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{{short description|British stand-up comedian|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name = Ted Chippington
| image =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Francis Smyth
| birth_date = February 1962
| birth_place = [[Stoke-on-Trent]], [[Staffordshire]], England
| medium =
| nationality = [[British nationality law|British]]
| genre = [[Surreal comedy|Surreal]], [[deadpan]], [[anti-humour]]
| subject =
| active = 1981–1990, 2007-present
| spouse =
| website = http://www.myspace.com/revtedchippington
| footnotes =
}}

'''Ted Chippington''' (real name '''Francis Smyth'''; born February 1962 in [[Stoke-on-Trent]], [[Staffordshire]], England) is a British [[Stand-up comedy|stand-up]] comedian.

Noted for his diffident on-stage [[persona]], Chippington avoids [[observational comedy]] in favour of [[anti-humour]] and jokes which are mostly variations on the same theme, delivered in a [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] monotone. He also frequently performs his own versions of well-known songs in a similarly listless style. His act has left audiences bemused or hostile, with heckling a frequent occurrence during his performances.

His deadpan style has won him a small number of devoted followers. [[Stewart Lee]] has often cited Chippington as the reason he began stand-up comedy, describing Chippington's act as "a mixture of surrealism and insolent provocation and uncompromising boredom"<ref>[http://www.stewartlee.co.uk/press/other-stuff/openwidemagazine.htm Stewart Lee website, July 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707234556/http://www.stewartlee.co.uk/press/other-stuff/openwidemagazine.htm |date=7 July 2007 }}</ref> and citing him as "the first post-alternative comedian".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2007/feb/03/features16.theguide |title=Father Ted |last=Lee |first=Stewart |author-link=Stewart Lee|date=3 February 2007 |website=[[theguardian.com]]|access-date=18 February 2018}}</ref> Another admirer, [[Richard Herring]], talks of Chippington's "contempt for the very idea of jokes".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.richardherring.com/newsletters/index.php?nlid=183|title=Newsletters – RichardHerring.com|first=Richard|last=Herring|website=Richardherring.com|accessdate=23 June 2018}}</ref> For his part Chippington – who describes his own act as being influenced by [[Lenny Bruce]] and [[Owd Grandad Piggott]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myspace.com/revtedchippington|title=Reverend Ted Chippington – Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos|website=Myspace|accessdate=23 June 2018}}</ref> – says he is an "anti-comedian" and that he only started doing his act "to annoy people". He has even claimed that his main reason for retiring from the stage in the 1990s was that he was becoming too popular.

==Early years==
Chippington started performing in 1981 under the name "Eddie Chippington" before changing to Ted "due to maturity and baldness". He first came to national prominence when a gig he had performed in [[Birmingham]] in 1984 supporting [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]] was released by local record label Vindaloo on a 7" [[Extended play|EP]] entitled ''Non Stop Party Hits of the '50s, '60s and '70s''. The EP title refers to his penchant for performing his own versions of classic hits, including on this occasion his rendering of [[Ottawan (band)|Ottawan's]] "[[D.I.S.C.O.]]". The record was played by [[John Peel]] on his [[BBC Radio One]] programme – a rare occurrence for a comedian.

In 1986 he released an album, ''Man in a Suitcase'' – a collection of live recordings plus some more songs, including his versions of "[[She Loves You]]" and [[Alvin Stardust]]'s "I Feel Like Buddy Holly" – which reached the Top 10 [[indie (music)|indie]] album chart. "She Loves You" received wider exposure after [[Steve Wright (DJ)|Steve Wright]] repeatedly played it on his Radio 1 show, which in turn led to the track being released as a single by [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Brothers]]. It narrowly failed to make the Top 75 but Chippington claims that the deal with Warners' earned him "£1,000 and a nice curry".<ref name="jupitus">Interview with Phill Jupitus, BBC 6 Music, 5 February 2007</ref>

Despite its failure to crack the charts, "She Loves You" raised Chippington's profile considerably and led to numerous media appearances, including a turn on the [[BBC]]'s lunchtime magazine show ''[[Pebble Mill at One]]'', the latter fulfilling a lifelong ambition.

Chippington also fielded interviews with the ''[[New Musical Express]]'', Birmingham's [[BRMB]] and the colour supplement of the ''[[The Mail on Sunday|Mail on Sunday]]''. He also performed at the [[Glastonbury Festival|Glastonbury]] and [[Reading and Leeds Festivals|Reading]] festivals.

Chippington once again came close to mainstream [[UK Singles Chart]] success with a 1986 recording of his theme tune "Rockin' with Rita (Head to Toe)" which he performed with his fellow Vindaloo artists [[the Nightingales]] and [[We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It]]. A further single followed with his reading of [[Dion DiMucci|Dion's]] "[[The Wanderer (Dion song)|The Wanderer]]", in which the boastfulness of the original lyrics was turned on its head: ''"I'm not the wanderer, I'm not the wanderer...not too keen on roaming around and around and around"''.

At a time when the [[alternative comedy]] boom was at its peak, Chippington – who once claimed his favourite comedian was [[Bernard Manning]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/9440/mm71286.htm|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010423181606/http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/9440/mm71286.htm|archive-date = 23 April 2001|title = Melody Maker, July 12, 1986}}</ref> – struggled to break through to a wider audience.

==Retirement==
In 1990, feeling overwhelmed by the media attention, Chippington retired from show business and emigrated to the US. Rumours circulated that he had gone there to work as a truck driver,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Quietus – 2013 interview |url= http://thequietus.com/articles/13704-ted-chippington-interview|website=Thequietus.com|date= November 2013}}</ref> but he was working in [[Los Angeles]] as a chef.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Chippington working in USA |url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2007/feb/03/features16.theguide/|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date= 3 February 2007}}</ref> He later returned to the UK, getting married and settling in [[Torquay]] after a spell in [[London]].

==Return to performing==
In 2007 he started performing again. Initially styling himself the "Reverend Ted Chippington", he ditched his old [[Teddy Boy]] stage outfit in favour of a [[vicar]]'s [[clerical collar|dog-collar]]. He also changed much of his material.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

In 2007 a CD boxset of Chippington's earlier work, entitled ''Walking Down the Road'', was released on [[Robert Lloyd (Nightingales)|Robert Lloyd]]'s Big Print label. A tribute to Chippington entitled "Tedstock", featuring Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and numerous other stand-up comedians, was held at London's [[Bloomsbury Theatre]] in order to fund this release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.notbbc.co.uk/newsletters/16/stewart_lee_november_2006.html|title=Stewart Lee – November 2006 – Newsletters – NOTBBC|website=Notbbc.co.uk|accessdate=23 June 2018}}</ref> This event led to a new flurry of media appearances for Chippington, including articles in national newspapers<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121104001756/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/the-comedian-who-vanished-434611.html "The comedian who vanished"], ''[[The Independent]]'', 1 February 2007</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/theguide/comedy/story/0,,2004615,00.html "Father Ted"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 3 February 2007</ref> and television and radio appearances.<ref name="jupitus"/><ref>[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x14p2p_ted-chippington Clip from The Culture Show], BBC Two, 3 February 2007</ref>

Since his return, he has toured regularly, invariably with the Nightingales, and visiting France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ted Chippington abroad |url=https://festivalandgigguide.ie/index.php/blog/2053-the-nightingales-ted-chippington-may-irish-tour/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211519/https://www.festivalandgigguide.ie/index.php/blog/2053-the-nightingales-ted-chippington-may-irish-tour/ |archivedate=3 March 2016 }}</ref> He has also made guest appearances on the [[Marc Riley]] and [[Phill Jupitus]] radio shows.

==Discography==
===Albums===
*''Man in a Suitcase'' (1986), Vindaloo - [[UK Indie Chart|UK Indie]] #5<ref name="Lazell">Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, {{ISBN|0-9517206-9-4}}</ref>
*''Walking Down the Road'' (box set) (2007), Big Print

===Singles and EPs===
*''Non-Stop Party Hits of the '50s, '60s & '70s'' EP (1985), Vindaloo
*"She Loves You" (1986), Vindaloo - UK No. 77<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/|title=Official Charts Company – Ted Chippington|date=22 July 2012|website=Archive.today|accessdate=23 June 2018}}</ref>
*"Rockin' with Rita (Head to Toe)" (1986), Vindaloo (as part of the Vindaloo Summer Special) - UK No. 56<ref name="Strong">Strong, Martin C. (1999) ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', Canongate, {{ISBN|0-86241-913-1}}</ref>
*"(I'm Not) the Wanderer" (1987), Vindaloo - UK Indie No. 28<ref name="Lazell" />
*''Is that Squirrel Relevant?'' EP (2010) – Otalgia featuring Ted Chippington<ref>{{cite web |title=Is That Squirrel Relevant? |url= http://otalgia.bandcamp.com/track/is-that-squirrel-relevant-feat-ted-chippington|website=Otalgia.bandcamp.com}}</ref>
*''Blues Fan'' EP (2012), Respect Vinyl<ref>{{cite web |title=Blues Fan |url=http://www.thenightingales.org.uk/news.htm |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328012534/http://www.thenightingales.org.uk/news.htm |archivedate=28 March 2014 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.duckworthsquare.com/frankosonic/frankosonic/2006/08/ted-chippington.html Article about Ted Chippington including some sound clips]
*[http://www.myspace.com/revtedchippington Ted's MySpace page]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chippington, Ted}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Entertainers from Stoke-on-Trent]]
[[Category:20th-century English comedians]]
[[Category:21st-century English comedians]]
[[Category:Comedians from Staffordshire]]

Ted Chippington - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Added date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:21st-century English comedians | #UCB_Category 194/319