Susan Calman
| Susan Calman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Medium | Stand-up |
| Nationality | British |
Susan Calman is a Scottish comedian and a frequent panellist on BBC Radio 4 topical shows The News Quiz and I Guess That's Why They Call It The News. She has appeared in Channel 4 sketch shows[1] and covers for Fred MacAulay on his BBC Radio Scotland show.[2] She has also appeared in Rab C. Nesbitt. Calman is a regular performer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at The Stand Comedy Club.
Education and legal career
Calman went to The High School of Glasgow [3] and then went on to study law at Glasgow University, winning a Judge Brennan scholarship and a three-month stint in North Carolina working with criminals on death row.[4] She gradually became dissatisfied with working as a specialist in freedom of information and data protection and developed her stand-up comedy during evenings, eventually giving up her job with Dundas & Wilson to develop a career in comedy.[4]
Comedy career
She reached the semi-finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2005 and was a finalist in the Funny Women competition in 2006.[4] Along with the rest of the cast of Channel 4’s sketch show Blowout, she won a Scottish BAFTA in 2007, and in 2009 she was awarded the Best New Scottish Comedian at the Real Radio Variety Awards.[4]
Personal life
Calman is the daughter of Anne Wilkie and Sir Kenneth Calman, chancellor of Glasgow University and former chief medical officer for England and Scotland.[4] She has a sister and brother.
Calman came out as a lesbian at the age of 19 and has spoken of her difficulties growing up gay in Glasgow. "It wasn't easy, not at all. Glasgow is a lovely city, but when I was growing up there was one lesbian bar, and there was a club for men, but there was no internet, there was no way of finding out [about other people]."[5] After nine years together Calman and her partner (a fellow lawyer) had their civil partnership ceremony in the summer of 2012.[5]
Image
The Times commented that Calman's "status as a diminutive lesbian — she is 4ft 11in — gives a certain grist to her mill but, her Hobbit-like stature aside, what strikes you about her is her chirpy, optimistic level-headedness."[4]
References
- ^ Kettle, James (6 March 2010). "This week's comedy previews". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "Susan Calman sits in". BBC Radio Scotland. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ http://m.scotsman.com/news/so-would-you-heckle-a-lawyer-1-1128535
- ^ a b c d e f Bowditch, Gillian (26 July 2009). "Susan Calman: the lawyer who became our pint-sized new comic pin-up". The Times. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ a b Saner, Emine (3 March 2012). "Saturday interview: comedian Susan Calman". The Guardian.
