Rachel Sarah Parris (born 27 May 1984) is an English comedian, musician, actress and presenter. She hosts the satirical news show '' Late Night Mash'' (formerly ''The Mash Report'').

Early life

Parris attended

Loughborough High School ) , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Headmistress , head ...

. She holds an upper second-class (2:1) Music BA from

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 200 ...

and a master's degree from the

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

for acting.

Career

Parris's stand-up comedy has been featured on '' Live at the Apollo'', and she has performed solo shows 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 ...

, including ''It's Fun To Pretend'', which was expanded into a UK tour for 2018/19. She presented the fourth series of the ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

'' spin-off show '' Thronecast'', and ''A Girl's Guide to TV'', a comic guide to how women can get ahead in television, which first aired on

BBC2 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 ...

on 10 June 2018. As an actor, Parris was cast in the BBC show ''

Murder in Successville ''Murder in Successville'' is a British sitcom with improvisational elements created by Andy Brereton and Avril Spary. The series aired on BBC Three from 6 May 2015 to 24 May 2017. ''Murder in Successville'' stars Tom Davis as DI Desmond Sl ...

'', and also appeared on ''

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, written and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in the offices of the ...

'', '' Plebs'' and ''

Count Arthur Strong Steve Delaney (born 1954) is an English comedian and character actor, best known for his comedy character Count Arthur Strong on BBC Radio 4 and then a television sitcom broadcast on BBC2 and BBC1. Early life and career Delaney was born in Le ...

''. She has been a panellist on '' QI'', '' I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue'', '' Would I Lie to You?'' and ''

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 prese ...

''. In 2017 she was a guest on ''

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 ...

'', in 2018 she was a guest on '' Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown'' podcast, and in 2019 ''

Richard Osman's House of Games ''Richard Osman's House of Games'' is a British quiz show produced by Banijay (owners of Endemol Shine UK), a branch of Remarkable Television for the BBC. The show is hosted by Richard Osman. It is played on a weekly basis, with four "celebri ...

''. Parris is a regular guest co-host on the podcast '' The Guilty Feminist''. Parris was in one episode of

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

's '' Trying''. Parris wrote a book published in 2022, ''Advice from Strangers: Everything I Know from People I Don't Know''.

Improvisational comedy

Rachel Parris' Musical Comedy Club 23-08-2018 (cropped)

Parris began

improv comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

in 2007 with The Oxford Imps and musical comedy in 2010. As part of the ''

Austentatious Austentatious is a long-form improvised comedy show, in the style of a Jane Austen novel, where each show is improvised by a six-strong cast, based on a title suggested by a member of the audience. Begun in 2011 in London, the original cast mem ...

'' improv group, she has performed in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 on a UK tour, beginning a run at the

Fortune Theatre The Fortune Theatre is a 432-seat West End theatre on Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster. Since 1989 the theatre has hosted the long running play ''The Woman in Black''. History The site was acquired by author, playw ...

in London from 18 February 2019. In 2014 ''Austentatious'' won the Chortle Award for Best Character, Improv or Sketch Act, and DVDs of their live shows were released by Gofasterstripe in 2015 and 2018.

Awards

In 2019, she was nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for her work on ''The Mash Report''. In 2019, Parris won the

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the ...

Award for Best Music and Variety Act. In 2018, Parris was named Female First's Comedian of the Year, beating

Tiffany Haddish Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. After guest-starring on several television series and lead role on a cable drama, Haddish gained prominence for her role as Nekeisha Williams on ...

Amy Schumer Amy Beth Schumer (born June 1, 1981) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She ventured into comedy in the early 2000s before appearing as a contestant on the fifth season of the NBC reality competition series ''Last Comic Standing'' i ...

and

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom '' Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". S ...

to the prize. She won runner-up placing in the annual Musical Comedy Awards competition in 2012, and has since headlined shows of theirs each year.

Personal life

Parris lives in South West London and is married to fellow comedian

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian, actor and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is ...

. The couple have a son, Billy.

Television and radio credits

*''The Hit List'', BBC One, 2022 *''Question Team'', Dave, 2021 *''Late Night Mash'', Dave, 2021–present *''Trying'', Apple TV+, 2020 *''Richard Osman's House of Games'', BBC 2, 2019 *''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', BBC Radio 4, 2019 – present *''QI'', BBC Two, 2019 *''Would I Lie To You?'', BBC One, 2019 *''Hypothetical'', Dave, 2019 *''Private Passions'', BBC Radio 3, 2019 *''Live at the Apollo'', BBC One, 2018 *''Plebs'', ITV 2, 2018 *''QI'', BBC Two, 2018 *''Mock the Week'', BBC Two, 2018 *''A Girl's Guide to TV'', BBC Two, 2018 *''The Mash Report'', BBC Two, 2017–2020 *''Austentatious'', BBC Radio 4, 2017 *''The Now Show'', BBC Radio 4, 2016 *''Murder In Successville'', BBC Three, 2015-2016 *''Thronecast'', Sky Atlantic, 2014 *''The IT Crowd'', Channel 4, 2013 *''Count Arthur Strong'', BBC One, 2013 *''Eggheads'', BBC Two, 2009

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parris, Rachel 1984 births 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English comedians Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford English television actresses English women comedians Living people People from Leicester Television personalities from Leicestershire