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16 September 2024, 11:07 | Updated: 16 September 2024, 15:36
Chris McCausland is a blind comedian who’s a known face on the British comedy circuit.
Chris McCausland is a British comedian and actor whose most successful role is Rudi from CBeebies show Me Too!
Chris has also appeared on many comedy panel shows including Would I Lie To You, Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, QI and is set to appear in Strictly Come Dancing in 2024.
Chris began performing as a comedian in 2003 and many of his early jokes were based on his deteriorating eyesight and blindness.
Chris McCausland was born on the 15th of June 1977, which means he turned 47 in 2024.
Chris McCausland is blind and suffers from a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa.
According to the National Eye Institute, this condition sees cells in the retina break down over time and by the age of 22, Chris has lost most of his eyesight.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Chris revealed that both his mother and grandmother also suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, he explained. “Basically I'd been going blind very slowly since I was born and so didn't even really notice it happening.
“I am sure that my sight is still deteriorating at the rate it always has, but it has long passed the point where I notice any difference. A load of blurry lights is much the same as a load more of blurry lights,” he said to Disability Horizons.
Chris McCausland is married to a psychologist named Patricia and together they share a daughter named Sophie.
Chris spoke to Disability Horizons about how he and Patricia first met, “My wife used to work in TV and we met very early on in my career when she was involved in making a programme about the Edinburgh Festival.”
“We’ve been together for 16 years now and got married in 2012 after I’d proposed during a Pearl Jam concert at Hyde Park – rock and roll!”
Despite being blind, Chris does not have a guide dog. Speaking to Disability Horizons, he revealed, “I used to have a guide dog, but it turns out that he wasn’t very good. It was my first dog and so I didn’t really have a frame of reference.”
“He used to take me wherever he wanted to go and didn’t really listen to me. Maybe he was deaf, which would be ironic, I suppose.”
You can find Chris on Instagram under the handle @chrismccauslandcomedy