Phill Jupitus

Phill Jupitus (born Phillip Christopher Swan on 25 June 1962 in Newport on the Isle of Wight) is an English actor, performance poet, cartoonist, podcaster and retired stand-up and improv comedian. He was a team captain on all but one BBC Two episode of the music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks from its inception in 1996 until 2015, and appeared regularly as a guest on panel shows including QI and BBC Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. He took his stepfather Alexander's surname Jupitus, a corruption of the Lithuanian name Seputis, when he was 16.

Jupitus worked at the Manpower Services Commission in Essex for five years while writing political poetry and drawing cartoons, before resigning in 1984 to seek a career in the music industry. Using the performing name Porky the Poet, he became associated with Anti-Fascist Action and the ranting poetry scene, alongside Seething Wells and Attila the Stockbroker, and toured colleges and universities supporting bands such as Billy Bragg, the Style Council and The Housemartins. His first vinyl recordings were part of the live Newtown Neurotics album Kickstarting a Backfiring Nation in 1987.

Jupitus became press officer and compere for The Housemartins, appearing in the 1986 music video for "Happy Hour", and worked as a runner for the independent record label Go! Discs. He conceived and directed the Brit Awards-nominated music video for Bragg's "Sexuality" in 1991. In 2000 he released the stand-up comedy DVD Phill Jupitus Live: Quadrophobia, and in 2001 he appeared as a sports journalist in the film Mike Bassett: England Manager. From around 2018 he retired from performing and studied art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee.