Michael "Micky" Flanagan (born 7 October 1962) is an English comedian. Flanagan has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe and toured Britain with stand-up shows. He presented Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change? for Radio 4 and has appeared on various TV shows including Mock the Week, A League of Their Own, 8 out of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You and Argumental.
Flanagan was born in Whitechapel, East London and grew up on a council estate in Bethnal Green. He left school at the age of 15 with no qualifications. His first job was as a fish porter at Billingsgate Fish Market, after which he lived in New York for a year where he worked as a dishwasher and chef. After returning to London he worked as a furniture maker for several years. Flanagan resumed education at the age of 25, beginning with a GCSE in English and going on to a foundation course in arts and social sciences and a degree at City University, which he began aged 29. He went on to train as a teacher by taking the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, but decided not to pursue teaching as a career, later describing the experience as "the unhappiest year of my life ... everything that was wrong about the school system when I was young was still the same".
Flanagan became a professional comedian in 1997 after attending a comedy course at Jacksons Lane in 1996. In 2001 he performed in the Big Value Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Fringe as one of four headline acts, and in 2003 co-headlined a show with Nina Conti. He performed his first full-length solo show, What Chance Change? in 2006, and in 2007 was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Flanagan was a regular performer on Out to Lunch on Radio 2 in 2008, and appeared on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow in 2009. He has made 8 appearances on the panel show Mock The Week. In 2011 Flanagan signed a deal with Ebury Publishing to write his autobiography.