Athena Kugblenu (; born 14 November 1981) is a British

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and writer.

Early life

Kugblenu describes herself as mixed-race: half Indo-Guyanese and half Ghanaian. She worked as a

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

before breaking into comedy. She has a twin brother.

Career

In 2017, Kugblenu performed at the Johannesburg international Comedy Festival and followed that with her debut hour, ''KMT'', at the Edinburgh Fringe. Her second celebrated hour was the political show ''Follow the Leader.'' She has supported

Daliso Chaponda Daliso Chaponda (born 29 November 1979) is a Zambian-born Malawian stand-up comedian living in England. In 2017, he became a finalist in the variety show ''Britain's Got Talent'', finishing third overall. In 2018 he launched a BBC Radio 4 series ' ...

, Nish Kumar and

Fern Brady Fern Marie Brady (born 26 May 1986) is a Scottish comedian, podcaster, and writer. Before becoming a stand-up comedian Brady worked as a journalist. She achieved fame as a stand-up comedian by entering stand-up competitions such as at the Edin ...

on tour. On television, Kugblenu has appeared on ''

Sam Delaney's News Thing ''Sam Delaney's News Thing'' is television programme produced by RT UK and presented by British journalist and broadcaster Sam Delaney, that aired every Saturday night from November 2015 until June 2018. Notable guest appearances included Ken ...

'', '' The Dog Ate My Homework'', ''

The Big Night In ''The Big Night In'' was a British telethon that was broadcast by BBC One from 7 pm to 10 pm on 23 April 2020 to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first joint initiativ ...

,'' '' Mock the Week, Who said that?, Girl on Girl'', ''When News Goes Horribly Wrong,'' ''The Funny Haha Survival Guide.'' In 2020 she performed at the Stampdown Comedy Night. Kugbenlu writes for ''

Frankie Boyle's New World Order ''Frankie Boyle's New World Order'' is a British comedy television programme created, written and presented by Frankie Boyle. Premiering in 2017 on BBC Two, it followed his BBC iPlayer-exclusive "Autopsy" shows. After a few minutes of stand-up, h ...

'', ''Horrible Histories'', ''

The Russell Howard Hour ''The Russell Howard Hour'' is a British topical comedy news show, which airs on Sky Max (formerly Sky One) and is hosted by Russell Howard where he gives his thoughts and opinions on current topics as well as featuring special guests and other ...

'', Radio 4's ''

The Lenny Henry Show ''The Lenny Henry Show'' is a comedy sketch show (and in its 1987–1988 incarnation, a sitcom) featuring Lenny Henry. It was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1988, and was later revived twice, in 1995 and 2004–2005. History Original vers ...

'', '' Dead Ringers'', ''

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History ''The News Quiz'' was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently, it was chaired by Barry Took from 1979 to 1981, Simon Hoggart from ...

'', ''

Newsjack ''Newsjack'' was a British satirical sketch show which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra between 2009 and 2021. It was hosted by Miles Jupp (2009-Mar 2011), Justin Edwards (Sep 2011-2013), Romesh Ranganathan (2014), Nish Kumar (2015-2016), ...

'', ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. The show used to feature regular appearances by J ...

'' and is a lead writer for the multi-cultural sketch show ''Sketchtopia''. She also contributes to Children's BBC shows ''The Amelia Gething Complex'' and ''Swashbuckle''. She has also written for magazines and newspapers such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' and ''Stylist Magazine'' and makes regular appearances on ''BBC Radio 5 Live and Talk Radio.'' On the radio, she has appeared on ''The News Quiz'', the Radio Four Extra ''Comedy Club, Arts Club'' and '' The Museum of Curiosity.'' Kugblenu hosts the podcast ''Keeping Athena Company'' and is a regular co-host on ''

The Guilty Feminist ''The Guilty Feminist'' is a feminist comedy podcast hosted by Deborah Frances-White. Created by Frances-White and Sofie Hagen in 2015, the podcast features guests on a panel to discuss topics on and related to feminism, and is recorded in front o ...

'' and '' Loose Ends'' and panelist on ''BBC Scotland’s Breaking the News''. She has also appeared on Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast and ''Stars In Your Ears''. Kugblenu is a member of the BBC Comedy Room 2019/20 and was awarded the BBC

Felix Dexter Felix Dexter (26 July 1961
Retrieved 22 October 2013

Bursary for BAME up-and-coming comedy writers in 2020. Moreover, she is a nominee for the 99 Club Female Comedians’ Bursary and a former BBC New Comedy Award Finalist. Kugblenu was nominated for the 2015

BBC New Comedy Award The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perform ...

. She is a founding member of ''Do the Right Scene'', a London-based improv group who run monthly shows and workshops in London and perform across the UK.

References

External links

* * * English women comedians Living people British people of Indian descent English people of Ghanaian descent 1981 births {{UK-comedian-stub