Cariad Lloyd
Lloyd in 2018
Born
Katie Cariad Lloyd

(1982-08-21) 21 August 1982 (age 41)
Barnet, London, England[1]
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actress
  • writer
  • podcaster
Years active2006–present
Children2
Websitecariadlloyd.com

Katie Cariad Lloyd (born 21 August 1982) is a British comedian, actress, writer, and podcaster. [2] A member of the improvisational comedy group Austentatious, the host and creator of Griefcast, and an improv teacher, she has been performing since 2007.[3]

Lloyd was nominated in 2011 for Best Newcomer at the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her debut solo show, Lady Cariad's Characters. She also won the Edtwinge award for most positively tweeted-about show during the Fringe.[4]

Lloyd's podcast, Griefcast has won several awards, including best Entertainment Podcast and Podcast of the Year at the British Podcast Awards and an ARIA Award for Best Podcast.[5]

In November 2023, it was announced that Lloyd signed a five-book deal with Hachette Children's Group.[6]

Early life

Lloyd was born in North London. She is of Welsh descent on her father’s side.[7] He died of pancreatic cancer in 1998, aged 44,[8] when she was 15.[9]

She studied English literature at the University of Sussex, where she first met her friend and fellow comedian Sara Pascoe.[10] Lloyd worked with Pascoe as a tour guide on open-top buses in London.[11] She has also mentioned working at a call-centre on Would I Lie To You? and as a barmaid on QI.

Career

Television and radio work

Lloyd has performed in numerous sketches on BBC Comedy Online including Funtime (a Dawson Bros. pilot), The Proposal[12] and Dirty Dancing.[13] She has performed for the BBC Radio 4 shows Newsjack, My First Planet, The Now Show, Small Scenes and The Guns of Adam Riches.

Lloyd has appeared on television shows such as Channel 4's Cardinal Burns and CBBC's Fit and DNN and in films such as Baby Cow Productions' Caravan and Film4's Hallo Panda.

She wrote and performed in her own comedy pilot for BBC Three, The Cariad Show. In May 2014, BBC Radio 4 aired a pilot for The Cariad Radio Show, which was featured on the BBC Comedy of the Week podcast. Since 2014, she has been co-writing and performing in the BBC Radio Wales sketch comedy show Here Be Dragons.

In 2014, Lloyd starred as Holly in the BBC Three comedy pilot Vodka Diaries and as Poppy in the comedy series Give Out Girls on Comedy Central. In 2015, she played Dawn, a warden in a young offenders' institution in the BBC Three comedy series Crims. In 2016 she appeared in the initial two episodes of Walliams & Friend on BBC One. She was also a series regular, playing several semi-improvised characters on Murder in Successville with Tom Davis.

Lloyd is a regular panellist on QI, having appeared in 12 episodes as of January 2022. She has also appeared on Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You?, The News Quiz and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

She appeared in the final series of Peep Show as Megan.

In 2020, she appeared in Sara Pascoe's comedy series Out of Her Mind for BBC television.[14]

In March 2021, she presented the BBC Radio 4 programme What Have We Learnt About Grief? This programme mentioned the work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

Live performance

Lloyd has performed in a variety of live shows since 2006, including The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd[15] at Edinburgh Festival Fringe[16] in 2012. In 2013, she performed in The 50 Hour Improvathon at Hoxton Hall,[17] and The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd at Soho Theatre[18] among others.[19] In 2014, she performed at the Edinburgh Fringe with Louise Ford in Cariad and Louise's Character Hour.[20]

Lloyd is a member of the improvisational comedy group Austentatious. In 2014, the show won the Chortle Award for Best Character, Improv or Sketch Act,[21] and two DVDs of one of their live shows have been released by Go Faster Stripe in 2015 and 2018.[22] Other members of the group include Rachel Parris, Amy Cooke-Hodgson and Joseph Morpurgo.

Writing

Lloyd has written a book, You Are Not Alone[23] that deals with personal grief, in her case the death of a parent, her father in 1998 at the age of 44. The Times's review has described the book as, "A blackly funny, honest, thought-provoking and compassionate book that will be of comfort to all who know loss".[8]

Podcasts

Lloyd created and hosts the podcast Griefcast, a series of conversations about death, bereavement, and coping with the loss of a loved one. It has won several awards, including: "Best Entertainment Podcast", "Best Interview Podcast" and "Podcast of the Year" at the British Podcast Awards[24] and an ARIA Award for "Podcast of the Year".[25]

Lloyd has appeared on other comedians' podcasts including Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown in 2012, Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2016 and Do the Right Thing in 2017.[26]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2012–14 Comedy Feeds Various/Holly Episodes: "Dawson Bros. Funtime", "The Cariad Show" and "Vodka Diaries"
2013 Badults Fiona Episode: "Past"
2014 Give Out Girls Poppy Main role
2014 Crackanory Mary Hardacre / Sheila / Tamsin Live action actor
2014 Siblings Debbie Episode: "Balcombe Funeral"
2014 Toast of London Lindy Makehouse Episode: "Buried Alive"
2015 Crims Dawn Recurring role
2015 The Delivery Man Alice Episode: "Truth"
2015 Inside No. 9 Gemma Episode: "Séance Time"
2015–17 Murder in Successville Various Series regular
2015, 2017, 2019 Have I Got News for You Guest panellist Episodes: 49.07, 53.05 and 57.05
2015 Peep Show Megan Series 9
2015–19 QI Panellist Episodes: "Miscellany", "Making a Meal of It", "Naming Names", "Nature/Nurture", "Noodles", "Organisms", "Objects and Ornaments", "Pubs", "Phenomenal", "Quintessential", "Qanimals", "Secrets, Spies and Sleuths"
2015 I Want My Wife Back Keeley Series Regular
2016 Drunk History: UK Anne Boleyn
2016, 2017 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Panellist Episodes: 8.02, 11.07 and 14.01
2017 Josh Karen Series 3 Episode 3: "Bicycles & Babies"
2017, 2020 Pointless Celebrities Contestant Episodes: Aired 10 February 2018; 18 January 2020
2018 Would I Lie to You? Panellist Series 11 Episode 7
2019 This Time with Alan Partridge Alice Fluck Series 1 Episode 1
Hypothetical Guest Series 1 Episode 8
Lee and Dean Dani Series 2 Episodes 1 to 5
2020 Tourist Trap Llinos Lyn Episode "Screen"
Sick of It Stallholder Episode "Use by Date"
Out of Her Mind Scoopy 5 episodes
The Witchfinder Dorothy 1 episode
2023 Changing Ends Ms. Gideon 2 episodes
Tabby McTat Prunella (voice) Upcoming

References

  1. ^ "Cariad Lloyd". IMDb. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  2. ^ "Cariad Lloyd, comedian tour dates". Chortle. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Cariad Lloyd". Great British Speakers.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "BBC Three – Comedy At The Fringe – Cariad Lloyd". BBC.
  5. ^ "Podcast: Griefcast — laughing in the face of death". Financial Times. 27 May 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Hachette Children's Group signs five-book deal with 'incredibly talented' Lloyd". The Bookseller. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  7. ^ Neil (3 August 2013). "Behind The Improv: Cariad Lloyd". LowerTheTone. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  8. ^ a b Power, Marianne (14 January 2023). "You Are Not Alone by Cariad Lloyd review — a modern guide to grief". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (28 July 2018). "Cariad Lloyd: 'I wanted to thank the dead people. This only exists because they died'". The Guardian.
  10. ^ Grainger, Jed (2 April 2017). "Interview: Cariad Lloyd". The Badger.
  11. ^ Guide, British Comedy. "RHLSTP 99 – Cariad Lloyd – RHLSTP with Richard Herring". British Comedy Guide.
  12. ^ BBC Online "Cariad Lloyd The Proposal"
  13. ^ BBC Online "Dirty Dancing" 2012
  14. ^ "Out of Her Mind". BBC. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Cariad Lloyd: The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd, Pleasance Courtyard". The Independent. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Cariad Lloyd Edinburgh Review". The Independent. 26 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Extempore Theatre presents The sixth annual London 50-hour Improvathon". Hoxton Hall. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Cariad Lloyd: The Freewheelin' Cariad Lloyd". Soho Theatre Company Ltd. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Cariad Lloyd – Gigs". Archived from the original on 5 August 2013.
  20. ^ "Cariad and Louise's Character Hour". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  21. ^ "Chortle Awards 2014: Best character, improv or sketch group: Austentatious" – via YouTube.
  22. ^ "DVD review: Austentatious : DVD and CD reviews 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". Chortle.
  23. ^ "You Are Not Alone". Bloomsbury. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
    - Bennett, Steve. "Cariad Lloyd writes a book about grief". Chortle.
    - Lloyd, Cariad (19 January 2023). You Are Not Alone (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Tonic.
  24. ^ "British Podcast Awards 2018: Cariad Lloyd's Griefcast sweeps the board". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
  25. ^ Runcie, Charlotte (7 April 2021). "Cariad Lloyd's radio show about grief is so much more than just a comfort". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  26. ^ "Series 2, Episode 6 (Window) – Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown". British Comedy Guide.
    - "2017 Summer Special 1 (Cariad Lloyd & Phil Wang) – Do The Right Thing". British Comedy Guide.

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