Matthew Holness

Matt Holness
Holness performing as Merriman Weir in 2007
Born	Matthew James Holness 1975 (age 41–42) Whitstable, Kent, England
Alma mater	Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Occupation	Actor, comedian, director

Matthew James Holness (born 1975) is an English comedian and actor. Holness is best known for his role as fictional writer and actor Garth Marenghi.

Born in Whitstable, Kent, Holness attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. As a member of the Footlights, he was involved with and appeared in a number of shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the mid-nineties. He also served as vice-president when David Mitchell was president and his contemporaries included Robert Webb and Richard Ayoade. Holness received the honorary MA, graduating in absentia due to his comedy work.

Before he was on television, he played Bob Fossil in The Mighty Boosh and was the first choice for the role; however, contract limitations between Channel 4 (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace) and the BBC (Mighty Boosh) saw Rich Fulcher take the role permanently, in The Mighty Boosh stage show. He is currently the only regular cast member (of six) from the TV version of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace who has yet to feature in the TV version of The Mighty Boosh. He is the only main character from Darkplace (of four) not to have appeared in The IT Crowd.