Jay Foreman (1996-2003), a comedian and musician, is now enjoying a busy 2011 after winning Best Newcomer at the Tuborg Musical Comedy Awards 2009, taking third prize at the Musical Comedy Awards 2010 and being named Bedford New Comedian of the Year 2010.
Jay has gained enormous popularity both through his live performances and through the internet. He has his own following at the School: a number of boys recently went to see him perform in Putney. His song, Moon Chavs, has, for example, become a viral hit on youtube, with more than 200 different fan videos uploaded to date. Among his other online hits are his student-orientated Ask a Rabbi videos, in which he dresses as an orthodox rabbi and gives spoof Agony Aunt-style answers to students’ questions.
In a review of his show, Pretend You’re Happy, at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Steve Bennett, of the UK comedy guide, Chortle, wrote: “Generally, the writing is sharp and sophisticated and the musicianship strong, making him a sort of Victoria Wood for the Spotify generation.”
“My show is hard to describe and I’ve got enormous trouble trying to decide whether it is comedy or music,” says Jay. His songs often have provocative titles such as I’m glad John Lennon Died or Stealing Food. “I love to make people laugh at something they shouldn’t find funny, like if they know it’s bad-taste or if it’s quite sad.”
Jay began performing comedy songs on acoustic guitar in 2005 at York University. Many of his live performances there were filmed by York Student Television and made available online.
Jay has made appearances on Nuts TV and Lunch with the Hamiltons. In 2009 he contributed jingles to the weekly comedy podcast, Answer Me This.
Jay is the brother of the award-winning beatboxer, Beardyman (Darren Foreman), also featured in this newsletter. They have collaborated on stage several times.