Aisling Bea

Aisling Bea is an award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and actor.

Aisling is the creator and star of smash-hit comedy-drama, This Way Up, which first aired on Channel 4 in the UK and Hulu in the US in 2019, obtaining exceptional reviews. Aisling wrote the show, in addition to playing the lead role of Aine and, in 2020, won a BAFTA for Breakthrough Talent for her work on the series. Series 2 launched on Hulu and Channel 4 in July 2021 to widespread critical acclaim, with The Guardian describing it as ‘TV so good it’s indistinguishable from magic.’

Since winning prestigious comedy competition So You Think You’re Funny? in 2012, Aisling has become one of the most in-demand performers in UK and Irish comedy. In 2013 she was nominated for the Fosters Comedy Award for Best Newcomer for her debut Edinburgh show C’est La Bea, which received a plethora of 4 and 5 star reviews in its sold out run. Her second Edinburgh hour, 2015’s Plan Bea, was also a major hit, selling out its entire run before the festival had even started.

As well as her live work, Aisling has fast established herself as a regular on television. She has performed stand-up on BBC 1’s Live At The Apollo, BBC 3’s Russell Howard’s Good News and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala. Aisling also appears regularly on panel shows such as Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, BBC1’s Would I Lie To You and BBC2’s QI and is a previous team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats.  In 2017 Aisling competed on Dave’s hit series Taskmaster and has twice appeared in Channel 4’s Travel Man. Aisling was recently announced as one of the guest judges on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK for 2022.

Aisling is an accomplished LAMDA trained actor with recurring lead roles in both dramas and comedies such as Sky 1’s sitcom Trollied, ITV1’s The Delivery Man (currently on Netflix), Channel 4’s sketch show Cardinal Burns and BBC3’s Dead Boss. Aisling starred alongside Gillian Anderson in Series 3 of award-winning BBC2 crime drama The Fall in 2016 and in 2017 she appeared in new Channel 4 sitcom Gap Year.  In 2018 she played Amelia in Finding Joy which aired on RTE One. Aisling recently took on the role of Rebecca in Love, Wedding, Repeat, a feature film for Notorious Pictures and Tempo Productions to which Netflix have taken worldwide rights.

Aisling frequently works in the US, where her profile is rapidly rising. Aisling had a 15-minute special land on Netflix in 2018, as part of The Comedy Line-Up and she also played one of the leads in Netflix series Living With Yourself, starring opposite Paul Rudd.

• Nominee: BAFTA TV Awards for The Female Performance in a Comedy Programme 2022 (This Way Up)
• Winner: NME Awards Best Actor 2022 (This Way Up)
• Nominee: Writers’ Guild Of Great Britain Best TV Situation Comedy 2021 (This Way Up – Series 2)
• Winner: BAFTA Breakthrough Act 2020
• Nominee: RTS Awards Breakthrough Award 2019
• Winner: British Comedy Awards Best Female TV Comic 2015
• Nominee: Fosters Comedy Award Best Newcomer 2013
• Winner: So You Think You’re Funny 2012

Credits

TV

• QI, BBC2, 2014 – 2023 (Guest)
• The Last Leg, C4, 2017 – 2023 (Guest)
• The Big Narstie Show, C4, 2022 (Guest)
• Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK, BBC1, 2022 (Guest)
• Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains, C4, 2021 (Guest)
• This Way Up, C4 and Hulu, 2019-2021, Series 1-2, (Creator, Writer and role of Aine)
• One Night In, C4, 2021 (Guest)
• I Literally Just Told You, C4, 2021 (Contestant)
• The Kelly Clarkson Show, NBC, 2021 (Guest)
• The Late Late Show with James Corden, CBS, 2021 (Guest)
• Late Night with Seth Meyers, NBC, 2021 (Guest)
• Have I Got News For You, BBC1, 2021 (Guest Host)
• The Jonathan Ross Show, ITV, 2019, 2021 (Guest)
• The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan, C4, 2019, 2021 (Guest)
• The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, C4, 2021 (Guest)
• SU2C: Gogglebox, C4, 2021 (Guest)
• House Of Games, BBC2, 2020 (Guest)
• The Graham Norton Show, BBC1, 2020 (Guest)
• Guessable, Comedy Central, 2020 (Guest)
• The Russell Howard Hour, Sky One, 2020 (Guest)
• The Ranganation, BBC2, 2020 (Guest)
• Billy Connolly: It’s Been A Pleasure, ITV, 2020 (Guest)
• Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas, BBC2, 2020 (Role of Mrs Snitch)
• Quiz, 2020 (Role of Claudia Rosencrantz)
• Living With Yourself, Netflix, 2019 (8 eps)
• 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, C4, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 (Guest)
• 8 Out Of 10 Cats, More4 & E4, 2016-2017, 2019 (Team Captain)
• The Comedy Line Up, Netflix, 2018 (Stand-Up)
• Word of the Year, C4, 2017 (Herself)
• Plebs, ITV2, 2017 (Role of Minerva – 1 ep)
• An Extra Slice, BBC2, 2017 (Herself)
• SU2C Bake Off, C4, 2017 (Herself)
• Taskmaster, Dave, 2017 (Contestant)
• Gap Year, C4, 2017 (Role of Kendra – 2 eps)
• Travel Man, C4, 2017, 2022 (Guest)
• Hard Sun, BBC1/HULU, 2017 (Role of Mari Butler – 5 eps)
• The Fall, C4, 2016-2017 (Role of Nurse Sheridan – 4 eps)
• Damned, C4, 2016 (Role of Anne-Marie – 1 ep)
• Frank Skinner On Demand, BBC iPlayer, 2016 (Guest)
• Big Fat Quiz Of Everything, C4, 2016 (Guest)
• Very British Problems, C4, 2016 (Guest)
• Child Genius, C4, 2016 (Guest)
• Duck Quacks Don’t Echo, Sky 1, 2016 (Guest)
• The O2 Comedy Gala, C4, 2014, 2016 (Stand-Up)
• Insert Name Here, BBC2, 2016, 2017 (Guest)
• Trollied, Sky1, 2014-15 (Role of Charlie – 13 eps)
• A League Of Their Own, Sky 1, 2015, 2016 (Guest)
• Room 101, BBC1, 2016 (Guest)
• The Cloud, C4, 2015 (Actor)
• Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night, C4, 2015 (Presenter/Performer)
• Would I Lie To You, BBC1, 2014, 2015 (Guest)
• Delivery Man, ITV, 2015 (Role of Lisa – 6 eps)
• Vodka Diaries, BBC3, 2014 (Role of Nic – 1 ep)
• Virtually Famous, BBC3, 2014 (Guest)
• Celebrity Squares, ITV, 2014, 2015 (Guest)
• 8 Out Of 10 Cats, C4, 2014 (Guest)
• Live At The Apollo, BBC1, 2014 (Stand-Up)
• The Assets, ABC America, 2014 (Role of Kara Jensen – 1 ep)
• Fit CBBC, 2012 – 2013 (Various – 9 eps)
• Sweat The Small Stuff, BBC3, 2013 (Guest)
• Monumental, BBC NI, 2013 (Guest)
• Russell Howard’s Good News, BBC3, 2013 (Stand-Up)
• Seann Walsh’s Late Night Comedy, BBC3, 2013 (Stand-Up)
• Don’t Sit In The Front Row, Sky Atlantic, 2013 (Guest)
• The Town, ITV, 2012 (Role of Carly – 3 eps)
• Trivia, RTE, 2012 (Role of Ruth – 6 eps)
• In With The Flynns, BBC1, 2012 (Role of Naimah – 1 ep)
• Dead Boss, BBC3, 2012 (Role of Laura – 6 eps)
• Cardinal Burns, C4, 2011, 2012 (Role of Sally – 5 eps)
• The Savage Eye III, RTE, 2009-2011 (Various – 3 eps)
• Holby City, BBC, 2011 (Role of Amelia Warner – 1 ep)
• Lewis, ITV, 2011 (Role of Hotel Receptionist – 1 ep)
• Come Fly With Me, BBC1, 2011 (Role of Mary O’Mara – 1 ep)
• Freedom, BBC, 2010 (Role of Aisling)
• LOL, BBC NI, 2010 (Various – 1 ep)
• Inn mates, BBC3, 2010 (Role of Elf – 1 ep)
• Roy, RTE/CBBC, 2009 (Role of Ticket Girl – 1 ep)
• We Are Klang, BBC, 2009 (Role of Inspector – 1 ep)
• Fair City, RTE, 2009 (Role of Cliodhna Norris – 3 eps)

Writing

• This Way Up (Creator)

Film

• Greatest Days (2023)
• And Mrs (2023)
• Swede Caroline (2022)
• Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)
• Love, Wedding, Repeat (2019)

Radio & Podcasts

• Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast, 2022 (Panellist)
• Talk Art, 2021 (Guest)
• Comedy Bang Bang, 2021 (Guest)
• Wilosophy, 2021 (Guest)
• The Endless Honeymoon, 2021 (Guest)
• Comfort Eating with Grace Dent, 2021 (Guest)
• Table Manners, 2020 (Guest)
• An Irishman Abroad, 2019, 2020 (Guest)
• RHLSTP, 2020 (Guest)
• You Made It Weird, 2020 (Guest)
• Adulting, 2019 (Guest)
• Off Menu, 2019 (Guest)
• Guilty Feminist, Podcast, 2018-2019 (Co-Host)
• Griefcast, Podcast, 2018 (Guest)
• Do The Right Thing, Podcast, 2018 (Guest)
• The Adam Buxton Podcast, 2018 (Guest)
• What is Normal? BBC Radio 2, 2018 (Guest)
• It’s Not What You Know, BBC Radio 4, 2016 (Guest)
• The Unbelievable Truth, BBC Radio 4, 2015, 2016 (Guest)
• Irish Micks and Legends, BBC Radio 4, 2013, 2015 (Writer/Performer)
• Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4, 2014 (Guest)
• Sabotage, BBC Radio 4 Extra, 2014 (Stand-Up)
• Josh Widdicombe Show, XFM, 2014 (Guest)

Press

The standout was Aisling Bea’s set… combining high-quality routines about Covid, Ireland and Jesus in an irresistible goofball package
Guardian (Top 10 Shows Of 2020 – Number 2)

A masterclass in high-impact entertainment.
Evening Standard ★★★★★

An hour of high-energy comedy that is puppyishly irresistible.
The Independent ★★★★★

Certainly lives up to the hype… brilliant material. ★★★★
The List 

A born comedian 
Steve Bennett, Chortle ★★★★

 A physical show and at times beautifully deranged…[Bea has] utter charm that’s not all down to the Irish accent. 
The Herald ★★★★

The opinions and convictions Bea smuggles into her set […] suggest a comic who’ll have meaningful things to say once she’s proven, to everyone’s satisfaction, that she’s got being funny in the bag. On which point: job done.
The Guardian ★★★★

A caustic, sarcastic yet hugely loveable second Fringe hour from the Irish jester.
The List ★★★★

Aisling Bea: unstoppable confidence in bubbly, charismatic show of escapist fantasies…I’m more than happy to be in her fan club.
Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard ★★★★

She returns with another high-energy hour of clowning about and rapid-fire delivery mixed with some astute political observation.
The Arts Desk ★★★★★

Praise for This Way Up

TV so good it’s indistinguishable from magic.
The Guardian ★★★★★

Series two somehow manages to be funnier, kinder and more heartbreaking than its predecessor, and is a perfect testament to Bea’s talent.
The Independent ★★★★★

A series as fiercely realistic as it is funny as it is… well, everything.
The Guardian ★★★★★

Sharp and well observed, probing the fault lines between small talk and real problems.
The Independent ★★★★

This is a comedy about mental health that deftly preys on your fears and pricks your sympathies. At the same time there was a gratifyingly high gag rate.
The Telegraph ★★★★