First inflicted with Shakes fever over a decade ago, he overcame amnesia to be a claim to fame by memorizing all 154 sonnets penned by Shakespeare. A graduate from The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford upon Avon, his mission and goal is - to enlighten the world to the words of Shakespeare.

Curriculum Vitae
The History...
The Actor...
The Comedian...
What the Press Say...
Recent Photos..


The History:
This English born son of Scottish parents was preceded by 5 sisters and followed by a brother in Rawtenstall, Lancashire on the gentle eastern slopes of the Pennines. Rain is a major feature of his early years. Life was solidly working-class, Spastics Society clothing, 1970’s Glam rock and fear of hooligans - weird. His father mastered Russian and French yet worked as a Lorry driver and gardener when not off climbing in the Swiss Alps. His mother wrestled regularly with a pressure cooker containing her favourite dish of cabbage and mince.

The Suttons emigrated to Mississauga, Canada after William achieved 5 ‘O’ Levels at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. His first comic heroes were Billy Connolly and a fledgling Jim Carrey, who he watched on the open podium at Yuk-Yuks in Toronto. His attendance at T.L. Kennedy High School and his dropping-out of Univ. of Toronto were barely noticed.

Next he embarked on a cross-country trip of the USA and ended up in L.A. where at a late night show he saw Sam Kenison and Steve Allen Green, one of whom he performed with in the Netherlands years later. Meanwhile he went back to Toronto and became a Luge competitor for the Canadian Olympic ‘B’ team. His triumphant rating of 32nd in the Empire State Games of 1982 convinced him that high-speed winter sport was not his calling.

North American life didn’t suit Sutton’s love of diversity and Culture so he opted for the city he fell in love with at age 12 during a visit to his eldest sister who married a Dutchman: Amsterdam. The rest of the Eighties passed in a blur of wild parties, codependency, cold squat-living and Performance Art. His friends attended the Rietveld Academy and the School for New Dance development whilst he shared their enthusiasm.

He supported himself with odd-jobs such as foreman of a cleaning crew for aeroplanes at Shiphol International, unloading ships at Central Terminus Amsterdam and as a Bicycle Tour guide and Rondvaart Tourist Boat guide on the picturesque canals. Toronto beckoned often and there his employment ran the fascinating gamut of busboy to barman to Production Assistant to Bouncer at the Twilight Zone Nightclub.

Sutton’s flair for languages resulted in a multi-personality melange of Dutch, German, French, a wide variety of the accents of English and is presently learning Spanish. He mastered Shakespearean English by learning and memorizing all the Sonnets of Shakespeare. In 1998/99 Sutton attended the Shakespeare Institute to quench his desire to learn more about Shakespeare and gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Shakespeare Studies.

The Actor

Sutton’s acting career started in 1988 when he gained Dutch National press reviews after joining the Stalhouderij Theatre Company. It was the smallest theatre in the Netherlands but even so he once played for Princess Christien and her Spanish husband. His acting work began to form professionally throughout the 1990’s with Educational tapes, Corporate Films, Voice-overs, T.V. and Film.

The Comedian...

Sutton’s first comedy show was on June 18th, 1995 - the day he lost the remnants of his dignity -and has flourished since.

Sutton has for better and for worse over 400 shows to his credit. Standup comedy wasn’t well known in the Netherlands when he started. He rose quickly to the rank of M.C. or Compere at the 'newly opened' Comedy Café in Amsterdam and was instrumental in the proliferation of this dubious artform. These days there are regular comedy circuits and Corporate gigs throughout the Netherlands providing plenty of employment to the once starving comedians.

Sutton is a regular on the Lucky Strike Comedy Tour.

Here are some of the Comedians he has introduced:

United Kingdom: Simon Fox, Simon Bligh, Jocelyn Gee, Mark Maier, Andre Vincent, John Fealey, Earl Okin, Martin Davies, Paul Rogan, Alan Francis, Neville Raven, Andrew Murrell, Andy Borgh, Junior Simpson, Hal Cruttenden, Paul Sinha, Lucy Porter, Daniel Kitson, Ben Norris, Noel Britten, Jimmy Carr, Ronnie Rigsby, Steve K. Amos, Gary Animal, Dave Thompson, Chris Lynam, John Moloney, Reg Hunter.

Ireland: Martin Bigpig, Dara o’ Brien, Andrew Maxwell, Eddy o’ Bannon.

Scotland: Geoff Boyz.

USA: Donnell Rawlins, Brooklyn Mike, Modi, Steve Allen Green, Susan Jeremy, Dan Rothenberg, Alfred Gussom, Elizabeth Charbonneau, Drue Franklin, Tony Rock, Angel Salazar, Cocoa Brown, Henriette Mantel, Rich Vos, Lesley Jones, D.C. Benny, Wali Collins, Lewis Black, Tony Woodz, Godfrey, Ben Bailey, Teddy Smith, Kelley Rodgers, Patrice O Neill, Greer Barnes.

Canada: Glenn Wool, Craig Campbell.

Australia: Steve Best, Adam Hills, Bruno Lucchia.

New Zealand: Bob Maclaren.

The Netherlands: Martijn Oosterhuis, Tom Sligting, Marco Esser, Marco Penose, Jasper Valstar, Robert Spaapen, Sjaak Bral, Jim Speelmans, Arie Koomen, Silvester Zwanenveld, Treez, Marco Hupkes, Bert Koster, Hans Jongsma, Grainne Delaney, Javier Guzman, Dominique Engers, Wilko Terwijn, Adam Fields, Pieter de Bildt, Richard Brailford, Miriam Wijnen, Remy Scholten,

Germany: Chin Meyer.

Denmark: Mick Oegendahl, Anders Mathesen, Rune Klan.