Joanne McNally (born 7 May 1983) is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer, and actress. McNally was the co-host of Republic of Telly[1] for RTÉ and has also appeared on The Late Late Show, The Afternoon Show, Ireland AM, Two Tube, and The Commute for RTÉ. As well as segments on RTÉ 2fm, McNally co-hosts a podcast called My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams.

Joanne McNally
Born (1983-05-07) 7 May 1983 (age 40)
Occupation(s)Stand-up comedian, writer, actress
Years active2013–present

Early life edit

McNally was born in Roscommon; her biological father left her mother before Joanne's birth. McNally was raised by her adoptive family in Killiney, Dublin.[2][3]

Career edit

McNally performed in her first stage show. Singlehood in 2014 where she and seven other people stood on stage and told stories about their love lives. It was here she was spotted by comedian PJ Gallagher who brought her into stand-up comedy. McNally supported Gallagher on his stand up tour Concussion, around Ireland in 2015, and she was then signed by Irish comedy agency Lisa Richards. McNally and Gallagher went on to write and star in a comedy show Separated At Birth, co-written with director Una McKevitt about their adoptions.[4] Separated at Birth sold out Vicar Street in May 2015 and went on a national tour around Ireland. The two were guests on The Late Late Show hosted by Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ One in March 2015.

McNally was cast as the new co-host of RTÉ2 satirical comedy sketch TV show Republic of Telly in October 2015, replacing Jennifer Maguire who left to star in the Irish comedy Bridget & Eamon with Bernard O'Shea.[5] McNally quit the comedy show in June 2016.

McNally was a semi finalist in So You Think You're Funny and Funny Women. She has performed at comedy festivals Vodafone Comedy Festival, Cat Laughs, Galway Comedy Carnival, Body & Soul Festival, Jestfest and Bray Comedy Festival.

She wrote and performed her one-woman show Bite Me for the Dublin Fringe Festival, directed by Una McKevitt. The show is a dark comedy based on her experience with eating disorders. The show sold out its five night run in Dublin's Project Arts Centre and was nominated for four awards including Best Performance, Best Production and the First Fortnight Award. An excerpt from the show was re-printed in The Irish Times. She appeared as a guest on RTÉ One's The Tommy Tiernan Show in January 2017 where she talked about the show.[6] McNally performed Bite Me at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Assembly Rooms in Scotland August 2017.[7]

McNally co-hosts My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast with Vogue Williams. She toured her show "Prosecco Express" in 2022 in UK and Ireland.[8] which included multiple sold out dates at Vicar Street in Dublin and the London Palladium.

McNally writes a monthly column for Stellar magazine called "Jo's World".[when?]

In April 2022, she appeared in Channel 4's The Big Fat Quiz of Everything.

In September 2023, McNally co-presented Joanne & Vogue’s Sex Drive with Vogue Williams; a one-off special shown on E4.[9]

McNally is a contestant on the seventeenth series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster which premiered in March 2024.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ "Funnywoman Joanne McNally Set To Replace Jen Maguire On The Republic Of Telly". independent.ie. 7 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Daddy's girl: Why Joanne McNally goes for 'boy-dad' types". Independent.ie. 4 March 2019.
  3. ^ "'Republic of Telly' star Joanne McNally standing up and being counted". Irish Examiner. 4 January 2016.
  4. ^ PJ Gallagher and Joanne McNally – Irish Times podcast
  5. ^ Stand-up queen Joanne McNally to replace Jennifer Maguire on Republic
  6. ^ Joanne McNally – The Tommmy Tiernan Show
  7. ^ How comedy saved Joanne McNally’s life
  8. ^ "Joanne McNally Takes Her Prosecco Express on Tour". 23 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally hit Ibiza to explore their sexual boundaries in new E4 show". channel4.com/press. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Taskmaster season 17: Release date, cast and latest news". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 March 2024.

External links edit