Jessica Knappett
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Jessica Amy Knappett (born 9 April 1984) is an English comedian, actress, and writer. She is the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of the E4 sitcom '' Drifters'', and appeared as Lisa in ''
The Inbetweeners Movie ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' (known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America) is a 2011 British Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age teen film, teen adventure film, adventure comedy film based on the E4 (channel), E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners' ...
''. She was also one of the writers on the BBC1 sitcom '' Avoidance'', in which she co-stars.


Early life

Jessica Amy Knappett was born in
Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is sited on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The town had a population of 18,040 at the United Kingdom ...
,
West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...
. She attended
Woodhouse Grove School Woodhouse Grove School ('The Grove') is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational, Boarding school, day and boarding school and sixth form. it is located to the north of Apperley Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (Apperle ...
in nearby
Apperley Bridge Apperley Bridge is a village in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England in the Idle and Thackley Ward. Apperley Bridge is north-east of Bradford on the boundary with the City of Leeds bounded in the east b ...
before studying Drama and English at the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
. She was a co-founder of Lady Garden, a
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
group formed in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in 2005. The group performed 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 2008, 2009, and 2010. They also toured throughout England, performing at comedy festivals in Sheffield, Manchester, and
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 ...
in 2008. They were Hackney New Act & Laughing Horse finalists in 2009.


Career

Knappett was the creator, writer, executive producer, and star of the E4 sitcom '' Drifters'', in which she played Meg. She described the show as a semi-autobiographical and therapeutic re-writing of her own history. It was repeated on Channel 4, and commissioned for a further three seasons. Knappett played Lisa in ''
The Inbetweeners Movie ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' (known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America) is a 2011 British Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age teen film, teen adventure film, adventure comedy film based on the E4 (channel), E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners' ...
'' and appeared in the
Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has ap ...
Movie '' Alpha Papa'' and the TV film ''Irreversible''. Other credits include ''
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 ...
'' 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 ...
, '' Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge'' for
Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
, '' Twenty Twelve'' for
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 ...
, ''Meet the Parents'' for E4, and '' How Not to Live Your Life'' and '' Lunch Monkeys'' for
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 ...
. She also played Carly in the
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 ...
comedy series ''Shedtown'' alongside
Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour. Ve ...
. She has recorded a string of pilot episodes, including ''Everything Happens for No Reason'' written by
Richard Herring Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leadin ...
, alongside
Noel Fielding Noel Fielding (; born 21 May 1973) is an English comedian, artist, and actor. He was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and has been a co-presenter of ''The Great British Bake Off'' since 2017. He is kn ...
. Knappett appearances on panel shows include ''
8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' (stylised as ''8 out of 10 CATS'') is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from ...
'', ''
Hypothetical A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess or tho ...
'', and ''
The Last Leg ''The Last Leg'' (known during its first series as ''The Last Leg with Adam Hills'' and in Australia as ''Adam Hills: The Last Leg'') is a British late-night television humorous talk/sketch show that originally ran alongside the 2012 Summer Par ...
''. She has written for ''
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 ...
''. She was a contestant on the seventh season 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 comedy gameshow '' Taskmaster'', falling off the stage during a task in one episode. The stage extension was later named The Knappett in her honour.


Personal life

Knappett married Dan Crane in September 2016. They have two children and live in
Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within ...
. Jessica's brother, Ben Knappett, is a television producer who also worked on '' Drifters'' as a writer.


Filmography


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knappett, Jessica 1984 births 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English actresses Actors from Bingley Actresses from West Yorkshire Alumni of the University of Manchester Comedians from West Yorkshire English comedy writers English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English women comedians Living people Writers from West Yorkshire