Isabel Fay is a British children's screenwriter, formerly a comedy writer and performer.

Early life and education

Fay was born in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1979 and graduated from

Royal Holloway University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

in 2001 with a 2:1

BA (Hons) A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

Career

TV, film and radio

Fay has exclusively written TV comedy for children since 2016, having shifted her focus from comedy performing. She has written for every series of BAFTA winning '' Class Dismissed'' on CBBC, Sesame Workshop's ''

The Furchester Hotel ''The Furchester Hotel'' is a puppet series that aired on CBeebies (the BBC's preschool network). It was the second British-American spin-off of ''Sesame Street'' that the BBC had made after '' Sesame Tree'' 6 years before. The show ran on CBeebi ...

'' for CBeebies, Dennis and Gnasher Unleashed for CBBC, two series of '' Swashbuckle'' for CBeebies, ''

It's Pony ''It's Pony'' is a British animated television series created by Ant Blades that premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 18, 2020. The series is storyboarded, designed, produced, and animated by Blue Zoo Animation Studio. The fi ...

'' for Nickelodeon, '' Rhyme Time Town'' for Netflix, '' Waffle the Wonder Dog'' for CBeebies, two series of Danny and Mick for CBBC, ''

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud ''The Rubbish World of Dave Spud'' (shortened to ''Dave Spud'') is a British children's animated series featuring the surreal adventures of the eponymous Dave Spud of Grimsby, his friends and High-rise building, tower block-dwelling family. I ...

'' for CITV voiced by Johnny Vegas and Jane Horrocks, and had sketches performed on CBBC's '' Crackerjack''. She has a current development deal with DreamWorks. As an actor Fay appeared in the first series of

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's ''

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 pessimistic twenty ...

'' with

Dan Clark Daniel Gregory Clark (born 3 July 1976) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director, and singer. He is best known for playing Don Danbury on the BBC Three sitcom '' How Not to Live Your Life'', which he also wrote, co-produced, and sometimes ...

and

David Armand David Armand (born David Robert Whitehead in September 1977) is an English comedian, actor and writer who has performed on stage, film, radio and most notably, television, where the shows he has appeared in include ''Armstrong and Miller'', '' ...

and co-starred with Dan Clark in ''Dan Clark's Guide to Dating'' for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

. In 2011 Fay's self-penned debut short film ''With or Without U2'' won Best Comedy Short at the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival, despite the controversy surrounding the film's soundtrack. Fay wrote it to a choral score of U2's

With or Without You "With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock music, rock band U2. It is the third track on their fifth studio album, ''The Joshua Tree'' (1987), and was released as the album's lead single on 16 March 1987. The song was the group's most succes ...

, but the band personally declined her the license to use the score. Fay arranged for a chorus to sing the score live along to the muted film. Fay appeared in the film ''Clive Hole'', adapted from a short story by Alexi Sayle and starring David Schneider,

Karl Theobald Karl Julian Theobald (born 5 August 1969) is an English actor and comedian. He has played 'Landlord' in ''Plebs'' and Martin Dear in Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing''. Early life Theobald was born in Lowestoft, to Wendy Theobald. He grew up ...

and Susan Vidler. She also appeared in the film ''Rekindle'' by Marios Hamboulides, starring

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards ...

and ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

''s

Daniela Denby-Ashe Daniela Jolanta Denby-Ashe (born 9 August 1978) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Sarah Hills on the soap opera ''EastEnders'', Margaret Hale on the period drama '' North and South'', and Janey Harper on the BBC sitcom ''My ...

, and she voiced the short film ''Man in a Cat'' with

Kevin Eldon Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', ''Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (TV ...

and

Josie Long Josie Isabel Long (born 17 April 1982) is an English 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 ...

. For

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

Fay appeared in children's comedy shows ''Little Howard's Big Question'' and ''Hacker Time''. She was a member of the cast for E4's ''

Dogface Dogface may refer to: * ''Dogface'' (TV series), UK sketch show *Dogface (military), US military term * ''Dogface'' (album), by Leash Law * ''DogFace'' (book), by Barbara O'Brien Dogface may also refer to *''Zerene'', a genus of butterflies common ...

'', and appeared in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''Comedy Shuffle'' and ''

The Royal Bodyguard ''The Royal Bodyguard'' is a British television sitcom, written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni, and starring David Jason, Geoffrey Whitehead, Timothy Bentinck and Tim Downie. A series of six episodes began on 26 December 2011, concluding ...

''. She also wrote and performed in all three series of

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's flagship show ''

Comedy Cuts ''Comedy Cuts'' is a comedy programme on the British TV channel ITV2 that aims to provide an opportunity for new comedy performers to present their talents. Featuring 40 performers demonstrating a mix of stand up and sketches, the series is shot e ...

'' and has shot her own sketch show pilot with Silver River TV. For

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

Fay starred in sitcom pilot ''49 Cedar Street'', and appeared as a supporting comedy character in ''

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

's Support Group''.

Live comedy shows

Fay co-created and starred in sketch show ''The Works'' with

at Madame Jojo's in

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

Fay's solo live work is usually a collaboration with

if.comeddies The 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. Establ ...

award-winning director Matt Holt (who directed Brendan Burns'

award-winning show 2007) and

Perrier award Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of bottled water marketed as coming from its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acqui ...

-winning producer Tom Hopgood (who produced

Laura Solon Laura Madalene Solon is an English screenwriter, comedian, actress, and winner of the 2005 Perrier Comedy Award. She was the second woman to win as a solo performer, after Jenny Eclair in 1995. Background Solon was raised in Great Kimble nea ...

winning show in 2005). Fay has written and performed three solo comedy shows at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, first appearing with her "Magic Steve's Disappearing Act" (featuring her

magician's assistant A magician's assistant is a performer in a magic (illusion), magic act who is not billed as the Magic (illusion), magician or principal name in the act. Description The role of an assistant can include holding the theatrical property, props that ...

character, Annette Cadabra) in 2006. She appeared in her second solo show, "Isabel Fay: Altar Ego", in 2007; and her third, "Don't Let A Gift Horse in the House", at

The Pleasance The Pleasance is a theatre, bar, sports and recreation complex in Edinburgh, Scotland, situated on a street of the same name. It is owned by the University of Edinburgh, and for nine months of the year it serves the Edinburgh University Stu ...

Courtyard in 2008.

Internet comedy

Along with Tom Hopgood, Fay co-owns

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

Clever Pie, which makes online comedy sketches and films. On 8 June 2012 Clever Pie released a musical sketch entitled "Thank You Hater!", which immediately went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

described the sketch as "a masterpiece". For

Comedy Online Fay wrote and performed the short film ''Common Film Ground'' and co-wrote and starred in ''Leader's Wives''. She also produced an exclusive sketch for

Funny Or Die Funny or Die, Inc. is a comedy video website and production company owned by Henry R. Muñoz III that was founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Mark Kvamme, and Chris Henchy in 2007. The website contained exclusive material from a regular staf ...

set to

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

's hit "

Total Eclipse of the Heart "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is the lead Single (music), single by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler from her fifth studio album, ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' (1983) written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded in 1982, released as a single ...

" called "Total Paperclips of the Heart".Total Paperclips of the Heart on Funny or Die
. Funnyordie.co.uk (22 August 2011). Retrieved 26 August 2011. Fay wrote and performed as a roving reporter on Monkey TV's online show ''Newslog'', which also stars

Steve Punt Steve Punt (born ) is a British comedy writer, comedian and actor. Along with Hugh Dennis, he is part of the double act Punt and Dennis and was presenter of BBC Radio 4 satirical news programme '' The Now Show''. He is also a writer and programm ...

References

External links

*
Clever Pie's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Isabel 1979 births Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London English television actresses Living people Entertainers from Bath, Somerset English women comedians