Lou Sanders is a British stand-up comedian, writer and actress from

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

, Kent.

Early life

Sanders grew up in Broadstairs, Kent with her mother and her stepfather, a history teacher. Her father was periodically present. Sanders moved out at the age of 15, and later earned a degree in Communication and Cultural Studies from

London Metropolitan University London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London (formerly the Polytechnic of North London) and London Guildhall University (f ...

Career

Before beginning her career in comedy, Sanders worked in administrative roles, including as an executive PA and complaints handler at

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

. She took comedy classes from

Logan Murray Logan Murray is a London-based stand-up comedian. Murray has appeared on television shows including Peep Show (British TV series), Peep Show, Packet of Three (TV series), Packet of Three, London Underground, Pebble Mill, The Pallbearer's Revue, C ...

, and was paid to write a comedic blog about ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''. As a live performer, Sanders performs regularly both in the UK and around the world. In 2018, her show ''Shame Pig'' was the joint winner of the Comedians' Choice Award for Best Show 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 ...

and she returned to the Festival in 2019 with her show ''Say Hello to Your New Step Mummy''. Sanders was declared the winner of the eighth series of '' Taskmaster'' in 2019, and has also appeared on television shows including '' QI'', '' Would I Lie to You'', ''

Travel Man ''Travel Man'' is a British television travel documentary series, presented by Richard Ayoade and, since Series 10, Joe Lycett. Description The programme focuses on the presenter travelling to a popular city in each episode, accompanied by a ...

'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier'', '' Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled'', ''

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 on ...

'', '' Red Nose Day for Comic Relief'', ''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' was a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on th ...

'', ''

Live at the Electric ''Live at the Electric'' is a British comedy series that aired on BBC Three from 31 May 2012 and 28 February 2014 and is hosted by Russell Kane who performed stand-up in between comedy sketches from a variety of performers such as Joe Wilkinso ...

'' and

Question Team ''Question Team'' is a British television comedy panel show presented by Richard Ayoade. The show features three different comedian guests each episode, who each present a round of their own questions. ''Question Team'' was first broadcast on D ...

. She has also acted in sitcoms including

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she ...

's '' This Way Up'' and

Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972) is an English presenter, comedian, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their XFM radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of '' ...

's ''

Sick of It "Sick of It" is the first single from the 2013 album ''Rise'' from the Christian rock band Skillet. The single was released on SoundCloud on April 8, 2013 and was released in the iTunes Store on April 9, and was released to US rock radio on Apr ...

''. She is also a regular guest on

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' ...

's '' The Unbelievable Truth''. In 2019, Sanders appeared on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's '' Live at the Apollo'' (series 15, episode 2). As a writer Sanders wrote and starred in ''Elderflower'' which co-starred

Sheila Reid Sheila Reid (born 21 December 1937) is a Scottish actress, known for playing Madge Harvey in the ITV sitcom ''Benidorm'' (2007–2016). An original member of the Royal National Theatre in 1963, she played Bianca in the National's 1965 film ve ...

, Tom Rosenthal and

Mike Wozniak Michael James Wozniak is a British comedian, writer and actor. He portrays Brian in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Man Down'' and is a member of the team that makes ''Small Scenes'' for BBC Radio 4. Early life Wozniak was born in Oxford, was raised in ...

. She has also written for ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'', '' Stand Up for the Week'' and

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in va ...

. Sanders has been an occasional guest host on the ''Elis and John Show'' on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

. In February 2020 Sanders started hosting a podcast called ''The Cuddle Club''. From February 2021, she has appeared in the

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

comedy panel show ''

Mel Giedroyc Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (; , born 5 June 1968) is a British actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, ''The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC and cha ...

: Unforgivable''. In April 2022 Sanders started hosting ''Taskmaster: The People's Podcast''.

Personal life

Sanders is

teetotal Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...

and vegan.

References

External links

* * *
CV at agents' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Lou People from Broadstairs English women writers English stand-up comedians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)