“[He] began writing and performing comedy while a student at Cambridge University, traveling in the same circles as future members of the Monty Python troupe. In 1964 he and his performing partner, Nick Ullett, took their stage act to the United States, and from there he fashioned a steady if peripatetic career doing stand-up comedy, writing and editing for various publications” — he spent periods in the top jobs at National Lampoon and Spy magazine — “acting [most notably in This Is Spinal Tap] and publishing books.” – The New York Times