Roisin Conaty

Roisin Conaty
Conaty in 2012
Born (1979-03-25) 25 March 1979
OccupationsComedian, actress, writer
Years active2004–present
Websiteroisinconaty.com

Roisin Marcella Conaty (/ˈroʊʃiːn ˈkɒnəti/ ROH-sheen KON-ə-tee; Irish: Róisín Ó Connachtaigh; born 25 March 1979)[1][2] is a British and Irish 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 creator, 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 seasons of the Netflix comedy-drama series After Life.

Early life

Conaty was born in the Camden area of London, to Irish parents, and considers herself an Irish Londoner.[3][4] 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, Siobhán,[5] 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.[6][7][8]

Career

Comedy

In 2010, Conaty won the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Festival for her show Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar.[3][9] In April 2011, she performed her show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.[10] She followed that show up with Lifehunter in 2013.[11]

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.[8]

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."[12]

Conaty appeared on The Big Fat Quiz Of Everything broadcast on 7 January 2021 on a team with Rob Beckett.[13]

In March 2025, she was co-host of the first series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK, alongside Jimmy Carr.[14]

Acting

Conaty played Jo in the Channel 4 sitcom Man Down, alongside Greg Davies, from 2013 to 2017; she also appeared in Ricky Gervais's mockumentary 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.[15][16] 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.[17]

Between 2019 and 2020, Conaty featured in the Netflix comedy-drama series After Life as Daphne / 'Roxy'.[18]

Selected filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2011–2024 Have I Got News for You Herself Panellist; 14 episodes
2012–2014 Impractical Jokers UK 12 episodes (series 1 & 2). Also writer (2014)
2013–2017 8 Out of 10 Cats Panellist; 9 episodes (series 16–20)
Man Down Jo 26 episodes (series 1–4)
2014 GameFace Marcella Television film. Pilot for series. Also writer
2014–2022 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice Herself 6 episodes
2014–2026 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Contestant; 26 episodes
2015 Taskmaster Contestant; 6 episodes (series 1)
2016 David Brent: Life on the Road Cat Mockumentary comedy film
2017–2019 GameFace Marcella 12 episodes (series 1 & 2). Also creator, writer & exec. producer (2017)
2019–2020 After Life Daphne / 'Roxy' 10 episodes (series 1 & 2)
2020 Richard Osman's House of Games Night Herself Contestant; 5 episodes (series 1)
2023 The Cleaner 'Her' Episode: "The Dead End"
2024 Funny Woman Greta 2 episodes (series 2)
2025 Badjelly Mudwiggle (voice) 10 episodes
2025–present LOL: Last One Laughing UK Herself Co-host with Jimmy Carr; 12 episodes (series 1 & 2)
2026 Zero Stars Co-host with Sara Pascoe
Death Valley Karen Hughes Episode: #2.2

References

  1. ↑ Ganatra, Shilpa (14 July 2019). "Roisin Conaty: 'I feel more Irish than British'". www.irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Hogan, Michael (25 April 2020). "Roisin Conaty: 'Standup is a confidence game. You sell the sizzle, not the sausage'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  3. 1 2 Logan, Brian (29 August 2010). "Roisin Conaty - review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Ganatra, Shilpa (14 July 2019). "Roisin Conaty: 'I feel more Irish than British'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Roisin Conaty... Stand up and be counted". Irish Independent. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  6. ↑ "Roisin Conaty". comedycv.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Roisin Conaty". chortle.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  8. 1 2 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.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Logan, Brian (28 October 2013). "Roisin Conaty – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ "Jimmy Carr on Last One Laughing: 'Comedians are weirdly competitive' | Radio Times".
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "Roisin Conaty interview". British Comedy Guide. 15 July 2019. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ 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.