Keara Patricia Murphy is a stand-up comedian, actor and playwright from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. She has named

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, musician, television presenter, artist and retired stand-up comedian. He is sometimes known by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his idiosyncratic and of ...

as an early influence.

Biography

Her father was an optician from Scotland and her mother came from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Murphy has worked as a housing officer with Glasgow City Council, caseworker at the Hamish Allan Centre, and drama teacher, and moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1999. She studied drama, and graduated with distinction from

Queen Margaret University College Queen Margaret University is a public university located wholly within the county of East Lothian on the outskirts of Musselburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Scottish Queen Saint Margaret (1045–1093). The university can trace its ...

in 2002. She lived and worked in Central and Eastern Europe from 2003 to 2005, and ran a comedy club in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. She appeared in the films '' The Best Man'' (2005) and ''

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

'' (2006). She has written three plays about

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

and presented three programmes about him on

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

. In 2012 Murphy's show at the Glasgow Comedy Festival focused on her unsuccessful relationships. It was called ''Flypaper for Freaks''. In 2013 her comedy series, ''The Shark's Mouth'', was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland. ''Mistress MacKenzie and Friends'', a spin-off series, followed in 2014. Murphy's 2016 play ''The Secret Sex Life of Robert Burns'' discusses some of the national poet's romantic affairs from the points of view of the women affected, and is the first production by Murphy's Blue Eyed Lassie company, which aims to encourage female artists in Scotland.

Plays

*''Mice and Women'' *''The Bard and I'' *''The Secret Sex Life of Robert Burns''

Documentaries

*''The Secret Sex Life of Robert Burns'' *''The Secret Tax Life of Robert Burns'' *''The Secret Rock 'n' Roll Life of Robert Burns''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Keara Living people Scottish stand-up comedians Actresses from Glasgow Alumni of Queen Margaret University Comedians from Glasgow Scottish people of Northern Ireland descent Scottish women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Glasgow 21st-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish actresses 1967 births