Karen Taylor
Born (1976-05-05) 5 May 1976 (age 47)
Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England[citation needed]
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian
Years active2001–present
Children2

Karen Taylor (born 5 May 1976)[1] is an English actress and comedian. She is a former finalist in the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award[2] and has fronted her own sketch show on BBC Three, titled Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor.[3]

University

Taylor studied Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick 1994–1998, where she got to know other future actors Stephen Merchant and Hannah Waterman.[citation needed]

Life and career

Taylor was a finalist in the Open Mic Award in 1999 and came further to prominence at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000.[2] Her first major television role was as one of the performers in The Sketch Show on ITV, which ran for two series.[4] She has also fronted FAQ U on Channel 4 and appeared performing with Steve Coogan on a Paul Calf DVD.[4] In 2004, Taylor appeared on an episode of Win, Lose or Draw (a late-night version presented by Liza Tarbuck) for ITV.

In 2007 Taylor fronted her first television sketch show, Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor. It was first aired in June 2007 on BBC Three. Its initial reviews were generally positive.[5][6] The show's "raunchy" and "lascivious" nature was noted by many of the critics, with almost all of the sketches involving characters whose main interest was "sex". Although described as potentially a "one-trick pony", the show was also lauded as "really, really funny" and "more amusing than the last eleventeen sketch shows you can think of".[5] The show returned for a second series in July 2008.[7] That month also saw the release of British comedy film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, in which Taylor starred as the mother of the main character, Georgia.[8]

On 11 November 2011, she appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on the specialist subject of Fred Dibnah. In 2013, she played Elaine Whyte in Father Figure. In September 2014, Taylor appeared in Series 2 Episode 3 of BBC comedy Big School, playing the part of Ryan's mum, Trish. In December 2018 she appeared in Care, a single episode drama (BBC).

Personal life

Taylor married on 15 November 2009.[9] She has two children.[10][11]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2008 Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging Connie Nicolson
2018 Care Claire's Boss TV film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2001–2004 The Sketch Show Various Roles Series regular
2007–2008 Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor Various Roles Series regular
2013 Father Figure Elaine Whyte Series regular
Doctors Rhoda McDonagh Episode: "Two Lemons and a Bar"
2014 Big School Trish 1 episode
2017 Loaded Photographer Episode: "Leon's Teacher"

References

  1. ^ "Myspace.com- karen- 32- Female - UK". Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2008.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ a b Karen Taylor Comedy CV; Accessed 13-06-2007
  3. ^ Karen's sketch show opens Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine North West Evening Mail; 11-06-2007; Accessed 13-06-2007
  4. ^ a b BBC Three orders pilot with Bafta winner from Avalon Television BBC press release; 22-02-2006; Accessed 13-06-2007
  5. ^ a b Watch this McLean, Gareth; The Guardian; 11-06-2007; Accessed 13-06-2007
  6. ^ A Good Sauce of Amusement Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine North West Evening Mail; 12-06-2007; Accessed 13-06-2007
  7. ^ BBC – Comedy – Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor BBC.co.uk
  8. ^ Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008) - Full cast and crew IMDB.com
  9. ^ "karen taylor on Twitter: Ten. Ten years...ten....ten. Years. Tenyears! #Anniversary".
  10. ^ "karen taylor on Twitter: When my 6-year-old daughter said 'it's good to be thin', I got worried but then she said, 'so you get get through small spaces'".
  11. ^ "karen taylor on Twitter: At a pub today and my 4-year-old said it smelled like a shipwreck. #pastlife".

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