Kate Smurthwaite

Kate Smurthwaite

Kate Smurthwaite leads the chants at Reclaim The Night, London, 26 November 2011
Born (1975-12-09) 9 December 1975
London, England
Medium Stand-up, television, radio
Nationality British
Years active 2004-present
Genres Satire, political satire, news satire, observational comedy
Website katesmurthwaite.co.uk

Kate Smurthwaite (born 9 December 1975) is a British stand-up comedian[1] and political activist.[2] A radical feminist, she regularly[3] appears on British television and radio as a pundit, offering opinion and comment on subjects ranging from politics to religion.

She performs stand-up around the UK and overseas. A clip of Smurthwaite appearing on BBC One's The Big Questions in 2010 went viral when it was shared on YouTube and other video sharing websites under the title "Atheist Bitchslap", attracting over 3.2 million views.[4]

Early life

Smurthwaite was born on 9 December 1975 in London but grew up in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. She studied Mathematics at Lincoln College, Oxford from 1994 to 1997. After leaving college she worked in London and Japan as an investment banker, specifically within convertible bond research for UBS Warburg.[5]

Comedy

Smurthwaite on "breaking the rules" and the purpose of comedy.

Smurthwaite started performing comedy in early 2004.[6] In 2008 she was a finalist in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition.[7]

Smurthwaite has toured internationally, appearing in Stockholm, Sweden[8] and Tampere, Finland and has appeared several times at the Malmö Comedy Festival in Sweden.[9]

In 2011, Smurthwaite toured as support for Shazia Mirza[10] and also returned to the town she grew up in and opened the Bury St Edmunds Fringe festival.[11] She performs at many charitable benefit shows such as the No More Page Three show at the Harold Pinter Theatre,[12] and appears at regular benefits for Sex Appeal at the Bloomsbury Theatre[13][14] (organised by Brook charity) and for Eaves Housing at Soho Theatre and Bloomsbury Theatre.[15][16]

Smurthwaite also teaches stand-up comedy through the City Academy in London.[17]

Edinburgh shows

In 2013 Smurthwaite was awarded a ThreeWeeks Editors' Award for her News At Kate shows, citing them as a "Fringe Institution".[21] In 2014 her science show The Evolution Will be Televised was nominated for a Creative Carbon Scotland Fringe Sustainable Practice Award.[22] Other Edinburgh Fringe shows Smurthwaite has appeared in include Spank!,[23] which she has hosted as well as being a guest performer, Political Animal, Nicholas Parsons' Happy Hour and SetList.[24]

Activism and journalism

Faced with criticism of the term "feminist", Smurthwaite presented an alternative (QED 2015).

Smurthwaite is the vice-chair and media spokesperson for British NGO Abortion Rights UK[25] and a member of London Feminist Network and the National Secular Society. She is also on the board of the Edinburgh Fringe Society.[26]

In October 2009 Smurthwaite took a place on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth as part of Antony Gormley's One & Other project, impersonating with permission the Irish pro-choice campaigner Goretti Horgan who was unable to attend. She used the platform to highlight the disparity between abortion access in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland.[27][28]

In July 2010 Smurthwaite protested at the lavish funeral of writer Sebastian Horsley with a sign reading "Where are the horse-drawn carriages for the VICTIMS of prostitution?",[29] attracting both praise and criticism.[30] Smurthwaite has spoken at numerous rallies including the Rally for Free Expression,[31] the rally against Tory MP Nadine Dorries abstinence only sex education bill[32] and the abortion rights rally in London following the death of Savita Halappanavar.[33]

Smurthwaite performed at the five-year anniversary party for the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain,[34] and has hosted and spoken at a number of conferences including Feminism In London in 2008, 2009 and 2010[35][36][37] and Intersect in Bristol in 2012.[38] Recently she has given talks about sex and about the intersect between atheism and feminism for student groups and branches of Sceptics in the Pub[39][40] In June 2014 she was a guest speaker at the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham Humanists.

In 2014 Smurthwaite was interviewed by the No More Page 3 campaign describing herself as a "passionate atheist" and not prudish in any way. She went on to talk about her battle with anorexia in her teens, "a part of me, almost consciously, made that decision that said, "I don't want to look like an adult woman because of the way that adult women are treated, as sex objects, I'm just going to starve myself, and if I don't ever grow boobs then nobody will ever be able to treat me like that and if I just stay looking like a young girl, by being stick thin, I'll be protected from that.", and I remember thinking that very consciously... A few years later I was down to under seven stone, and I'm quite tall and I was very ill, I didn't have periods for about 18 months, yeah I was very, very sick."[41]

Smurthwaite has written for The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, The Independent, Stylist, The Scotsman, The Huffington Post, New Internationalist, The F-Word, Liberal Conspiracy, Progressive Women, Big Smoke and London Is Funny. She also has a regular column in the National Union of Teachers's official magazine, The Teacher, as well as making regular posts to her own blog, Cruella blog.[42] Her writing for The Independent has included articles about her grassroots work teaching English to female asylum seekers with the group Women Asylum Seekers Together, supported by Women for Refugee Women.[43][44]

Television and radio appearances

Bread and Roses interview with Namazie on religion and free speech.

Smurthwaite was a morning show presenter on Radio Jackie in 2006[45] and co-presented a show on Leith FM during the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe.[46] She appears regularly with Jason Mohammad on BBC Radio Wales's lunchtime phone-in show and as part of BBC London's Lady Lounge with Kath Melandri. In May 2012 Smurthwaite recorded a 15-minute program for the BBC Radio 4series Four Thought about sexism in comedy.[47]

Smurthwaite has also appeared on BBC Breakfast (including the first edition of the show broadcast from Salford).[48]

On 25 October 2013 Smurthwaite took part in the 100 Women event hosted by the BBC. The day featured debate and discussion on radio, television and online, in which the participants were asked to give their opinion on the position of women in the 21st Century.[49]

Smurthwaite was a credited writer on the second series of The Revolution Will Be Televised, which was first broadcast on BBC Three on 10 November 2013.[50]

Smurthwaite appeared as a panellist on Question Time on 30 January 2014[51] which was broadcast from St. Andrew's Hall in Norwich. The other panellists on the show were Ken Clarke, Emily Thornberry, Lord Oakeshott and Mark Littlewood.

Goldsmith's cancellation

In February 2015 Smurthwaite had been invited to perform her Leftie Cock Womble, largely about freedom of speech, at Goldsmith's College, by the Comedy Society. The Feminist Society had voted to allow the show to go ahead, but some of the losing minority threatened to picket the show, over Smurthwaite's views on legalising the sex industry. Smurthwaite was contacted by the college about the cancelling of the show. Smurthwaite was told that "it was due to a likelihood of a breach of Goldsmiths’ ‘safe space policy’." After being informed by Smurthwaite of the proposed picketing, the Comedy Society also decided to pull the show.[52]

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Simon Kelner (18 December 2015). "A cure for trolling is surely staring us in the face". The Independent. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Rupert Myers (3 February 2015). "Kate Smurthwaite: the comedian who confused no interest with no platform". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Liz Nice (14 November 2014). "Bury comedian Kate Smurthwaite comes home to the Apex". Ipswich Star. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Roz Laws (29 September 2014). "Cherry Reds plays host to Comedian Kate Smurthwaite". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Nibayashi, Maki. "Life In Japan". Metropolis Magazine. Japan Partnership Inc. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Steve Bennett (5 August 2013). "Kate Smurthwaite: The News at Kate 2013 My Professional Opinion". Chortle. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Christian Steel (February 2008). "Hackney Empire New Act Final 2008". Chortle. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "Edge Comedy". Allt Om Stockholm. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Kate Smurthwaite (27 March 2014). "Let's celebrate a rare victory for safe sex among teenagers". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  10. ↑ The British Comedy Guide, The News at Kate 2011
  11. ↑ East Anglian Daily Times, Festival of arts kicks off with comedy acts
  12. ↑ Not All Who Wonder Are Lost, Stand Up To Sexism and No More Page 3: How one night of comedy proved sexism is still no laughing matter
  13. ↑ Look To The Stars, Al Murray Has Sex Appeal For Charity
  14. ↑ Ian Dickerson. "Sex Appeal Five". Sex Appeal Five.
  15. ↑ Eaves Charity, Eaves and comedian James Mullinger to host comedy night
  16. ↑ Eaves Charity, Comedy night raises over £3,500 for Eaves
  17. ↑ City Academy, Profile
  18. ↑ Chortle Profile
  19. ↑ "Kate Smurthwaite: The Wrong Sort of Feminist". Chortle. 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  20. ↑ Catherine Jones (21 August 2015). "45 Liverpool Comedy Festival shows for a fiver". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  21. ↑ ThreeWeeks,ThreeWeeks Editors' Awards Presented
  22. ↑ EdFringe, 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Award Winners
  23. ↑ YouTube, Kate Smurthwaite takes on some drunk hecklers at Spank
  24. ↑ Cruella. "The News At Kate".
  25. ↑ The Huffington Post, Profile
  26. ↑ The Edinburgh Fringe Society, Board of Directors
  27. ↑ BBC Living Forgery
  28. ↑ The F-Word, Kate on Fourth Plinth in abortion access protest
  29. ↑ Too Much To Say For Myself, 1 misogynist down, but so many more to go….
  30. ↑ Mumsnet, Kate Smurthwaite of Cruella Blog pickets Sebastian Horsley's funeral
  31. ↑ YouTube, Comedian Kate Smurthwaite on Free Expression
  32. ↑ YouTube, Kate Smurthwaite at the Stop Dorries Sex Education Bill Rally 20/01/2012
  33. ↑ Irish Times, Husband highlighted 'barbaric laws'
  34. ↑ YouTube, taking a mickey out of god - Kate Smurthwaite - CEMB's 5th anniversary - June 2012
  35. ↑ Feminism in London, ...speakers at Feminism in London 2008
  36. ↑ Feminism in London, ...speakers and workshop facilitators at Feminism in London 2009.
  37. ↑ Feminism in London, ...speakers and workshop facilitators at Feminism in London 2010.
  38. ↑ "Kate Smurthwaite".
  39. ↑ Tunbridge Wells SitP, Why Good Sex Matters and How We Can All Have It
  40. ↑ Wherevent, Cambridge University Atheist and Agnostic Society (CUAAS), Kate Smurthwaite: Why atheism needs feminism and feminism needs atheism
  41. ↑ Tina Edwards (host) and Kate Smurthwaite (guest) (12 May 2014). No More Page 3 interview Kate Smurthwaite (Video). Tina Edwards (for No More Page 3) via YouTube. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  42. ↑ "Cruella-blog".
  43. ↑ Progressive Women, Women for Refugee Women
  44. ↑ The Independent, Blogs, Asylum seekers: When the questions tell us so much more than the answers
  45. ↑ "Radio Jackie Photos :: General Photos :: 1087".
  46. ↑ Chortle , Laugh Tracks 2011: The playlist
  47. ↑ BBC, Radio 4, Four Thought
  48. ↑ The Daily Mail, Well that's one way to end the London bias on BBC Breakfast! Now the show is dominated by the North-West
  49. ↑ BBC News, 100 Women: Who is taking part?
  50. ↑ BBC, The Revolution Will Be Televised: Episode 1 broadcast dates
  51. ↑ BBC, Question Time episodes
  52. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/feb/02/goldsmiths-comedian-kate-smurthwaite-free-speech-show-feminist-campaigners
  53. ↑ Platform 51, Woman of the week
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