Kate Smurthwaite is a British comedian and political activist. She has appeared on British television and radio as a pundit, offering opinion and comment on subjects ranging from politics to religion. She performs stand-up around the UK and overseas including an annual comedy show at the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and is a patron of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...

, formerly known as the British Humanist Association, and vice chair of Abortion Rights UK.

Early life

Smurthwaite studied mathematics at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

, from 1994 to 1997. After leaving university, she worked in London and Japan as an investment banker, specifically within convertible bond research for UBS Warburg.

Comedy

Smurthwaite began performing comedy in early 2004. In 2008, she was a finalist in the

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in Lon ...

New Act of the Year competition. Smurthwaite has toured internationally, appearing in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, and

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and has appeared several times at the

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

Comedy Festival in Sweden. In 2011, Smurthwaite toured as support for

Shazia Mirza Shazia Mirza ( ur, ) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She is best known for her stand-up comedy, and her articles in British newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Daily Telegraph''. Early life and education Mirza was born in Birmi ...

and also returned to the town she grew up in and opened the Bury St Edmunds Fringe festival. She performs at many charitable benefit shows such as the '' No More Page Three'' show at the

Harold Pinter Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

, and appears at regular benefits for ''Sex Appeal'' at the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, come ...

and for Eaves Housing at

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

and Bloomsbury Theatre. She also regularly performs at the Humanists UK annual convention. Smurthwaite also teaches stand-up comedy through the City Academy in London.

Television and radio appearances

Smurthwaite was a morning show presenter on

Radio Jackie Radio Jackie is an Independent Local Radio station in Kingston upon Thames, England broadcasting news, popular hits, and local information to South-West London and North Surrey from its studios in Tolworth. History Radio Jackie began as a pi ...

in 2006, and co-presented a show on Leith FM during the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe. She appears regularly with

Jason Mohammad Jason Mohammad (born 17 September 1973) is a Welsh radio and television presenter currently working for the BBC. He is the current host of ''Final Score'' on BBC One on Saturday afternoons. Personal life Mohammad was born and brought up in Car ...

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Welsh radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the 'Radio 4 Wales' opt-out service (previously the Welsh Home Service). Radio Wales br ...

's lunchtime phone-in show and as part of

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London News'' and weekly ''Sunday Politics'' on television, ...

's ''Lady Lounge'' with Kath Melandri. In May 2012, Smurthwaite recorded a 15-minute programme for 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' ...

series ''Four Thought'' about sexism in comedy. On 25 October 2013, Smurthwaite took part in the 100 Women event hosted by the BBC. The day featured debate and discussion on radio, television and online, in which the participants were asked to give their opinion on the position of women in the 21st century. And in the end of the year, she was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women. Smurthwaite was a credited writer on the second series of ''

The Revolution Will Be Televised ''The Revolution Will Be Televised'' is a British television satire show starring Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, which was first screened on BBC Three in August 2012. Writing for ''The Guardian'', Sam Wollaston said it's "Sacha Baron Co ...

'', which was first broadcast on

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, curre ...

on 10 November 2013. Smurthwaite appeared as a panellist on ''

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

'' on 30 January 2014, which was broadcast from St. Andrew's Hall in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. The other panellists on the show were

Ken Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

Emily Thornberry Emily Anne Thornberry (born 27 July 1960) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington South and Finsbury since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Shadow Attorney General for England and Wale ...

Lord Oakeshott Matthew Alan Oakeshott, Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (born 10 January 1947), is a British Investment management, investment manager and member of the House of Lords, formerly sitting in Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a Liberal ...

, and

Mark Littlewood Mark James Littlewood (born 28 April 1972) is the director general of the libertarian free market Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) think tank. He was formerly the chief press spokesman for the Liberal Democrats and the Pro-Euro Conservative P ...

. On 26 October 2014, she was included again in the BBC's 100 women. She also appeared on an episode of the Couples edition of '' Come Dine with Me'' in 2016 with her partner James.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows

Since 2005, Smurthwaite has performed comedy shows annually at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

*2005 hosted ''Amused Moose Hot Starlets'' *2006 solo show ''Adrenaline'' at Roman Eagle Lodge *2007 musical show ''Sing-Along-A-The-Joy-Of-Sex'' at Mercat Bar, group show ''Comedy Cocktail'' with Lenny Peters and David Mulholland *2008 solo show ''Apes Like Me'' at C-Soco Urban Garden, host of political panel show ''Comedy Manifesto'' at Beehive Inn *2009 solo show ''The News at Kate'' at Voodoo Rooms, host of ''Comedy Manifesto'' political panel show at Beehive Inn, host of ''Midnight Hour'' variety bill show at Canons' Gait *2010 solo show ''The News at Kate 2010'' at Voodoo Rooms, host of ''Comedy Manifesto'' political panel show at Beehive Inn, host of ''Midnight Hour'' variety bill show at Canons' Gait *2011 solo show ''The News at Kate 2011'' at Ciao Roma, host of ''Comedy Manifesto'' political panel show at Voodoo Rooms, host of ''Midnight Hour'' variety bill show at Canons' Gait *2012 solo show ''The News at Kate 2012'' at Ciao Roma, host of ''Comedy Manifesto'' political panel show at Ciao Roma, host of ''Midnight Hour'' variety bill show at Canons' Gait *2013 solo show ''The News at Kate 2013: My Professional Opinion'' at Ciao Roma, host of ''The News at Kate 2013: World Inaction'' a political comedy chat show at Canon's Gait. Guests included

Richard Wiseman Richard J. Wiseman (born 17 September 1966) is a Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. He has written several psychology books. He has given keynote addresses to The Royal ...

, Rebecca Mordan, Peter Buckley Hill, and Danny Vermont *2014 solo show ''The News at Kate 2014: Leftie Cock Womble'' at Viva Mexico, solo show ''The Evolution Will Be Televised'' at Ciao Roma, host of ''Late With Kate'' late night variable bill show at Canon's Gait. *2015 solo show ''The Wrong Sort of Feminist'' at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 and the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Comedy Festival. In 2013, Smurthwaite was awarded a

ThreeWeeks ''ThreeWeeks'' is a magazine that covers the Edinburgh Festivals in August. It has covered the Edinburgh Festival since 1996 . It also covered the Brighton Festival from 2006 to 2010, but withdrew due to lack of financial support. Education ...

Editors' Award for her News at Kate shows, citing them as a "Fringe Institution". In 2014, her science show ''The Evolution Will be Televised'' was nominated for a Creative Carbon Scotland Fringe Sustainable Practice Award. Other Edinburgh Fringe shows Smurthwaite has appeared in include ''Spank!'', which she has hosted as well as being a guest performer, ''Political Animal'', ''

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

' Happy Hour'', and ''SetList''.

Activism and journalism

Smurthwaite is the vice-chair and media spokesperson for British NGO Abortion Rights UK, and a member of London Feminist Network and the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...

. She is also on the board of the Edinburgh Fringe Society. She is also patron of

, formerly known as the British Humanist Association. In October 2009, Smurthwaite took a place on

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

fourth plinth The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square in central London. It was originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was deba ...

as part of

Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...

One & Other ''One & Other'' was a public art project by Antony Gormley, in which 2,400 members of the public occupied the usually vacant fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London, for an hour each for 100 days. The project began at 9 am on Monday ...

project, impersonating with permission the Irish

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

campaigner

Goretti Horgan Goretti Horgan is an Irish socialist activist and a lecturer in social policy at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Life Born in Cork, Horgan was named after Maria Goretti. She attended university before moving to England. She later returned ...

who was unable to attend. She used the platform to highlight the disparity between abortion access in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland. In July 2010, Smurthwaite protested at the lavish funeral of writer

Sebastian Horsley Sebastian Horsley (born Marcus A. Horsley; 8 August 1962 – 17 June 2010) was an English artist and writer. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his flamboyant and eccentric behavior, his drug addictions, sex, and ...

with a sign reading "Where are the horse-drawn carriages for the VICTIMS of prostitution?", attracting both praise and criticism. Smurthwaite has spoken at numerous rallies including the Rally for Free Expression, the rally against

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Nadine Dorries Nadine Vanessa Dorries (''née'' Bargery, 21 May 1957) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2021 to 2022 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A member of the Conservative Party, she ...

abstinence only sex education bill and the abortion rights rally in London following the death of

Savita Halappanavar Savita may refer to: * Savitr, a Hindu deity associated with motion and the sun * Savita Ambedkar Savita Bhimrao Ambedkar ( Kabir; 27 January 1909 – 29 May 2003), was an Indian social activist, doctor and the second wife of Babasaheb Ambedk ...

. Smurthwaite performed at the five-year anniversary party for the

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain or CEMB (pronounced as ''see-em-BEE'') is the British branch of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims.Jonathan PetreNew group for those who renounce Islam, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 21 June 2007 It was launched in ...

, and has hosted and spoken at a number of conferences including ''Feminism in London'' in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and ''Intersect'' in Bristol in 2012. Recently she has given talks about sex and about the intersection between atheism and feminism for student groups and branches of Sceptics in the Pub. In June 2014 she was a guest speaker at the 50th anniversary of the

Birmingham Humanists The Birmingham Humanist Group was formed on 23 May 1962 at the Arden Hotel, New Street, Birmingham, England, at a meeting convened by Dr Anthony Brierley. It changed its name to Birmingham Humanists (Brum Hums) in 2000 and voted to become a Partner ...

. In 2014, Smurthwaite was interviewed by the

No More Page 3 No More Page 3 was a campaign that ran in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2015, aimed at convincing the owners and editors of '' The Sun'' to cease publishing images of topless glamour models on Page 3, which it had done since 1970. Started by Lu ...

campaign describing herself as a "passionate atheist", and not prudish in any way. She went on to talk about her battle with

anorexia Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...

in her teens, "a part of me, almost consciously, made that decision that said, "I don't want to look like an adult woman because of the way that adult women are treated, as sex objects, I'm just going to starve myself, and if I don't ever grow boobs then nobody will ever be able to treat me like that and if I just stay looking like a young girl, by being stick thin, I'll be protected from that.", and I remember thinking that very consciously... A few years later I was down to under seven

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

, and I'm quite tall and I was very ill, I didn't have periods for about 18 months, yeah I was very, very sick." On 2 February 2015, Smurthwaite's show ''Leftie Cock Womble'' at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

was cancelled. The college's Feminist Society, who co-organised the appearance, complained about her views on decriminalising prostitution. Ultimately, the show was pulled because of a lack of ticket sales. Smurthwaite 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 ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', ''

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 publis ...

'', ''

Stylist Stylist can refer to: Occupations * Automotive stylist or car stylist, a person involved in designing the appearance and ergonomics of automobiles * Food stylist, a person who makes food look attractive in photographs * Hair stylist, a person w ...

'' , ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', ''

New Internationalist ''New Internationalist'' (''NI'') is an international publisher and left-wing magazine based in Oxford, England, owned and run by a worker-run co-operative with a non-hierarchical structure. Known for its strict editorial and environmental pol ...

'', '' The F-Word'', ''

Liberal conspiracy ''Liberal Conspiracy'' was a British left-wing political blog established in November 2007 and edited by Sunny Hundal. Writing in ''The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Gua ...

'' , '' Progressive Women'' , ''Big Smoke'' and '' London Is Funny'' . She also has a regular column in the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

s' official magazine, ''The Teacher'' , as well as making regular posts to her own blog, ''Cruella blog''. Her writing for ''The Independent'' has included articles about her grassroots work teaching English to female

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

with the group Women Asylum Seekers Together, supported by Women for Refugee Women.

Awards

* Hackney Empire New Act of the Year finalist 2009 * Platform 51 award April 2011Platform 51
, ''Woman of the week'' * ThreeWeeks Editors' Award 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smurthwaite, Kate 1975 births Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Atheist feminists Articles containing video clips BBC 100 Women British atheists British feminists British stand-up comedians British women comedians Comedians from London Feminist comedians Radical feminists Living people Women bankers British humanists