Born in Hammersmith, London, Ayoade served as the president of Footlights at St Catharine's College, Cambridge (1998–1999). He and Matthew Holness debuted their respective characters Dean Learner and Garth Marenghi at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2000, bringing the characters to television with "Garth Marenghi's Darkplace" (2004) and "Man to Man with Dean Learner" (2006). Ayoade appeared in the comedy shows "The Mighty Boosh" (2004–2007) and "Nathan Barley" (2005), before gaining exposure and recognition for his role in "The IT Crowd". After directing music videos for Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Kasabian, Ayoade wrote and directed the comedy-drama film "Submarine" in 2010, an adaptation of the 2008 novel by Joe Dunthorne. Ayoade co-starred in the American science fiction comedy film "The Watch" in 2012 and his second film, the black comedy "The Double", premiered in 2013, drawing inspiration from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novella of the same title.