We always knew he was going to be big, we just didn’t know how big. Known now for the persona he affectionately calls his ‘loony alter ego’, it turns out everybody’s favourite Pub Landlord is actually quite a clever chap. Furthermore, in 2007 he was voted 16th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.
The well known cheeky chappy is actually far more well-heeled than you might imagine. It’s not beer running through the veins of this Great British pub landlord – oh no he’s quite blue blooded. He’s the great-great-great-great-grandson of a Duke and related to William Thackeray. Not so much village publican, then.
Coming to Oxford in the late 80s to read History, Mr Murray didn’t leave it long before joining the Oxford Revue and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Stewart Lee, Ben Moor and Richard Herring.
Cherwell always had an inkling that this Cellar regular would make the nation chortle on their cola, and in May 1990 predicted that this really clean-shaven lad was ‘destined for great things.’ Entertaining the student body with his ‘wilfully crappy jokes’, Murray was a man much loved and clasped to the bosoms of many a matriculate. And e still is, for that matter.
But there’s more to this Teddy than his quick repartee. Appearing on Hell’s Kitchen, ‘Al’ wowed audiences with his fish pie prowess. Showing fans there’s more to the man than a pint of London Pride and a game of pool. All in all, the lad’s a good’un and we’re proud to call him our own.
