Charlie George (comedian)

Kali Varghese formerly known as Charlie George
Born
Swindon, England
OccupationsComedian, writer, performer, poet
Years active2008–present
AgentChambers Management
Notable workCunk on Life, Death to 2020, Death to 2021
AwardsLGBTQ New Comedian of the Year, So You Think You're Funny (finalist), Funny Women Awards (Runner up)
Websitekalivarghese.com

Kali Varghese formerly known as Charlie George is a British writer, performer, poet and comedian from Swindon.[1] In 2019, she won "The Comedy Bloomers LGBTQ+ New Comedian of the Year"[2] and was a runner-up in both So You Think You're Funny[3] and Funny Women.[1]

As a scriptwriter, she has written for British comedy shows Have I Got News for You, Death to 2020,[4] Death to 2021,[5] Blankety Blank, Joe Lycett's Got Your Back[6] and Frankie Boyle's New World Order.[7]

Varghese was chosen to feature in Charlie Brooker’s writers' room for Cunk & Other Humans 2019, the BAFTA nominated AntiViral Wipe 2020, Death to 2020 & 2021 for Netflix and BBC’s Emmy nominated Cunk on Life. She has written for the C4 Election night special, 8 out of 10 cats, Hypothetical, Newsjack, The Now Show, Have I Got News For You, Horrible Histories, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Stand Up to Cancer (C4) Kiri Pritchard-McLean’s Best Medicine (R4) Season 1 and 2 and Mawaan Rizwan’s BAFTA winning Juice (BBC).

She has been published in: Tangled Roots: Real Life Stories from Mixed Race Britain, Stories of Autistic Joy and HNDL Magazine. She currently writes on all things travel, nature, gardening and Decolonial perspectives on healing for our times at her Medium and Substack.

In 2020, she was one of a select group of 14 new writers selected by Penguin Random House UK for their WriteNow editorial programme.[8]

In 2022, she worked with fellow comedian Victoria Comedy (winner of LGBTQ+ Comedian of the Year 2022[9]) on the compilation show "Clandestina: Queer Comedy Triple Bill," which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[10]

In 2025, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as a writer of Cunk On Life (Netflix).[11]

She has written multiple original comedy/comedy-drama scripts and won two New York Festivals Radio Awards for ‘Best Writing’ & ‘Best Regularly Scheduled Comedy Programme’ for her writing contributions to ‘Rockanory’ an original series for Absolute Radio with Unusual Productions.

Varghese was a regular MC/host and spoke and gigged all across the country. She was the host of a large scale touring work in collaboration with artist Amartey Golding in a show called ‘Whose Anthem is it anyway?’ with a full live band, exploring an alternative collective national anthem for England with the public using a voting app.

She also co-hosted an Audible original podcast series exploring evidence-based solutions to improving wellbeing & mental health with anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota called ‘Happiness and how to get it.’ Because her preferred title ‘Despair and how to release its death grip.’ wasn’t “a viable option.” And hosted a podcast for the Tate Modern gallery called ‘The Art of Comedy.’

Varghese has been in the arts in the UK since her early teens, training at Circomedia in Bristol and setting up her own dance company Dark Island Dance where she choreographed and led commercial performances for festivals & large scale events, as well as community dance in care homes and specialist schools for those with disabilities.

In response to a sexist remark made in UK parliament and the creation of the feminist festival Calm Down Dear. Varghese formed the rebel feminist performance collective ‘The Femme Fatales’ exploring themes of sovereignty & bodily autonomy.

Varghese occasionally gigs for and speaks at organisations such as Faith to Faithless and Humanists UK who support people with the trauma of being raised within and leaving high control religious groups.

She is currently working on her first book.

Accolades

Credits

Year Production Role
2022 Latitude Festival Self
2021 Have I Got News For You - Series 62
  1. Special - Have I Got 2021 For You
 Writer (Additional Material)
2021 Death To 2020 Writer
2021 Blankety Blank - Series 18
  1. E7 - Episode Seven
  2. E8 - Episode Eight
  3. Special - Christmas Special
 Writer (Additional Material)
2021 Women in Comedy Festival Self
2021 Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains - Series 2
  1. E6 - Episode Six
 Guest
2021 Rockanory Writer (Additional Material)
2021 Green Man Festival Self
2021 Joe Lycett's Got Your Back - Series 3 Writer (Additional Material)
2021 When you are desperate for a job Employee
2021 Country Mile Comedy Festival Self
2021 Cambridge Comedy Festival Self
2021 Laugh Lessons
  1. E10 - Posh Witch
 Roo
2021 Yesterday, Today & The Day Before
  1. E4 - Episode Four
  2. Special - Highlights Special
 Writer
2021 Have I Got News For You - Series 61
  1. E5 - Episode Five
 Writer (Additional Material)
2021 Hypothetical - Series 3
  1. E2 - Episode Two
 Writer (Additional Material)
2020 Death To 2021 Writer
2020 The Now Show - Series 57 Writer (Additional Material)
2020 Newsjack - Series 23
  1. E1 - Episode One
 Writer
2020 Frankie Boyle's New World Order - Series 4
  1. E1 - Episode One
  2. Special - Unseen & Best Bits
 Writer
2020 Larmer Tree Festival Self
2020 Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe Writer (Additional Material)
2020 Stuart Goldsmith's Infinite Sofa
  1. E15 - Episode Fifteen
 Guest
2020 Circuit Breakers - 2020 Self
2020 8 Out Of 10 Cats - Series 22
  1. E4 - Episode Four
  2. Special - Best Bits
 Writer (Additional Material)
2019 Cunk & Other Humans On 2019
  1. E1 - Episode One
  2. E2 - Episode Two
  3. E3 - Episode Three
 Writer
2019 Women in Comedy Festival Self
2019 Asian Network Comedy - 2019 Specials
  1. E1 - BBC Radio Theatre
  2. Special - 2019 Highlights Special, Part 1
 Self
2014 Asian Network Comedy
  1. E10 - Asian Network Comedy Highlights
 Self
2008 Never Better Tom Merchant

[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Bennett, Steve. "Laura Smyth wins Funny Women Award". Chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Comedy Bloomers LGBTQ+ Comedy Competition opens for 2022". FunnyWomen.com. 4 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Finalists & Runners up – So You Think You're Funny?". SoYouThinkYoureFunny.co.uk.
  4. ↑ "Charlie George Biography". IMDb.
  5. ↑ "Death to 2021 | Film-Rezensionen.de". 28 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Joe Lycett's Got Your Back - C4 Comedy". British Comedy Guide.
  7. ↑ "Frankie Boyle's New World Order Series 4 - Unseen & Best Bits". British Comedy Guide.
  8. ↑ "Meet the 14 new writers joining our WriteNow editorial programme". 5 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "Victoria Olsina: LGTBQ Stand Up Comedian based in London".
  10. ↑ "Edinburgh Fringe 2022 - Clandestina". 8 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Gomez, Lynette Rice, Peter White, Dessi (15 July 2025). "Primetime Emmy Nominations: 'Severance' Leads Field Ahead Of 'The Penguin', 'The Studio' & 'The White Lotus' – Full List". Deadline. Retrieved 17 July 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "Leicester Square Theatre comedian of the year 2018 final : Reviews 2018 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  13. ↑ "News: Finalists Announced for LGBT+ New Comedian Of The Year". Beyond The Joke. 19 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Bennett, Steve. "2020 Chortle Award winners revealed : News 2020 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Charlie George - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide.
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