Jessica Amy Knappett (born 28 November 1984) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known as the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of the E4 sitcom '' Drifters'', as well as her role as Lisa in ''

The Inbetweeners Movie ''The Inbetweeners Movie'', known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America, is a 2011 British coming-of-age teen adventure comedy film based on the E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners'', written by series creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris ...

'' and various panel show appearances.

Early life

Jessica Amy Knappett was born on 28 November 1984 in Bingley, West Yorkshire. She attended

Woodhouse Grove School Woodhouse Grove School ('The Grove') is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding public school and Sixth Form. it is located to the north of Apperley Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (Apperley Bridge is located in the City of Bradfor ...

in nearby Apperley Bridge before studying Drama and English at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...

. She was a co-founder of Lady Garden, a sketch comedy group formed in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 2005. The group performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2008, 2009, and 2010. They also toured throughout England, performing at comedy festivals in Sheffield, Manchester, and Brighton in 2008. They were Hackney New Act & Laughing Horse finalists in 2009, and won an Argus Angel Award for their show at the Brighton Fringe Festival that same year.

Career

Knappett was the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of the E4 sitcom '' Drifters'', in which she played Meg. She described the show as a semi-autobiographical and therapeutic re-writing of her own history. Owing to the popularity and success of the first series, it was quickly repeated on Channel 4 and later commissioned for a further three seasons. Knappett was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award for Best Comedy writer and Broadcast Award for series 2. Knappett played Lisa in ''

'' and appeared in the

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, h ...

Movie '' Alpha Papa'' and the TV film ''Irreversible''. Other credits include '' Drunk History'' for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

, '' Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge'' for Sky One, ''

Twenty Twelve ''Twenty Twelve'' is a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location mockumentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summ ...

'' for BBC Two, ''Meet the Parents'' for E4, and ''

How Not to Live Your Life ''How Not to Live Your Life'' (styled in the opening credits as "how NOT to live your life") is a British sitcom, written by and starring Dan Clark that aired between 27 September 2007 and 22 December 2011 on BBC Three, about a Pessimism, pessimis ...

'' and ''

Lunch Monkeys ''Lunch Monkeys'' is a British situation comedy, first shown on BBC Three in 2008. Overview ''Lunch Monkeys'' by David Isaac is a BBC Three comedy series, produced by Channel X North, set in the administration department of fictional personal i ...

'' for

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

. She also played Carly in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

comedy series ''Shedtown'' alongside

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

. She has recorded a string of pilot episodes, including ''Everything Happens for No Reason'' written by

Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer, whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the lead ...

, alongside

Noel Fielding Noel Fielding (; (born 21 May 1973) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' ...

. Knappett makes frequent appearances on panel shows, including ''

8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based ...

'', ''

Hypothetical A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

'', and ''

The Last Leg ''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British comedy and late-night television talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Pa ...

''. She has written for ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', '' Glamour'', ''

ShortList A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

'', and ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. She was a contestant on the seventh season of Dave's comedy gameshow '' Taskmaster'', falling off the stage during a task in one episode. The show has since named the stage she fell from "The Knappett" in her honour.

Personal life

Knappett married Dan Crane in September 2016. Their first child was born in 2017. Knappett gave birth to her second child, a girl, in April 2022.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knappett, Jessica 1984 births Living people 21st-century English actresses Alumni of the University of Manchester English comedy writers English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People from Bingley Actresses from Bradford