Anna Crilly is an English actress and comedian.

Education

Crilly was educated at Kent College, Pembury, and attended

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated to MDX) is a public research university based in Hendon, northwest London, England. The university also has campuses in Dubai and Mauritius. The name of the university is ...

, where she studied performing arts.

Career

She was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny? competition at the

Gilded Balloon Gilded Balloon is a producer and promoter of live entertainment events, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and best known as one of the Big Four venue operators at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe each August. The company has its origins in a venue kno ...

in 2003 and performed two 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 ...

in the following year. In 2004, she was placed at 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 (Funny Women), Lynne Parker in 2002 as a reaction to misogynistic comments from a comedy promoter. Funny Women h ...

Awards. From 2006 to 2011 she played the role of Magda, an Eastern European housekeeper, 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 ...

sitcom ''

Lead Balloon ''Lead Balloon'' is a British sitcom television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic co ...

''. Her

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of Comedy, comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant t ...

performance has been described as "scene-stealing". In 2013 she and regular comedy partner

Katy Wix Katy Victoria J Wix (born 28 February 1980) is a Welsh actress, writer, author and artist. Her television roles include Carole in '' Stath Lets Flats,'' Mary in ''Ghosts'', Barbara in ''Ted Lasso'', and Jules in '' Big Boys''. She has also ap ...

began starring in their own sketch show, '' Anna and Katy'', on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, having originated the show as a ''

Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998. Several pilots first shown on ''Comedy Lab'' have gone on to spawn full seri ...

'' episode the previous year. She stars in the BBC children's comedy series '' Sorry, I've Got No Head'', alongside William Andrews, James Bachman,

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian and actor. 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 son of N ...

Mel Giedroyc Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc ( , ; born 5 June 1968) is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, '' The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC an ...

Marek Larwood Marek Ryan Larwood (born 2 June 1976) is an English comedian, actor and YouTuber. He is best known for the BBC Three sketch show ''Rush Hour'' and for being one third of the comedy trio '' We Are Klang''. Early life Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Larw ...

and

Nick Mohammed Nicholas George Mohammed is a British actor, comedian and writer. He has portrayed the character Mr. Swallow across both stage and television for over a decade. He is the creator of the Sky One comedy series ''Intelligence (British TV series), ...

. In December 2008 Crilly was nominated for a

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 (1 ...

as Best Female Newcomer for her portrayal of Magda in ''

'', but lost out to

Katy Brand Katherine Frances Brand (born 13 January 1979), known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series '' Katy Brand's Big Ass Show'' and for Comedy Lab ''Slap'' on Channel 4. Early life and education Brand ...

. In 2007 she appeared in episode 78, "Susan of Troy", of ''

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 ...

'' as an assistant on ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

''. She also appeared as "woman" in

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

' comedy '' Extras'' as an extra herself (series 2, episode 5). She has also starred in ''Pixelface'', a comedy for children, as a waitress zombie slayer called Claire Parker. In 2011, she appeared in an episode of the sitcom ''

Not Going Out ''Not Going Out'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom created, written by and starring Lee Mack. It has aired on BBC One since 2006 and is the second-longest-running British sitcom, behind ''Last of the Summer Wine'' (1973–2010). Th ...

'', playing the role of a drug misuse counsellor. The same year she had a guest role on the radio series '' Cabin Pressure'' as Linda Fairburn. Crilly plays the lead role as Coma Girl in

's '' Comedy Showcase'', again alongside Katy Wix. She and Wix also appeared together in the Harvey's Furniture Store sponsorship bumpers for ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' until the sponsorship deal ended in 2012. She plays Mel Gatwick in

Tom Basden Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for co-creating and starring in ''Plebs'', which won the Royal Television Society award for Best Scripted Comedy in 2014. He was nominated ...

's sitcom ''

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

'' 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 ...

. On 22 June 2012, she played Gertrude Wermers in the third episode of BBC series '' Dead Boss''. In 2016, she appeared in an episode of

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 ...

's comedy series ''Witless''. In 2017, she appeared in ''

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

'' episode "Man Overboard". Crilly portrayed Detective Sergeant Natalie Golding in the 2023

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

drama ''

The Sixth Commandment ''The Sixth Commandment'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring William Faversham. Plot John Brant, a devoted minister, is in love with Marian Calhoun, but must keep it a secret because she is engaged to ...

'', which portrayed the crimes of Ben Field. In October 2023 Crilly appeared in '' Ghosts (2019 British TV series) '' as an insurance investigator.

Filmography

TV

Personal life

Crilly is married to British comedian William Andrews. Crilly's brother is journalist and author Robert Crilly.

References

External links

* * Living people Alumni of Middlesex University English stand-up comedians English television actresses English women comedians People educated at Kent College, Pembury People from Pembury Actresses from Kent Year of birth missing (living people) Actors from the Borough of Tunbridge Wells {{UK-comedian-stub