James William Acaster

James Acaster (born James William Acaster; 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster, and actor. As well as the stand-up specials Repertoire and Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999, he is known for co-hosting the food podcast Off Menu and the panel show Hypothetical. His stand-up makes use of fictional characters and is characterised by frequent callback jokes, offbeat observational comedy, and overarching stories. He has won five Chortle Awards, a Just for Laughs Award, and International Comedy Festival Awards at Melbourne and New Zealand.

Acaster was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the son of a science teacher, and attended a nondenominational Christian church whose sermons included humorous anecdotes and sketches. Between the ages of 17 and 22, he played the drums in various bands around his hometown. After playing for local bands, he began pursuing stand-up comedy as a career in 2008, supporting himself by working as a teaching assistant. He was a support act for Josie Long in 2010, and drew acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where he was nominated for Best Comedy Show a record-breaking five times.

In 2017, he toured three of his Fringe performances as The Trelogy, which led to the four-part Netflix special Repertoire (2018). His tour Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 (2019) won a Melbourne International Comedy Festival Award, and Hecklers Welcome was released as a special on HBO Max in 2024. He appeared on Taskmaster (2018) and co-hosted Hypothetical with Josh Widdicombe. His books, including Classic Scrapes (2017) and Perfect Sound Whatever (2019), have all been Sunday Times bestsellers, and he co-founded the music collective Temps.