Angela Barnes (born 9 November 1976) is an English stand-up comedian, mostly known for her appearances on ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a 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. Presenter Dara Ó Briain and pan ...

''.

Early life and education

Barnes was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. It was ...

, London and brought up in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, Kent. She was educated at Invicta Grammar School then, in 1996, the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. Barnes had repeated ear infections as a child, resulting in hearing loss. She wears hearing aids.

Comedy career

As a fan of comedy, Barnes ran comedy nights in Brighton. In the summer of 2008, her father died, who was an important influence on her comedy and had always encouraged her to become a comedian. A year after his death, she decided that life was too short not to pursue it as a career. She did a 12-week workshop in Brighton, and a few months later started her stage career. Since winning the BBC Radio 2's New Comedy Award 2011, Barnes has continued to be a regular on the stand-up circuit, playing ever bigger venues. She has also appeared on '' Weekend Wogans

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

Special and

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has four times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for ...

's Whistlestop Tour for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

, written 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 ...

's ''

The News Quiz ''The News Quiz'' is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hogg ...

'', played on

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

's ''Laughs in the Park'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 matte ...

, appeared on ''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' is 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 ...

'' on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

, developed her own series with BBC Radio Comedy, and performed at the

Latitude Festival Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...

, 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 ...

and Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. In June 2013, Barnes became noted for an article in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' that followed a blog post she had written, where she spoke about how she felt society treated people deemed ugly and her feelings as someone who self-identified as such. She returned to the subject in 2015 as the subject of her Edinburgh Fringe Show "Come As You Are". In November 2013, Barnes joined the cast of the topical show '' Stand Up for the Week'' and, in February 2014, appeared on Radio 4's ''

The Now Show ''The Now Show'' is a British radio comedy programme on BBC Radio 4 which satirises the weekly news. The show, which ran from 1998 to 2024, is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs hosted by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. It features regular ...

''. In November 2014 she appeared on Radio 4's ''The News Quiz'' and has become a regular panellist. She has appeared on ''

'' and '' Richard Osman's House of Games'', where she was the first ever contestant to win all five days. She appeared on episode of

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

's '' As Yet Untitled'' alongside

Alan Davies Alan Roger Davies (; ; born 6 March 1966) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, actor and TV presenter. He is known for his portrayal of the title role in the BBC mystery drama series ''Jonathan Creek'' (1997–2016) and as the only permanen ...

Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career in 1969 as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was appointed fashion ...

and

Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of ''Les Misérables''. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles C ...

and in mid-2016 toured New Zealand. From 2017 to 2018, she was the host of the show '' Newsjack'' broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

. In 2017, as part of her show in the Edinburgh fringe, ''Fortitude'', she performed a gig in a nuclear bunker at

Anstruther Anstruther ( ; ) is a coastal town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther Easter and Anstruther Wester, which are divided by a st ...

. In January 2018, she appeared on '' Live at the Apollo'' and started to tour ''Fortitude'' which is about turning 40, being child free, and nuclear bunkers. In September 2018, she was able to pay tribute to her comedy hero, the late Linda Smith, at a gala to raise money to fight

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...

, from which Smith died. In December 2018, Barnes was named as one of the hardest working comedians of 2018, having driven 30,000 miles, visited 91 venues and performed over 100 shows. After hosting an episode of ''The News Quiz'' in September 2019, she hosted a series in spring 2020, with

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

and

Nish Kumar Nishant Kumar (born 1985) is a British stand-up comedian, television presenter and podcaster. He became known as the host of ''The Mash Report'' on BBC Two and U&Dave, Dave. He has also presented ''Newsjack'' on BBC Radio 4 Extra, ''Joel Domme ...

hosting the other two series in 2020. In January 2020 Barnes began co-hosting the ongoing "less-than-serious history podcast" ''We Are History'' with writer John O'Farrell.

Series

''You Can't Take It With You''

Barnes's stand-up series on

was based on her critically acclaimed début show at the

2014, ''You Can't Take It With You''. The show covers important topics such as life, love, family, work and death. The four-episode series is in part a tribute to her characterful late father, who was a sex shop manager,

naturist Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...

, swinger and an enthusiast for caravans and pranks, and a major influence on Barnes. He taught her a ''

carpe diem () is a Latin aphorism, usually translated "seize the day", taken from book 1 of the Roman poet Horace's work '' Odes'' (23 BC). Translation is the second-person singular present active imperative of '' carpō'' "pick or pluck" used by Ho ...

'' approach to life, and the show takes its name from his motto. This ran for two series, in 2016 and 2019.

''Angela Barnes's Cold War Secrets''

Made with Adnan Ahmed, Barnes spoke to people about the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, and to John Robins about how to survive a nuclear apocalypse.

Campaigns

Following the violent murder of Australian comedian Eurydice Dixon in Melbourne, Barnes led the setting up of ''The Home Safe Collective'', a free cab service for comedians at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe who are members of vulnerable groups to ensure they get home safely from gigs. The scheme won the 2018 panel prize award at the Edinburgh comedy awards.

Personal life

Barnes was diagnosed with

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...

in May 2021. She married her husband Matt in September 2021.

Awards and nominations

* BBC New Comedy Awards 2011: Winner

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Angela 1976 births Living people People from Sidcup Alumni of the University of Sussex 21st-century English actresses 21st-century English comedians Actors from the London Borough of Bexley Actresses from London Actresses from Maidstone BBC people Comedians from Kent Comedians from the London Borough of Bexley Deaf television personalities Deaf entertainers English atheists English deaf people English people with disabilities English radio personalities English stand-up comedians English women comedians People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder