Maeve Anna Higgins (born 24 March 1981) is a comedian from

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...

, County Cork, Ireland and is based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She was a principal actor and writer of the

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

television production ''

Naked Camera ''Naked Camera'' is a hidden camera comedy television show which began airing on RTÉ Two in 2005. Set and filmed in the Republic of Ireland (mostly in Dublin), its concept is similar to that of the UK show ''Trigger Happy TV'' or the ascendant ...

'', as well as for her own show ''Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles''. Her book of essays ''We Have A Good Time, Don't We?'' was published by

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

in 2012. She wrote for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' and produces radio documentaries. She previously appeared on ''

The Ray D'Arcy Show ''The Ray D'Arcy Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Ray D'Arcy, originally broadcast on Irish commercial radio station Today FM from the late 1990s until 2014 before transferring in February 2015 t ...

'' on

Today FM Today FM is an Irish national commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a lic ...

. She is a regular panelist on the NPR radio show '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'' Higgins appeared in her first starring film role in the 2019 Irish comedy ''

Extra Ordinary "Extra Ordinary" is a song by American alternative rock group Better Than Ezra. It was released in July 2001 as their first single from their album '' Closer''. It was also featured in a McDonald's television commercial that aired during the 200 ...

''.

Career

Higgins started in comedy in 2005 and has written and performed at many festivals and shows. She began her comedy career on the national radio station

after auditioning for ''

'' in February 2004. She failed to win. From 2005 to 2007, she took part in the hidden camera show ''

'' with fellow comedian and friend P. J. Gallagher. She landed her own television show, ''Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles'', in 2009. Since 2010, she has occasionally been performing with

Josie Long Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is a British comedian. She started performing as a stand-up at the age of 14 and won the BBC New Comedy Awards at 17. In 2006, Long won the If.comeddies Best Newcomer award at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...

and

Isy Suttie Isobel Jane "Isy" Suttie (; born 11 August 1978) is a British musical comedian, actress, and writer. She played Dobby in the British sitcom ''Peep Show'', and in 2013 won the gold Sony Radio Academy Award for her radio show ''Pearl And Dave''. ...

2006–2010

;2006 * ‘Ha Ha Yum’ with sister, Lilly, 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 ...

;2007 * ‘Slightly Amazing’ at the

Adelaide Fringe Festival The Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between mid-February and mid-March each year, ...

* ‘My News’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe ;2008 * ‘Ha Ha Yum’ with

Claudia O'Doherty Claudia O'Doherty (born 29 November 1983) is an Australian actress, writer, and comedian. She won the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy Award and the Brisbane Comedy Festival Award for her debut show ''Monsters of the Deep 3D''. O'Doherty co-wr ...

at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

* ‘Kitten Brides’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe * ‘I Can’t Sleep’, a children’s play written by

David O'Doherty David Nicholas O'Doherty (; born 18 December 1975) is an Irish comedian, author, musician, actor and playwright and son of renowned jazz pianist Jim Doherty. His stand-up has won many international awards including the if.comedy award in 2008 a ...

. Higgins performed this skit with O'Doherty at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. ;2009 * ‘Kitten Brides’ at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival * ‘I Can’t Sleep’ at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival * ‘Kitten Brides’ at the

New Zealand International Comedy Festival {{Short description, Annual comedy festival in New Zealand The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is held simultaneously over three weeks during April/May in Auckland and Wellington. From its beginnings as a 2-day event, the Festival has n ...

;2010 * 'A Rare Sight' at the Brisbane Comedy Festival and

. Performed with Nick Coyle. * 'A Rare Sight' at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. Nick Coyle could not attend due to surgery on shoulder. * 'Personal Best' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Film

* 2019: ''

'' – Rose Dooley

Television

As herself

* 2008: ''

Spicks and Specks (TV series) ''Spicks and Specks'' is an Australian music-themed comedic television quiz show in which the host, Adam Hills, asks two teams, of three people each, varying music-themed questions in different games. Team leaders are Myf Warhurst and Alan Broug ...

'' * 2005, 2006: ''

Tubridy Tonight ''Tubridy Tonight'' is a talk show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired on RTÉ One for five seasons between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews (usually three per show), audience participation and live music from both a guest mu ...

'' * 2009: ''

The Podge and Rodge Show ''The Podge and Rodge Show'' is a talk show, broadcast and produced by RTÉ. For the first three seasons Podge and Rodge were joined by Lucy Kennedy as a co-host but for the first half of the fourth season they were joined by guest hosts includi ...

'' * 2009: ''

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'' is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef. History Original run The first series ran on Network Ten for 18 episode ...

'' * 2009: ''

The Modest Adventures of David O'Doherty ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' * 2009: ''Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles'' * 2015: '' StarTalk'' with

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a po ...

Acting work

* 2005–2007: ''

'' – Various characters * 2006: ''Magic'' – Chloe * 2012: ''Moone Boy'' * 2015: ''

Inside Amy Schumer ''Inside Amy Schumer'' is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by Amy Schumer. The series aired on Comedy Central from April 30, 2013 to June 16, 2016 and was revived in 2022 for a new season on Paramount+. Schumer and ...

'' * 2016: ''

Doc McStuffins ''Doc McStuffins'' is an American educational computer-animated children's television series created and executive produced by Chris Nee (an Irish-American who was an associate producer for international versions of Sesame Street) and produce ...

'' - Gillian *2019:

- Rose Dooley

As writer

* 2005–2007: ''

'' * 2009: ''Maeve Higgins' Fancy Vittles'' *2012: ''We Have A Good Time, Don't We?'' *2022: ''Tell Everyone on This Train I Love Them''

Books

* 2018: ''Maeve in America''

Radio

* 'What Would Maeve Do?' on ''

'' * 2016: '' The Unbelievable Truth'' (Series 16, Episodes 3 & 6) * 2018–present: '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me'' * 2018: ''Everything Is Alive''

Podcast

* 2018–present: ''Mothers of Invention''

"Assistance dog" controversy

Higgins received widespread criticism from disability campaigners when she revealed on 30 March 2018 on the Irish '' Late Late Show'' that she purchased a

service dog In general, an assistance dog, known as a service dog in the United States, is a dog trained to aid or assist an individual with a disability. Many are trained by an assistance dog organization, or by their handler, often with the help of a profe ...

vest on

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and pretended that her pet dog was a service dog during a trans-Atlantic flight. She has apologized for her actions.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Maeve Living people 1981 births Irish expatriates in the United States Irish television actresses Irish television presenters Irish women radio presenters Irish women comedians People from Cobh Radio personalities from the Republic of Ireland The Ray D'Arcy Show Actors from County Cork Mass media people from County Cork