Roisin Conaty (/ˈroʊʃiːn ˈkɒnəti/ ROH-sheen KON-ə-tee) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She won the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010 for her show Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar. She played Jo in the Channel 4 sitcom Man Down from 2013 to 2017. In early 2014, the pilot of the sitcom GameFace, of which she is the writer, lead actress and executive producer, aired on Channel 4. The first full series aired in 2017 on both E4 and Hulu in the US. The second series aired on Channel 4 and Hulu in July 2019. Conaty won the Heat magazine's "Unmissables Comedian of the Year" award in 2019. She played Roxy in the first two series of the Netflix comedy-drama series After Life.
Roisin Conaty | |
|---|---|
 Conaty in 2012 | |
| Born | London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, actress, writer |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Website | roisinconaty.com |
Early life
editConaty was born in the Camden area of London, the daughter of Irish parents.[1][2] Her mother was a nurse from Dromcolliher, County Limerick, while her father was an Aer Lingus employee from Virginia, County Cavan. She grew up in Camden with her younger sister, Siobhan,[3] and spent summers in Ireland. She studied film at Middlesex University and had several office jobs before starting her comedy career at the age of 24.[4][5][6]
Career
editComedy
editIn 2010, Conaty won the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her show Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar.[1][7] In April 2011, she performed her show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[8] She followed that show up with Lifehunter in 2013.[9]
In November 2010, she appeared on series 3, episode 4 of Russell Howard's Good News. Other stand-up performances include "The Angina Monologues", alongside Victoria Wood, Jo Brand, Andi Osho, Isy Suttie and Katy Brand for Sky Television, Russell Howard's Stand Up Central on Comedy Central and Live at the Apollo in December 2015. In 2016, she was a guest on the Jonathan Ross Show.
Conaty has appeared on a number of panel shows, including Have I Got News for You, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Insert Name Here, A League of Their Own, Would I Lie to You?, Hypothetical, and Room 101. She starred in the BBC Three version of Impractical Jokers.[6]
Conaty was one of the original cast of comedians in series 1 of Taskmaster on Dave. Taskmaster creator and co-host Alex Horne when reflecting on her performance in the tasks said that she was "the worst. But also one of my favourites."[10]
Conaty appeared on The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything broadcast on 7 January 2021 on a team with Rob Beckett.[11]
Acting
editConaty played Jo in the Channel 4 sitcom Man Down, alongside Greg Davies, from 2013 to 2017; and appeared in Ricky Gervais' film David Brent: Life on the Road.
In 2014, she wrote and starred in the pilot of her sitcom GameFace, in which she plays a struggling actress named Marcella.[12][13] The pilot aired on Channel 4 in April 2014, following which a full series was commissioned, which premiered on E4 in October 2017. The second series debuted in July 2019 with critical acclaim.[14]
Between 2019 and 2020, Conaty featured in the Netflix comedy-drama series After Life as Daphne/Roxy.[15]
Selected filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–2014 | Impractical Jokers | Herself | 12 episodes; series 1 and 2 |
| 2013–2017 | Man Down | Jo | 26 episodes |
| 2014 | GameFace | Marcella | Television pilot; also writer and creator |
| 2014-2022 | The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice | Herself | 6 episodes |
| 2014-2023 | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown | 20 episodes | |
| 2015 | Taskmaster | Series 1 contestant | |
| 2016 | David Brent: Life on the Road | Cat | |
| 2017-2019 | GameFace | Marcella | 11 episodes; also writer and creator |
| 2019–2020 | After Life | Daphne/Roxy | 10 episodes; series 1 and 2 |
| 2020 | Richard Osman's House of Games Night | Herself | 5 episodes |
| 2023 | |||
| The Weakest Link | 1 episode | ||
| 2024 | Have I Got News For You | 1 episode | |
| 2023 | The Cleaner | "Her" | Episode: "The Dead End" |
References
edit- ^ a b Logan, Brian (29 August 2010). "Roisin Conaty - review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ Ganatra, Shilpa (14 July 2019). "Roisin Conaty: 'I feel more Irish than British'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "Roisin Conaty... Stand up and be counted". Irish Independent. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "Roisin Conaty". comedycv.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ "Roisin Conaty". chortle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ a b Smith, Andrea (20 July 2015). "Roisin Conaty... Stand up and be counted". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Hall, Julian (9 August 2011). "Roisin Conaty: Destiny's Dickhead, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ Tuohy, Wendy (19 March 2011). "Wit and wisdom of female comics" (PDF). Herald Sun. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ Logan, Brian (28 October 2013). "Roisin Conaty – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ Edwards, Chris; Turner, Laura Jane (4 May 2019). "Taskmaster's Alex Horne names "the worst" contestant ever". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ^ "TV: Big Fat Quiz Of Everything Line Up". Beyond The Joke. 3 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (17 July 2019). "GameFace review – irresistible comedy that's all heart and silliness". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ "Roisin Conaty interview". British Comedy Guide. 15 July 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
- ^ Simon, Jane (23 April 2014). "Wednesday TV guide: Game Face is a sitcom pilot that deserves to become a full series". mirror. Archived from the original on 1 August 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
- ^ Sanusi, Victoria (8 March 2019). "After Life cast: who stars with Ricky Gervais in new Netflix series – and where else you've seen them". iNews. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2019.