] He also has two siblings; a brother and a sister.[22]
Foreman created a political ad for Green Party candidate Siân Berry during the 2016 London mayoral election, covering her proposed policy to close London City Airport and convert it into a new residential neighbourhood.[23] While he stated that it was "not good business leaving [the ad] on display"[24] Foreman has broadly expressed similar political sentiments throughout his various series alongside a somewhat light-hearted disdain for Reform UK.[25]
Foreman's family is Jewish, and in a statement written for the London Jewish News in 2018, he described his fondness for his family's Jewish traditions, even though Foreman himself is an atheist.[22]
Awards and nominations
editYear | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Musical Comedy Awards | Best Newcomer | Won | [26] | |
2010 | Musical Comedy Awards | Main Award | Third place | [26] | |
2021 | 11th Streamy Awards | Learning and Education | Map Men | Nominated | [27] |
References
edit- ^ a b "About Jay Foreman". YouTube.
- ^ @jayforeman (4 October 2020). "I am now the same age as Homer Simpson" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 September 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "TwitLonger — When you talk too much for Twitter". www.twitlonger.com. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
- ^ Unfinished London – A Documentary by Jay Foreman (beardyman's brother) and Paul Kendler. Beardyman. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Comedian and musician Jay Foreman winning plaudits after building his career online". Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- ^ "Jay Foreman". jayforeman.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ "Tuborg Musical Comedy Awards". Archived from the original on 9 May 2009.
- ^ "Musical Comedy Awards". 20 August 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ "The Answer Me This! Players". answermethispodcast.com. 2 January 2007.
- ^ "Jay Foreman on tour with Dave Gorman! |". www.dittoproductions.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "The Election Xplained". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ "Jay Foreman, comedian tour dates : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "Jay Foreman: 'One of the most fun things about performing for kids is that it's impossible to out-gross them'". The List. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- ^ a b newsdesk1 (13 January 2023). "Unfinished London returns to uncover the quirky history of The Tube map". North West Londoner. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Khomami, Nadia (31 October 2023). "Britons go map-crazy, with geographical games and books becoming bestsellers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Keogh, Glen (6 April 2024). "'Horrible Geography' jokers the Map Men chart out a path to fame". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ a b Burton, Katie (22 November 2023). "Map Men: where comedy meets geography". Geographical. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "MAP MEN - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Foreman, Jay [@jayforeman] (8 August 2021). "Wife! https://t.co/HPBGiVGGPb" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Foreman, Jay [@jayforeman] (21 July 2022). "I have a son!!!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ https://twitter.com/jayforeman/status/1725974261842469200 [bare URL]
- ^ a b "TwitLonger — when you talk too much for Twitter". TwitLonger. 30 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022.
- ^ Let's Close London City Airport, 8 March 2016, retrieved 22 June 2022
- ^ Jay Foreman (8 March 2016). Comment from @JayForeman. Retrieved 24 August 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Jay Foreman on Twitter".
- ^ a b "About the Musical Comedy Awards". Musical Comedy Awards. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "11th Annual Winners". The Streamy Awards. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
External links
edit- Official website
- Media related to Jay Foreman at Wikimedia Commons