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From snake bites to broomsticks: Harry Potter actor Andy Linden bets big on his one-man EdFringe debut

Richard Beck Richard Beck
10 Jul 2025

We talked to Andy Linden about his background and his EdFringe show, Baxter vs the Bookies.

Dying in shows is a living for me – I’ve been shot, bashed with a cricket bat, bitten by snakes and had a heart attack on screen

Andy, Wikipedia lists all your film and TV credits going back to 1988, but says nothing about you, your origins, background or personal life. Are you happy to fill that gap for us?

I grew up in Tottenham – and yes, I am a Tottenham fan. I left school at fifteen and worked as a van boy for Maynards Sweets. Got the sack for selling merchandise on the side! I trained as an upholsterer and did material cutting, then I relaid railway tracks, from South Tottenham to Haywards Heath – sixteen-hour shifts, backbreaking – and worked on building sites.

Comedy and music were my release, so I started doing fringe theatre and revue shows in pubs. My first proper job was in Pinter’s The Kitchen, at the back of a civic centre – we got expenses! Then I juggled day jobs with performing. In the 80s I had a comedy double act with Cliff Parisi (Fred in Call the Midwife). I kept acting, doing all sorts – like kids’ TV (East of the Moon with Terry Jones, directed by Neil Innes), Hale and Pace, and Chancer with Clive Owen. I also did my own solo standup across the country. Nowadays, I just act, and have appeared in loads of TV and film.

I live in north London, married to the novelist Liz Webb, and we have a nineteen-year-old son. After quite a wild life, I now enjoy gardening and, for my sins, I trundle along to see Tottenham every week.

I listened to an interview you did ten years ago for the Crouch End Comedy Festival entitled 30 Years of Comedy Downstairs at the King’s Head, and another you gave at the Harry Potter premiere. What struck me is the extent to which you seem to be a self-effacing, self-deprecating and humble man who would rather give credit to others – and at the premiere seemed to be thinking, “What’s a bloke like me doing in a place like this?” Are those descriptors accurate?

I’m happy showing off in standup and acting, but then I’m playing a character – I’m much quieter when I’m myself. When I went to the Harry Potter premiere in Leicester Square, I was so shocked. I got out of the posh car, wearing my shiny suit that I’d bought for the occasion, and was confronted with screaming fans, lights and cameras. I felt like one of The Beatles! An interviewer asked me, “What’s it like to fly on a broom?” Hard to answer when it’s really a slow process – acting on a green screen in a studio. I was overawed and probably did come across a bit self-effacing in the interviews.

As I brought it up, can you tell us something about being in Harry Potter? Any good stories?

All the Winnebagos were huge and the staff couldn’t do enough for you. When Sky Sports faltered on my TV, they were in in a nanosecond to fix it! As for the actual filming, the best thing was the great cast and the director, David Yates, who put everyone at their ease and trusted the actors.

The tentacles of the Harry Potter franchise reach far and wide. I was on holiday in Chile at an obscure wine tasting and I drew huge curiosity – I was called Mundungus the whole evening.

Of all the parts you’ve played or films and TV shows you’ve appeared in, which was your favourite or most memorable? (I assume it wasn’t Farting Man in Audience in KY Telethon!?)

One of the most enjoyable was a Radio 4 series, Keeping the Wolf Out by Philip Palmer, set in Hungary in the 60s, where I played a crooked detective who eventually gets his comeuppance.

Dying in shows is a living for me. I’ve been shot several times, had my neck broken, been bashed round the head with a cricket bat, bitten by snakes and had a heart attack on screen. I died in the film The Business, and in the TV series Rome and Merlin, to name a few.

Now you’ve created a monodrama for yourself with Baxter vs the Bookies, which you've adapted from Roy Granville’s book. What drew you to the story? Are you a racing or gambling man?

I’m a huge racing man – I go racing regularly and put on (sensible) bets every week at my local bookies. So when I decided to do a one-man show, it had to be about horse racing. Baxter is a perfect character for me – a down-at-heel inveterate gambler, one of life’s anachronisms, but an underdog who never gives up.

Have you done a book adaptation before? How did you go about the process?

No. But I loved the stories, so I contacted the author for the rights. I used three of the stories, but adapted them to work for theatre – softening Baxter in places to make him more relatable, developing the characters for comic and dramatic effect, and ordering and heightening the stories for drama. Especially the final one, in which Baxter risks his whole livelihood against his nemesis – an upstart young bookie who only relies on stats, unlike Baxter, who is a true lover of horse racing. I also added a story of my own about Baxter’s failed love life – both for comedy and pathos.

Baxter feels he’s an anachronism in the modern world of computer stats, flashy websites and online gambling. Do you have any of those feelings yourself about the modern world?

God yes! I am not very computer savvy. Although my wife says it’s amazing what I can do on the computer when it involves Spurs! I’m from the generation who didn’t grow up with computers at all. I constantly feel that the computer is a sentient being out to get me. My smartphone is smarter than me.

While we're on the subject of changing times, what do you feel about the current comedy scene – the material and audience responses?

The acts on the circuit now seem a lot slicker than in my day. But also a bit more conveyor-belt, with mainly straight comedy. There are far fewer double acts and less off-the-wall variety.

What would you like people to take away from your show?

I’d like them to have been thoroughly entertained – to have felt like they were right there with Baxter, experiencing his highs and lows. When I did the show before, two guys approached me in a local betting shop, called me Baxter and asked me for tips. They really believed in the character!

Richard Beck

Richard Beck

A graduate in theology and education, Richard acted and contributed to dance, drama and music productions throughout his teaching career. He joined Broadway Baby in 2014 and is now our Editor-in-Chief. He usually disappears to warmer climes for the winter to pursue his passion for travel.

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