Aisling Bea

Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea, is an Irish comedian, actress and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series This Way Up on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she won the "So You Think You're Funny?" award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012, being only the second woman to win the award in its then twenty-five year history. She also appears regularly on light entertainment comedy panel shows such as QI and 8 Out of 10 Cats. Early life and education Bea was born in Kildare, Ireland. Her father, Brian, was a horse veterinarian who died by suicide when Bea was three years old; she was not told how he had died until she was 13. She adopted the stage surname "Bea" as a tribute to her father, taking it from a short form of his first name. Bea and her younger sister, Sinéad, were raised by their mother, Helen (née Moloney), a secondary school teacher who had previously trained jockeys at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education and was herself a professional jockey. Her family was "obsessed" with horses and race meetings. In her youth, Bea worked as a tour guide at the Irish National Stud, but knew from a young age that she was not interested in the horse racing industry and instead loved performing. Her great-aunt was playwright Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin, and musician Liam O'Flynn was a family friend. Bea was educated at Presentation Secondary School, Kildare Town, a Catholic school, and studied French and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. While there, she was part of a student sketch comedy group. She then studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Career After graduating from drama school, Bea spent two years trying to get work in theatre as a dramatic actress. Instead, she was cast mainly in comedic television series including Cardinal Burns and Dead Boss (both 2012). While filming Dead Boss in 2011, Bea decided to try stand-up comedy. In 2012, she won The Gilded Balloon So You Think You're Funny award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and, in 2013, was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her show C'est La Bea.