Bridget Louise Christie (born 17 August 1971) is an English stand-up comedian, actress and writer. She has written and performed 12 Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows and several comedy tours, in addition to radio and television work. She has received British and international comedy awards and is also an award-winning newspaper columnist and author.

Early life and education

Christie grew up in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, England, the youngest of nine siblings born to Irish parents. She attended St Peter's Roman Catholic High School in Gloucester. In 1994 she won a three-year scholarship to study Drama at the

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its nam ...

, London.

Career

Christie appeared in various theatre productions and adverts before she began stand-up in 2004. She was one of the finalists in the

Funny Women Funny Women is an online and in-person workshop community dedicated to the support of female comedians. It was founded by Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women helps women find their voice, ...

Awards which that year was won by Zoe Lyons. She was described by the show's founder, Lynne Parker as "one of the most influential funny women who has ever entered our competition". Her debut BBC Radio 4 series, ''Bridget Christie Minds the Gap'', was broadcast in April 2013. A second series was broadcast in January 2015 followed by a third, ''Bridget Christie's Utopia'', in January 2018. The three series were well-received and won several radio awards including Best Radio at the 2014 Chortle Awards and the 2014 Rose D'Or International Broadcasting Award. Her debut book, ''A Book for Her'', was published in July 2015 to acclaim from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and '' The List'' and ''The Observer''. The paperback was released in February 2016 and the Spanish version in Barcelona in March 2017. Christie has written for ''The Daily Mail'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''. She had a weekly column in '' Guardian Weekend'' magazine from October 2015 to March 2016. In 2015 she won a ''Red'' Magazine Women of the Year Award and a '' Marie Claire'' Women at the Top Award. In May 2016, Christie recorded her debut stand-up special, ''Stand Up for Her (Live from

Hoxton Hall Hoxton Hall is a performance arts theatre and community centre in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch, at 130 Hoxton Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. A grade II* listed building, the theatre was first built as a Music hall in 1863, as MacDonal ...

)'', produced by Baby Cow Productions. It was released direct to Netflix on 31 March 2017. She has written and performed 12 acclaimed consecutive solo Edinburgh Festival shows. Her Edinburgh festival shows ''A Bic for Her'', ''An Ungrateful Woman'' and her Brexit-themed "Because You Demanded It" was ''The Guardian'''s No 1 Comedy of the Year 2016. In 2020, she was a finalist for Best Scripted Comedy (Longform) BBC Audio Drama Awards.

Television appearances

Christie has appeared on several TV comedy programmes, including '' It's Kevin'' (BBC2), '' QI'', ''

The Omid Djalili Show ''The Omid Djalili Show'' is a British sketch comedy/stand-up comedy television show produced by the BBC and directed by Michael Cumming. Writing by Omid Djalili, Will Smith, Roger Drew, Ian Stone, Ricky Grover Michael Cumming, Rich Fulcher and ...

'' (BBC1), ''

Harry Hill Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performan ...

's Little Cracker'' (Sky), '' Anna and Katy'' (Channel 4), ''

The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, t ...

'' (BBC2), '' Mel & Sue'' (ITV), '' Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled'' (Dave). '' Have I Got News for You'' (BBC1) for which she was nominated for a 2014

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards ( ...

for Best Female TV comic, the '' Alternative Comedy Experience'' (Comedy Central), ''

Room 101 The Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Love, and the Ministry of Plenty are the four ministries of the government of Oceania in the 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', by George Orwell. The use of contradictory ...

'' (BBC1), '' Cardinal Burns'' (Channel 4), ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show '' Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Monkhouse—from 8 Ja ...

'' (ITV), '' This Week'' (BBC One) and ''

Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule ''Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule'' is a British television comedy panel show created, written and presented by Harry Hill and produced by his company Nit Television for ITV. The series began on 2 March 2017 and follows Hill and a group of cele ...

'' (ITV). In 2020 she appeared in BBC One's hit comedy ''Ghosts'' as Annie, a ghost who said four words. She reprised the role in 2022. In November 2021, Christie was announced as a contestant in series 13 of '' Taskmaster'' (Channel 4) which began airing in April 2022. In March 2022 Channel 4 announced that Christie will star in ''The Change'', a six-part comedy-drama series; which she also created and wrote.

Radio

Work for

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' ...

and others includes

Andy Zaltzman Andrew Zaltzman (born 6 October 1974) is a British comedian and author who largely deals in political and sport-related material. He has worked with John Oliver, with their work together including '' Political Animal'', '' The Department'', ...

's ''History of the Third Millennium'', ''

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 ...

's House Party'', '' It's Your Round'', ''

Sarah Millican Sarah Jane Millican ( King; born 29 May 1975) is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful ...

's Support Group'', ''The

Fred MacAulay Frederick MacAulay (born 29 December 1956) is a Scottish comedian. For 18 years, until March 2015, he presented a daily BBC Scotland radio programme '' MacAulay and Co''. He has appeared on numerous TV shows. Background Born in Perth, MacAula ...

Show'',

Dan Tetsell Dan Tetsell (born 2 July 1974) is a British actor, comedian and writer for radio, television and stage. He has worked on a number of projects, including '' The Museum of Everything'', ''That Was Then, This Is Now'', ''Newsjack'' and ''Parsons and ...

's ''The 21st Century for Time Travellers'', ''

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 b ...

'', ''

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

’s List'', '' It's Not What You Know'', ''Dilemma'', ''

French and Saunders ''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...

' Christmas Show'', and ''The Casebook of Max and Ivan''. In 2019, she became curator of the museum on the Radio 4 series ''

The Museum of Curiosity ''The Museum of Curiosity'' is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Solent University). He acts as th ...

''.

Podcasts

Christie has appeared on a number of podcasts including Danielle Ward's

Do The Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, ...

, ''

Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast ''Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast'' (or ''RHLSTP'' ()) and ''Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast'' are two related comedy podcasts, created and hosted by British comedian Richard Herring. Hosted on The British Comedy G ...

'', ''

Pappy's Pappy's is a British three-man comedy act, composed of comedians Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry. The sketch troupe previously performed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but now mostly talk on podcasts about balconies and spagh ...

Flatshare Slamdown'', Jarlath Regan's ''An Irishman Abroad'',

Stuart Goldsmith Stuart Goldsmith (born 1977) is an English actor, stand-up comedian and former street performer. He has presented the '' Comedian's Comedian'' podcast since 2012. Career Goldsmith grew up in Bristol and trained at Circomedia circus school. He ...

’s '' The Comedian’s Comedian'', ''

The Adam Buxton Podcast ''The Adam Buxton Podcast'' is a podcast in which the English comedian Adam Buxton interviews friends and celebrities. The first episode was released on 15 September 2015. Recurring guests include Buxton's comedy partner Joe Cornish of Adam and ...

'', ''

The Penguin Podcast ''The Penguin Podcast'' is a fortnightly podcast by Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only bec ...

'' with Richard E. Grant, ''

Literary Death Match ''Literary Death Match'' is a reading series co-created in 2006 by Todd Zuniga, Elizabeth Koch, and Dennis DiClaudio. Each event features four readers who read their own writing for seven minutes or less, and are then critiqued by three judg ...

'', ''

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster ''Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster'' is a food and comedy podcast featuring Ed Gamble and James Acaster, in which guests are invited to select their dream menu by both comedians. ''Off Menu'' was launched in December 2018 and was nomin ...

'', and Spotify podcast ''We Need to Talk About''.

Appearances in other shows

* '' Taskmaster'' series 13 (2022) * '' White Rabbit, Red Rabbit'',

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 ...

(2011) * Celebrity Autobiography,

(2010) and Leicester Square Theatre * The School for Scandal,

(2009)

Awards

* ''Marie Claire'' – Women at the Top Awards 2015 – winner * ''Red'' magazine Women of the Year Awards 2015 (Creative) – winner * South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Comedy for ''A Bic for Her'' (2014) – winner *

Edinburgh Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

for Best Show with ''A Bic for Her'' (2013) – winner * Funny Women Best Show Fringe Award for ''The Court of King Charles II'' (2007) – winner

Personal life

Christie married comedian

Stewart Lee Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian, screenwriter, and television director. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, deadpan delivery, and consistent breaking of the fourth wall. Lee b ...

in 2006. They live in Stoke Newington,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, and have two children.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christie, Bridget 1971 births Living people English women writers English women comedians English television actresses English stage actresses English people of Irish descent People from Gloucester Actresses from Gloucestershire People educated at St Peter's High School, Gloucester