Alison Spittle | |
---|---|
Pseudonym | Flapjack Lumberjack |
Born | [1] Harrow, London, United Kingdom | 14 June 1989
Nationality | Irish |
Alison Spittle (born 14 June 1989) is an Irish comedian, comedy writer, radio producer and actor.[2][1][3] She has worked for iRadio,[1] RTÉ Radio 1[1] and Newstalk[4] and created sketches for Republic of Telly and has written and starred in her RTÉ Two sit-com Nowhere Fast in 2017.[2][5][6][7] She is the host and creator of the Alison Spittle Show podcast hosted by HeadStuff Podcast Network.[3][8][9][5][2][10]
Spittle was born in Harrow, London.[11][1] Spittle's father was a builder.[1][11][5] The family moved frequently, including to Dresden, Germany, before moving to Spittle's mother's ancestral home of County Westmeath, Tyrrellspass, Mullingar and finally Ballymore at age eight.[1][11][12][5][13] She attended secondary school in Moate.[13]
Graduating from college in Dublin,[2] Spittle moved back to Westmeath where she worked as a researcher for iRadio with comedian Bernard O'Shea.[1][11][5] She began working in comedy, supporting PJ Gallagher.[11] This led to her participation in So You Think You're Funny's Irish heats, qualifying for rounds in Edinburgh.[1][13] She got a guest spot on the "Happy Hour" section of the John Murray Show RTÉ Radio 1 from this success.[1]
Her comedy shows have included Alison Spittle Needs an Agent, Alison Spittle Discovers Hawaii (2015),[11][13] and Worrier Princess (2017).[2][11] She has performed at the Edinburgh and Dublin fringe festivals,[11] as well as The Forbidden Fruit and Cork Comedy festivals.[12][2]
Spittle wrote and starred in web comedy shorts for RTÉ Two, and in sketches for Republic of Telly with Kevin McGahern.[2][13]
She was a regular contributor to The Right Hook with George Hook on Newstalk.[2][4] She is also a regular and well-loved co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast with Deborah Francis-White.
She appeared in the 2019 comedy film Extra Ordinary.
In 2020, she and fellow comedian Fern Brady started a podcast for the BBC called Wheel of Misfortune.[14] Brady left the podcast in early 2021 and Spittle hosted the show with guests until Kerry Katona became permanent co-host in November 2022.[15]
In November 2023, she appeared on gameshow Richard Osman's House of Games. She finished in 2nd place, with Clive Anderson winning by just one point.
In 2017, she co-wrote six-part sitcom Nowhere Fast with her boyfriend Simon Mulholland.[2][13][5] The series was directed by Simon Gibney.[5] The show sees Angela (played by Spittle) moving back down to Ballybeag in the midlands, having lost her job on a radio show in Dublin following a high-profile libel case.[16] The series began in November 2017, and was generally well received by critics and viewers.[5][6][7]
In January 2022, Alison announced she had quit all social media after eating some pink chicken and realising she needed to turn her life around.[17]