Speaker Profile: Tony Hawks

Tony Hawks is a TV and radio comedian and bestselling author.

He is the author of the bestseller Round Ireland with a Fridge - the story of his absurd quest to hitch round the circumference of Ireland within a month... with a fridge. The book became a top 10 Sunday Times bestseller in 1998 and was serialised on BBC Radio 4. It has now sold over 750,000 copies worldwide including the US and Australia, and has been translated into several languages; Hebrew, Italian, Dutch and German.

He has written three further books, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, (shortlisted for both the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction writing and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize ) One Hit Wonderland and A Piano in the Pyrenees.

He has appeared frequently on TV comedy programmes such as: Have I Got News For You, They Think It’s All Over, and Red Dwarf. He also s a regular guest on radio programmes Just a Minute, and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.

Tony believes in ‘giving back’ and has started a children’s care centre in Chisinau, Moldova and he is the co-founder of the charity tennisforfree which campaigns for free tennis courts and provides free tennis coaching in Britain’s public parks.

For more information visit www.tony-hawks.com