Other Work
Writing
In 1996 Hugh published his first novel, a comic
thriller called The Gun Seller, described as follows in
publicity material:
"When Hugh Laurie was a teenager, he adored reading thrillers by
authors
like Alistair MacLean. The Gun Seller is his tribute to
those books, an
hilarious spoof [of the genre] that also wickedly updates it for the
Nineties";
"...a fast and thrilling tale of Thomas Lang. 36. Penniless and
achingly
single. A man with nothing to lose but his heart and his Kawasaki
ZZR1100."
The book was very well-received by the British press, and became a
best-seller in both hardcover and paperback. An interesting side-note
is that he submitted his manuscript under a pseudonym, in order
"to get a sort of fair reaction that had nothing to do with my name,
such as it is."
(Hugh quoted on Desert Island Discs, May 1996)
Although Hugh told a London booksigning audience in May 1996
that there would be no American edition (because the publishers felt a
U.S. readership wouldn't like the way Americans were depicted), The
Gun Seller was in fact published in the U.S. in April 1997.
Proving that we can take a joke, here's what
U.S. critics had to say.
A film version had been in the works, with Hugh writing the
screenplay, but it appears to have been shelved indefinitely.
Hugh was commissioned in 1996 to write an introduction to a
new edition of the Bertie and Jeeves novels, published by The Folio
Society. It's a very good pastiche of Wodehouse, with a touch of
Laurie. A modified version of this introduction was printed in the May
27, 1999 edition of The Daily Telegraph,
in connection with Penguin;s reissue of all the Jeeves and Bertie
books. It is no longer available on their site, but Derek Keevil was
clever enough to preserve a copy
on his Jeeves and Wooster
pages.
Directing
Hugh has also tried his hand at directing. He started with
television commercials (including one for Cellnet starring John Cleese
and Ronnie Corbett), and more recently directed several episodes of the
miniseries Fortysomething for
ITV. He has also directed for Video Arts, the
industry training video company started by John Cleese. Hugh has been involved in
television commercials as performer as well
as director. He and Stephen Fry did a long-running series for the
Alliance and Leicester Building Society.In 1997, he appeared in a
series of ads for British
Telecom, following in the footsteps of Bob Hoskins and Maureen Lipmann.
Music
Hugh is a largely self-taught musician, and his talents are on display in many of his roles: A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Jeeves and Wooster, Peter's Friends and even occasionally on House. Besides this, he's also played in bands for fun. In the 90s, he played keyboards in Lenny Henry's celebrity band, Poor White Trash and the Little Big Horns. More recently, he's become a member of Band from TV, a group of TV actors who play in the Los Angeles area to raise funds for charity. Hugh selected Save the Children as his charity. Band from TV played at the Emmys afterparty in 2006 and 2007. Check their website for photos, video and information on Band from TV.
Voice
Work
Hugh has done extensive voice-over work, both in TV
advertisements and in animated films. To see a list of Hugh's
commercials, check out the
UK celebrity TV adverts website. His voice credits for animated
series and films include:
-
Brown Bear's Wedding, 1993
Treasure Island, 1995
The Adventures of Mole (as Toad), 1995
The Adventures of Toad, 1999
Dennis the Menace, date unknown
Carnivale (as Cenzo), 1999
Little Grey Rabbit, 2000
Preston Pig, 2000
Second Star to the Left, 2001
Stuart Little (animated series), 2003
Audiobooks
He has also recorded a number of books on tape, including the
following:
Dickens' Great Expectations
"Hugh Laurie's reading could hardly be bettered" - Telegraph
"enormous fun...he, too, reveals a good vocal range, employing his perfectly suited comic talents to Dickens's grotesques - a great performance limited only by being abridged.") - Sunday Times
-
Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift
-
"Swift's classic tale has been recorded in numerous audio versions, but this stands out as one of the best....Laurie's lively enthusiasm makes this production particularly entertaining and highly recommended"); - Billboard
-
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
-
"This version stars the voices of Richard Briers, Peter Davison, Hugh Laurie, Paul Eddington and Imelda Staunton and it's as charming and delightful a tale as you could wish. Beautifully read and exactly what we have come to expect of versions of Kenneth Grahame's classic." - Talking Business, October 1995
The Scarlet Pimpernel and Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel , by Baroness Orczy
-
"Put all thoughts of Blackadder away, Laurie refrains from buffoonery and delivers crisply defined characters: aristos and hags, men and women, whilst his menacing, sarcastic, thin-lipped Chauvelin exerts his own terror. A joyous bound through the revolutionary landscape." (Hodder Headline Audiobooks).
-
Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome (CSA Telltapes)
This recording won a "Talkie" for best abridged classic
audiobook in 1998.
Miscellaneous
-- Appeared in the following programs for John Cleese's
Video Arts: 
-
An Inside Job: Meeting Internal Customer Needs
How To Lose Customers Without Really Trying
It's Your Choice: Selection Skills for Managers
Talking to the Team
When Can You Start?
You'll Soon Get the Hang of It
The Interview Program: Interviewee and Interviewer Techniques
Who sold you this, then?
P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Service (as director)
-- Appeared in the following music videos:
-
Kate Bush's "Experiment IV" (1986)
Annie Lennox's "Walking On Broken Glass" (1992)
-- Appeared in the film short The Piano Tuner, 2001