Catherine Joy "Catie" Wilkins[1] is a British comedian, writer, and podcaster.

Catie Wilkins
Birth nameCatherine Joy Wilkins
Born (1980-10-21) 21 October 1980 (age 44)
Years active2004–present
Spouse
(m. 2012)
Children2

Career

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Wilkins started her career in stand-up comedy in 2004 under the name Catie Wilkins. She appeared on ITV4’s Stand-Up Hero,[2][3] and performed two solo hour shows at the Edinburgh Fringe: A Chip off the Odd Block (2011),[4] which received a nomination from the NOTBBC Best Live Comedy Show,[5][6] and Joy Is My Middle Name (2012)[7] Wilkins' comedy persona is dry, sarcastic and deadpan and her comedy is observational. Her 2011 show focused on being raised in a quirky household and her attempts to be a normal adult, her second show focused on the irony of her middle name Joy. During her time as a stand-up she was invited to write for an episode of News Quiz, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[8]

Wilkins' first book, My Best Friend And Other Enemies, was published by Nosy Crow in 2012. It concerns a girl named Jessica whose best friend goes off with the cool new girl at school. Jessica uses her sense of humour and her cartoon drawing skills to win her back. The Independent listed My Best Friend among the ten best children's books for Christmas in 2012, with reviewer Marianne Levy calling it "properly funny".[9] In 2013, it was also selected for the Bookbuzz reading programme list for Year 7 and Year 8 .[10] A reviewer on The Guardian wrote that it was a "fantastic read" and "couldn't put the book down".[11]

The series continued with My Brilliant Life and Other Disasters in 2013, which was reviewed in The Guardian as one that they would "recommend to anyone, especially fans of Jacqueline Wilson".[12] This was followed by My School Musical And Other Punishments in 2014 and My Great Success And Other Failures in 2015. Catherine's latest book, When Good Geeks Go Bad, was published in 2019.

In 2018, she returned to comedy in co-presenting the podcast Drunk Women Solving Crime with screenwriter Hannah George and writer/comedian Taylor Glenn, produced by Amanda Redman.[13] The show is hosted by Acast and reached number 4 in the podcast chart[which?] when it launched in September 2018.[14] Each week the three co-presenters are joined by a different female guest from the world of comedy, media and broadcasting, who is invited to test their detective skills whilst getting drunk. Guests so far have included Katherine Ryan, Jenny Éclair and London Hughes.[15] Each episode is divided into three sections; the first section involves the guest sharing their own story of experiencing a crime, the second section involves one of the co-presenters telling a true crime story and the other presenters and guest attempting to solve it whilst drinking, and the third section involves the presenters and guest solving a listener-submitted crime. The podcast has also been recorded live at the Pleasance Theatre[16] Although there are several true crime podcasts that involve alcohol, Drunk Women is the first true crime podcast to combine drinking with a special guest whilst actively trying to ‘solve' a crime in a comedy quiz style format.

Personal life

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Wilkins met fellow comedian Richard Herring in 2006, they married in 2012.[17] They had their first child, a daughter, in February 2015, and a son in October 2017.[18]

Wilkins is an atheist; she has written articles for New Humanist magazine, and contributed to the anthology book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas published in 2009.[19]

Books

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  • My Best Friend and Other Enemies (Nosy Crow, 2012) ISBN 978-0857630957[20]
  • My Brilliant Life and Other Disasters (Nosy Crow, 2013) ISBN 978-0857631596[21]
  • My School Musical And Other Punishments (Nosy Crow, 2014) ISBN 978-0857633095
  • My Great Success And Other Failures (Nosy Crow, 2015) ISBN 978-0857634900
  • When Good Geeks Go Bad (Nosy Crow, 2019) ISBN 978-1788000598
  • The Weird Friends Fan Club (Nosy Crow, 2019) ISBN 978-1788005364

References

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  1. ^ "Catie Wilkins: Joy Is My Middle Name". Edinburgh Festival. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  2. ^ Guide, British Comedy. "FHM's Stand-Up Hero - ITV4 Stand-Up". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. ^ Vidal, Ava (11 March 2014). "Sex, vaginas and periods: Why so many comedy clubs are afraid of booking 'too many women'". Retrieved 15 March 2019 – via The Telegraph.
  4. ^ "Catie Wilkins: A Chip Off The Odd Block". Chortle. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  5. ^ "NOTBBC Comedy Awards 2011 Results". NOTBBC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  6. ^ Catie Wilkins. "Comedy Award Nomination". catiewilkins.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Catie Wilkins: Fringe 2012 : Reviews 2012". Chortle. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. ^ "The News Quiz - News - Catie Wilkins". catiewilkins.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  9. ^ Morris, Sophie (14 December 2012). "The 50 Best books for Christmas". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Bookbuzz school reading programme for Year 7 and Year 8 - BookTrust". www.booktrust.org.uk. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  11. ^ AmazedEarthling (28 September 2013). "My Best Friend and Other Enemies by Catherine Wilkins - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  12. ^ Purplerubberduckie (2 January 2014). "My Life and Other Disasters by Catherine Wilkins - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  13. ^ "The swigging detectives : News 2018". Chortle. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Drunk Women Solving Crime Podcast - Listen, Reviews, Charts". chartable.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  15. ^ acast. "Drunk Women Solving Crime on acast". Acast. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  16. ^ "Drunk Women Solving Crime - Pleasance Theatre Trust". www.pleasance.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  17. ^ "A right pair of jokers: The secrets of comedy couples". The Independent. 1 August 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  18. ^ Herring, Richard. "Thursday 5th October 2017 - Warming Up - RichardHerring.com". www.richardherring.com.
  19. ^ Wilkins, Catie (10 August 2010). "Growing up godless". New Humanist. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  20. ^ AmazedEarthling (28 September 2013). "My Best Friend and Other Enemies by Catherine Wilkins - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  21. ^ Purplerubberduckie (2 January 2014). "My Life and Other Disasters by Catherine Wilkins - review". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
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