Billy Birmingham is an Australian humourist and sometime sports journalist, most noted for his parodies of Australian cricket commentary in recordings under The Twelfth Man name. Birmingham is also a regular on the panel discussion show The Back Page, alongside Mike Gibson and Peter FitzSimons. Ironically, Mike Gibson was sent up by Birmingham during the late 1980s on his Twelfth Man album Wired World of Sports. A humorist is an author who specializes in short, humorous articles or essays. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the insect, see Cricket (insect). ... For the 12th Man Tradition at Texas A&M University, see 12th Man (Texas A&M). ... Cameron Michael Henderson (Mike) Gibson (born 3 December 1942 in Belfast) is a former Irish rugby union footballer. ... Peter FitzSimons is a former Australian Rugby Union International or Wallaby and a current sports columnist and writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. ... The phrase 12th Man or Twelfth Man can refer to: The name given to the twelfth (reserve) player in a cricket team. ...

Birmingham is famous for being able to find humour amid the hyperbole of world sport. Following Michael Clarke's debut innings of 151 against India, there was considerable praise for him - including comments that the young man was the new Donald Bradman and that he should captain Australia. Birmingham famously announced on The Back Page that he was going to nominate Clarke for Australian of the Year, "He's just that good". Michael John Clarke (born April 2, 1981 in Liverpool, New South Wales) is a popular Australian cricketer, and is affectionately known as pup. He is a right-handed batsman, highly-rated fieldsman and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler and made his first-class debut for New South Wales as... Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (August 27, 1908 — February 25, 2001), often called Don Bradman or The Don, was an Australian cricketer who is universally regarded as the greatest batsman of all time, and is one of Australias most popular sporting heroes. ... The Australian of the Year Awards commenced in 1960. ...

During the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Birmingham also recorded a series of mock-commentaries on Olympic events as the "Wired World of Sports", featuring such characters as the American track-and-field representative "Chuck D'Wobblee" ("chucked a wobbly" - meaning to throw a tantrum) and the Ukrainian pole-vaulter "Olga Bedjanodgonnagedova" ("bet you're not gonna get over"), while also releasing the single, "Bruce 2000", where he does an impersonation of Bruce McAvaney during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. The 2000 Summer Olympics or the Millennium Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were the Summer Olympic Games held in 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... Bruce McAvaney Bruce William McAvaney (born 1954) is an Australian sports broadcaster. ...

A skilled impersonator, Birmingham is also used on the show as a means of interviewing a sporting celebrity who is otherwise unavailable. His impression of Australian Rugby Union coach Eddie Jones following the decision to award a Super 14 franchise to Perth is a prime example of this, even to the point that another panellist held Birmingham's left eyebrow in place in order to have him look like the man he was pretending to be. At one point, Birmingham even began an impression of Gibson, which he ceased on deciding (tongue-in-cheek) that it might endanger his career. He also is well known for spontaneously impersonating Richie Benaud during a discussion of Twenty20 cricket, saying "Why not twenty-two overs for the two sides?" (taking advantage of Benaud's characteristic pronunciation of the letters T and S). In the lead-up to the Melbourne Cup, Birmingham will frequently adopt the distinctive voice of a jockey. Interestingly, his attempt at impersonating boxer Kostya Tszyu was quite wide of the mark. General phase play in rugby union. ... Eddie Jones Eddie Jones (born January 30, 1960 in Burnie, Tasmania of a Japanese mother and an Australian father) is a rugby union coach and former player. ... The current Super 14 logo The Super 14 is a rugby union championship competed for by teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. ... Richard Richie Benaud (born October 6, 1930) is an Australian cricketer and latterly cricket commentator and writer. ... Twenty20 cricket was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board in 2003. ... The 1976 cup won by Van Der Hum. ... Konstantin (Kostya) Tszyu (Russian: Константин (Костя) Цзю) (born September 19, 1969) is a Russian born boxer of Korean origin who is an Australian citizen and two time world junior welterweight champion. ...

Birmingham is also known for his ability to cover up any ignorance he might have of players' names by creating new ones in keeping with the country in question. A discussion about the New Zealand Rugby League team collapsed into laughter when Birmingham praised, among others, the performance of "the centre, Waisiwerina Silitupe" ("Why's he wearing a silly toupee"). His best known gag is "Colon Ault" for the f that is Colin Ault Rugby league is a team sport, played by two teams of 13 players. ...

Birmingham has also used his impersonation skills on advertisements for KFC, as he did during the summer of 2002/03.