Cowards

Cowards are a British four-man comedy act, composed of Tim Key, Stefan Golaszewski, Tom Basden and Lloyd Woolf. The group has created eponymous radio and TV series of their sketch comedy.

History

The Cowards met at Cambridge University's Footlights Dramatic Club where they worked together. Basden, Golaszewski, and Woolf performed in a show directed by Key and Mark Watson. It later emerged that Key was not studying at Cambridge University and that he had misled the society when auditioning. This was discovered when he got into the tour show Far Too Happy but the Footlights agreed to "keep up the charade" until the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In Far Too Happy, Key performed alongside Mark Watson and Sophie Winkleman and they were nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. Key later described the period as "life-changing".

Basden, Golaszewski, Key, and Woolf moved to London and started working together as Cowards. Cowards initially involved Rick Edwards, Alex Horne, and Mark Watson but they agreed that the group would not work as they had different styles. Cowards began working as a four-piece group in October 2004, writing and performing new material each month. In 2005 and 2006, they had sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing at the Pleasance.