Neil Mullarkey

Neil Mullarkey is an English comedian, actor, writer, and corporate innovator whose career spans improvisational theater, film, television, and business leadership. Mullarkey began his career as president of the Cambridge Footlights, where he also studied economics and social sciences. He has performed alongside Eddie Izzard, Tony Hawks, Dawn French, Nick Hancock, and Eric Sykes, and has played a significant role in the development of theater improvisation.

Mullarkey co-founded The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational troupe established at London's Comedy Store with Mike Myers, later joined by Paul Merton. The group holds a Guinness World Record for the longest-running improvisational show and has performed weekly for more than four decades. Mullarkey has appeared in productions such as "Then Again" with Dawn French and Sheila Hancock, "Charley's Aunt" with Eric Sykes and Christopher Biggins, and "Ugly Rumours." He starred with Eddie Izzard in the West End run of "One Word Improv" and has performed with The Groundlings in Los Angeles and Second City in Toronto.

As a writer, Mullarkey co-wrote the BBC1 sitcom "Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors" with Tony Hawks and "The Amazing Colossal Show" for BBC2 with Greg Proops. He also hosted "American Freak" for Comedy Central. His film credits include "Leon the Pig Farmer," "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," "Austin Powers in Goldmember," and "Spice World." Mullarkey contributed uncredited rewrites to "So I Married An Axe Murderer."

On radio, Mullarkey hosted "Missed Demeanours" for BBC Radio 4, was a regular on "Bits from Last Week's Radio," co-wrote and starred in "FAB TV," and appeared on "Just a Minute," "The News Quiz," "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue," and "The Unbelievable Truth." He created the satirical alter-ego L. Vaughan Spencer, a life coach and self-help guru, whose show "Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy" won the Fringe Report Award for Best Satire. The companion book, "Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy: The A to Z of Motivitality," was published by Profile Books.

Mullarkey applies his improv and communication expertise to transform the creative and collaborative capabilities of teams and leaders. He developed the LASER approach, a five-pillar method based on improvisational skills, used to instill new ways of thinking for leaders and organizations across various sectors. Mullarkey trained in executive coaching at Ashridge Hult Business School and has coached leaders in financial services, publishing, and the nonprofit sector. His client list includes Barclays Capital, Google, Deloitte, GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, Vodafone, the NHS, Saatchi & Saatchi, and WPP, bringing improvisation, communication, and innovation to corporate environments.

Mullarkey is the author of "In The Moment," published by Kogan Page, which covers leadership, creativity, humor at work, collaboration, storytelling, meetings, and human connection. He has discussed "In the Moment: Build Your Confidence, Communication and Creativity at Work" at Talks at Google. Mullarkey is a regular speaker at the London Business Forum and a visiting lecturer at Cass Business School. His work bridges the worlds of comedy, business communication, and leadership development.