Essex comedian Phill Jupitus is to be commended for his contribution to the arts with an honorary degree from the University of Essex.
The versatile stand-up comic will be awarded an Honorary Degree in Performing Arts in recognition of his contributions to the industry in a ceremony at the Cliffs Pavilion on Thursday, 30 September.
The award will allow the comic to refer to himself as Doctor Phill Jupitus – although the title is optional.
Jupitus has had many successful stand-up tours over the past decade but is best known for his role as a captain on BBC Two pop quiz show ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’ – a role he has performed since the shows inception in 1996.
In 2008 Jupitus joined the cast of London musical ‘Hairspray’ while he also often makes appearances alongside Stephen Fry on BBC comedy quiz ‘Quite Interesting’.
Phill attended Northbury Infants and Juniors school in Barking before moving onto Palmer’s Sixth Form College in Grays – he currently lives with his wife and daughter in Leigh-on-sea.
Reacting to the news Phill said: “I was really touched to be asked and it’s fantastic to be recognised by the County in this way with such a prestigious accolade. I have a strong affiliation with Essex and it’s a wonderful place to live and learn, so I’m really looking forward to celebrating the achievements of the College’s students. In my tour of the College I could see that they had some impressive facilities and that hundreds of local people benefit every year, so to be playing such an active part of that celebration is going to be an amazing experience.”
He added: “The subject of honorary degrees came up when I was filming an episode of QI recently. As you might expect Stephen Fry was top with seven honorary degrees and Alan Davies had two, whilst I was proud to say that my big day was coming soon in Southend, which is the perfect way to celebrate over 25 years in showbusiness and made all the more special that I am being honoured in the town that I call my home.”