Emma Francesca Sidi ( , born February 1991) is an English actress, comedian and writer for radio, stage and screen.

Early life

Sidi was born to English parents in the United States. Her surname means “sir” in Arabic and comes via her Jewish grandfather. Her father Paul was working in banking at the time and played

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for Harlequins. The family returned to the United Kingdom when Sidi was three years old and, after a career in the City, her father retrained as a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

in Chertsey, Surrey. Sidi was brought up and schooled near

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

before studying French and Spanish at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, which included studying abroad in

Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tuxtla Gutiérrez, or Tuxtla, (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexico, Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, which is the most developed and populous in the state. A busy govern ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Career

In 2016, Sidi appeared in

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, presenter, podcaster and actor. As well as the stand-up specials ''James Acaster: Repertoire, Repertoire'' and ''Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999'', he is known for co-hosting ...

's web series ''Sweet Home Lahnsteineringa'' alongside Jack Barry. The mockumentary received a £5,000 budget from crowdfunding and was filmed in

Lahnstein Lahnstein () is a ''verband''-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz. Lahnstein was created in 1969 by the merger of the previ ...

, Germany.

Stand-up

Sidi was a finalist for the NATYS: New Act of the Year Show in 2016. Her solo shows have often included Sidi playing many different characters. Sidi's

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 ...

show "Character Breakdown", in 2015, saw her play six different roles, including a feminist professor who delivers a lecture entirely in Spanish. Sidi's 2016 show, "Telenovela", included a Mexican soap opera and a European woman who dreams of a life as a

TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people who garnered fam ...

. In 2018 her show "Faces of Grace" included an American fresh from a bizarre blind date and a tearful wannabe '' Love Island'' contestant. There was also an aspiring nurse described as having "a clench-jawed

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

style drawl". In 2024, she performed a one-woman parody Sue Gray show, ''Emma Sidi is Sue Gray'', at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before touring the show nationwide.

Television and radio

Sidi appeared in '' W1A'' and as Vlogger Millipede in the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

-nominated '' Pls Like''. Sidi's other television appearances include in ''

Stath Lets Flats ''Stath Lets Flats'' is a British sitcom created by Jamie Demetriou that aired on Channel 4 from 27 June 2018 to 30 November 2021. The series stars Demetriou as Stath, an awkward and bumbling English Cypriot man who is employed at a London letti ...

'', ''

Drunk History ''Drunk History'' is an American educational comedy television series produced by Comedy Central, based on the Funny or Die web series created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner in 2007. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are the show's executive p ...

'', ''

King Gary ''King Gary'' is a British television comedy series made for the BBC co-created and written by Tom Davis and James De Frond. Davis also stars as the eponymous lead character, Gary King, while De Frond directs. The pilot episode was shown on BBC ...

'', ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' and in '' Starstruck'' with her real life housemate

Rose Matafeo Rose Matafeo (; born 25 February 1992) is a New Zealand comedian, actress and TV presenter. She was a writer and performer on the New Zealand late-night comedy sketch show '' Funny Girls''. In 2018, she won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best S ...

. Sidi has also written and performed on ''

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 June 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Sidi released ''La Princesa de Woking'', a web pilot based on a character from her 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show in which a Spanish-language soap opera is set in a British

cul-de-sac A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet. Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...

. In July 2021, she appeared as Natalie, secretary to ex-prime minister Henry Tobin, on the BBC radio comedy ''Party's Over''. Sidi competed in the eighteenth series of ''Taskmaster'' 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 ...

Babatunde Aléshé Babatunde Aléshé (born 2 August 1986) is a British actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for appearing on several ''Celebrity Gogglebox'' specials, the I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British series 22), 22nd series of I'm a Celebrit ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee (born 24 September 1961) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter, and writer known for his sarcasm, irony, and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ...

and

Rosie Jones Rosie Luisa Jones (born 24 June 1990) is a British comedian, writer and actress. After starting her career as a writer on panel shows, she went on to appear as a guest on '' The Last Leg'', ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdo ...

. She won four episodes, finishing third overall behind Zaltzman and Dee.

Personal life

Sidi was a member of the

Cambridge Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

. She is married to Al Roberts, also her on-screen husband in the TV series '' Starstruck''.
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Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidi, Emma Living people 1991 births Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge English women screenwriters Comedians from Surrey English comedy writers English stand-up comedians English women comedians Actresses from Woking Writers from Surrey Date of birth missing (living people)