David Baddiel

David Lionel Baddiel (born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter and author. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in The Mary Whitehouse Experience and later for his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner. He has written the children's books The Parent Agency, The Person Controller, AniMalcolm, Birthday Boy, Head Kid, and The Taylor TurboChaser. He is also a lyricist on "Three Lions", a song that has been described as the de facto "anthem" of English football since 1996.

Baddiel was born in Troy, New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. He grew up in the Dollis Hill area of London and studied English at King's College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Cambridge Footlights and graduated with a double first BA. After leaving university he became a professional stand-up comedian in London and a writer for acts such as Rory Bremner and series including Spitting Image. In 1988 he was introduced to Rob Newman, and together with Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis they wrote and performed in The Mary Whitehouse Experience on BBC Radio 1, which transferred to BBC2. Baddiel and Newman later re-teamed for Newman and Baddiel in Pieces, whose tour culminated in the first-ever sold-out gig for a comedy act at Wembley Arena.

Baddiel and fellow comedian Frank Skinner created, wrote and performed Fantasy Football League on BBC2. During this time the duo twice topped the UK Singles Chart with the football anthem "Three Lions", co-written and performed with The Lightning Seeds. In 2024 he filmed his trilogy of specials "Not The" at the Royal Court Theatre for Sky Arts in February, and also launched his podcast A Muslim and a Jew Go There with Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi.

He returned to stand-up in 2013 with Fame: Not The Musical. His stand-up show My Family: Not the Sitcom premiered in 2016 and received an Olivier Award nomination in 2017. Trolls: Not the Dolls toured the UK in 2020. He wrote the comedy film The Infidel. He presented the travel documentary David Baddiel On the Silk Road in 2016. His documentary David Baddiel: Jews Don’t Count was broadcast in 2022.