Jamie Demetriou

Jamie Demetriou throws his whole body into looking uncomfortable. He plays characters who are entirely out of their depth, trying to bluff their way through social interactions with marble-mouthed bravado and visible flop sweat. Watch him play a best man failing to run a stag do, and the scene turns into a frantic ordeal of clattering limbs. He uses his gangly frame to look like he doesn’t know what to do with his own arms. Just when a bit settles into a tense conversation, he will break into an earnest, weirdly specific 90s R&B slow jam to explain his feelings.

He holds a distinct spot in British comedy. After his sitcom Stath Lets Flats hit big, he became the guy Hollywood casting directors bring in to make a scene much weirder. He is a center of gravity for the UK sketch scene, throwing himself around a set with a level of physical energy that makes the actors next to him look totally stationary.

His sketches usually build around guys who are failing to be men. He plays fathers and husbands who think they are supposed to act tough but are actively crumbling under the pressure. He pushes an awkward interaction past the point where a normal bit would end, letting the silence stretch out until the other person in the scene just has to stare at him. You never catch him winking at the audience. He stays right there in the panic.