Allin Kempthorne

Allin Kempthorne
Born 1972
Penryn, Cornwall
Occupation Actor, writer, entertainer, comedian, cartoonist, director, magician
Years active 1977–present
Spouse(s) Pamela Kempthorne
Website www.allinkempthorne.co.uk

Allin Kempthorne is a British comedy actor, writer and entertainer, originally from Penryn in Cornwall, but later moved to London. He is also a magician working under the name Thorn. Previously he has been a film director and in his early career was a cartoonist. In recent years he became best known as a character entertainer and magician and for directing and starring in the comedy film The Vampires of Bloody Island. He posts on Twitter as @AllinTweets.[1] and was shortlisted in the 2012 Twitter Shorty Awards.[2]

Career

Kempthorne started his career as a joke writer and cartoonist for The Sun, The Mirror, and News of the World newspapers. He later enrolled at a circus school where he learned various physical comedy acts. He became a street performer in London's Covent Garden, and won several performance awards. He was a finalist for the International Street Entertainer of the Year Award and won the Tap Water comedy award. He later enrolled in drama school and started a dual career as an entertainer and as an actor.

Kempthorne formed the comedy act The Fabulous Trouser Brothers with American comedy performer David Wolf, Kempthorne being primarily a juggler and Wolf a magician. The pair started appearing on television in the UK and USA. This partnership ended abruptly with David's suicide three years into their partnership. Kempthorne then became a solo comedy act, Dweebie the Robot, having a few appearances on television including Blue Peter and Spanish Archer'.

In 2009 he directed his first film, The Vampires of Bloody Island in which he also starred. As a live performer he specialises in magic and comedy. He appears at festivals, theme parks, holiday parks, corporate events and cruise ships as the magician THORN and also with his comedy children's show Inspired Lunacy which has been televised by the BBC.

From 2012 to 2014 he played Cornish comedian Eddie Twist in the television series "Twisted Britain" for which he was also the principle writer.

Magician

Currently Allin Kempthorne works predominantly as a magician using the name THORN, an abbreviation of his surname.[3] He performs acts as a cabaret comedy magician and a children's magician on cruise ships, holiday parks and corporate events and also as a close-up magician at weddings, dinners and exhibitions.[4] Originally a juggler trained at The Circus Space (Now the National centre for Circus Arts), Allin was initially taught magic by Edinburgh based magicians Paul Wilson and Ian Kendal while living in Edinburgh in his early twenties, during which time he worked at a juggling equipment shop. In more recent years he furthered his magical training at the McBride Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas, Nevada, being personally tutored by noted magicians Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger. Known for his lively and friendly comedy magic style THORN has performed as a magician in venues including the homes of the American Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Virgin founder Richard Branson, The Houses of Parliament, Harrods and many shopping centres and corporate events. He is a life member of the International Magicians Society.[5]

The Vampires of Bloody Island

Allin and his wife Pamela both wrote and produced the comedy horror feature film The Vampires of Bloody Island in which they both played main parts. The film was released in the UK in 2009 and in the USA in 2010.[6] He cites the book The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook as being influential in helping him with the screenwriting and pre-production processes of the film.[7] A version of the script was published titled The Vampires of Bloody Island, The Complete Movie Screenplay and is available as an e-book on the Kindle and on Amazon in the USA, UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. The first 11 scenes can be read for free.[8] In January 2013 The Vampires of Bloody Island was shown at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival.[9]

The Weird World of Wibbell

Allin and his wife Pamela formed the film production and distribution label The Weird World of Wibbell to make their 2006 feature film The Vampires of Bloody Island. The film company went on to release other films including Learning Hebrew: A Gothsploitation Movie and is working on a documentary on the history of vaudeville performers The First Stars of Vaudeville[10] which Allin wrote and presents.[11]

Allin was listed as number one in a feature "Filmmakers You'll Hear About in 2013" published by Learnist.[12]

Theatre

In September 2014 he appeared in the play Lippy at the Irish Arts Centre in New York, after the play was well received at the Dublin Arts Festival.[13]

Filmography as actor

Filmography as director

Filmography as producer

Filmography as screen writer

Publications

Contributing writer and cartoonist

A prolific cartoonist in his twenties, his cartoons were published daily in the British tabloid newspapers. He also wrote and drew the regular strips How to Succeed in Circus for The Catch magazine and Starface for Zit comic.

References

  1. ↑ "Allin Kempthorne on Twitter".
  2. ↑ "Allin Kempthorne was nominated for a Shorty Award!".
  3. ↑ "Thorn".
  4. ↑ "Close Up Table Magic, Strolling Magicians and Children's Magicians".
  5. ↑ "The amazing close-up magic of Allin Kempthorne".
  6. ↑ "The Vampires of Bloody Island on IMDB".
  7. ↑ "Guerilla Film Makers Handbook".
  8. ↑ "The Vampires of Bloody Island. The Complete Movie Screenplay on Amazon".
  9. ↑ "The Horror-on-Sea Film Festival launches in January".
  10. ↑ "The First Stars of Vaudeville".
  11. ↑ "The weird World of Wibbell".
  12. ↑ "Filmmakers You'll Hear about in 2013: Allin Kempthorne".
  13. ↑ "New York Irish Arts: Allin Kempthorne".

External links

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