Addison Cresswell

Cresswell died of a heart attack on 23 December 2013 at the age of 53; Cresswell is survived by his wife, Shelley.

The performance poet and comedian John Hegley was Cresswell's first client. He founded a production company called Wonderdog with Paul Merton and Julian Clary who he had met at 'The Comedy Boom'. His client list went on to include: Sean Lock, Jonathan Ross, Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Alan Carr, Kevin Bridges and Rich Hall. He was behind Live at the Apollo, which was hosted by Michael McIntyre and Stand Up for the Week on Channel 4 Television from 2010.

He founded 'The Comedy Boom' with club promoter and comedian Ivor Dembina (who he'd viewed as a rival) in Edinburgh in 1987. It was the Edinburgh Festival Fringe's first venue for stand-up comedy. They found the venue - the Abercraig Lounge - simply by walking round Edinburgh. The landlord was initially sceptical, but they persuaded him to show them the basement function room and knew it was going to work.

He first visited the Edinburgh Fringe in 1982 with Tony Allen.

He was notable for finding many stand-up "alternative" comedians at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at other venues, promoting them and finding spots for them on television and radio over a 30-year period from the 1980s. He has been called "one of the most influential people in British comedy", "arguably the most powerful man in UK comedy" for two decades and "the Darth Vader of the Fringe".

Addison Lee Cresswell (28 June 1960 – 23 December 2013) was a British comedy talent agent and producer.