Helen Keen
Encyclopedia
Helen Keen is an English
alternative comedian
and writer born in Yorkshire
, now living in London
.
New Comedy Writing Initiative award. Judges included station executives, as well as Annie Griffin
, Victoria Pile
and Arthur Mathews
. She also reached the 2005 UK Funny Women
final. In 2006, she was a finalist for the hotly-competed Hackney Empire New Act of the Year
title. In 2007, she performed in the second annual tribute to Malcolm Hardee
. Her broadcast writing has included regular credits on BBC Radio 1
's late-night experimental comedy show The Milk Run and BBC Radio 4
's long-running The Now Show
as well as the Dog Almighty edition of Channel 4
's Comedy Lab
series and the 2007 series of Channel 4's The Friday Night Project
.
Keen's subject matter tends towards the unusual and esoteric. At the Buxton Festival Fringe in July 2008, her first full-length solo show It Is Rocket Science! was nominated as Best Show and she won the Best Individual Performer award. She then performed the show throughout the Edinburgh Fringe
in August, 2008.
Her second full-length show Helen Keen: The Primitive Methodist Guide to Arctic Survival ran throughout the Edinburgh Fringe in August, 2009. Also in this show and in interviews Keen, a postman's daughter, discussed her working class family background and her early experience of selective mutism
.
and Peter Serafinowicz
. The first episode was broadcast on 9 March, 2011.
Science Village - this is the first time this position has been awarded.
Channel 4 New Comedy Writing Award 2005
Buxton Festival Fringe Best Comedy Performance 2008
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
alternative comedian
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
and writer born in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, now living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Career
In 2005, along with writing partner Miriam Underhill, she won the first Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
New Comedy Writing Initiative award. Judges included station executives, as well as Annie Griffin
Annie Griffin
Annie Griffin is an American writer and director.Griffin relocated to the UK in 1981. In the early 1990s she worked creating animated idents for MTV. In 1993 she worked as an actress on the Oscar nominated short animated film The Village...
, Victoria Pile
Victoria Pile
Victoria Pile, also known as Vicky Pile, is a British comedy writer, director and producer, most noted as the creator of two Channel 4 comedy programmes, the sketch show Smack the Pony and the sitcom Green Wing.- Writer :...
and Arthur Mathews
Arthur Mathews (writer)
Arthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partner Graham Linehan, has either written or contributed to a number of popular television comedies, most notably Father Ted. He is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology...
. She also reached the 2005 UK Funny Women
Funny Women
Funny Women is a stand-up comedy competition in the UK entirely devoted to women. It is the only UK Comedy competition that is Pay to Play charging performers to take part. It was founded in 2003, with the sole intention of honouring female comedians in a generally male-dominated profession...
final. In 2006, she was a finalist for the hotly-competed Hackney Empire New Act of the Year
Hackney Empire New Act of the Year
The Hackney Empire New Act of the Year was a long-running annual competition that ran at the Hackney Empire theatre in London in order to encourage, discover and promote new stand-up comedy and New Variety talent...
title. In 2007, she performed in the second annual tribute to Malcolm Hardee
Malcolm Hardee
Malcolm Hardee was an English comedian, author, comedy club proprietor, compère, agent, manager and "amateur sensationalist"....
. Her broadcast writing has included regular credits on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's late-night experimental comedy show The Milk Run and BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's long-running The Now Show
The Now Show
The Now Show is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news. The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis...
as well as the Dog Almighty edition of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Comedy Lab
Comedy Lab
Comedy Lab is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Channel 4 and E4 since 1998....
series and the 2007 series of Channel 4's The Friday Night Project
The Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
.
Keen's subject matter tends towards the unusual and esoteric. At the Buxton Festival Fringe in July 2008, her first full-length solo show It Is Rocket Science! was nominated as Best Show and she won the Best Individual Performer award. She then performed the show throughout the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
in August, 2008.
Her second full-length show Helen Keen: The Primitive Methodist Guide to Arctic Survival ran throughout the Edinburgh Fringe in August, 2009. Also in this show and in interviews Keen, a postman's daughter, discussed her working class family background and her early experience of selective mutism
Selective mutism
Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder in which a person, most often a child, who is normally capable of speech is unable to speak in given situations, or to specific people...
.
Radio
In December 2010 Keen recorded her first BBC Radio 4 series, It Is Rocket Science based on her 2008 Edinburgh show It Is Rocket Science! Alongside Keen, the show starred Susy KaneSusy Kane
Susy Kane is an English actress, comedy writer and musician.-Personal life:She is the daughter of opera singer Alison Warner and actor and writer John Kane, and the younger sister of comedy writer and actor Simon Kane...
and Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer, voice artist and occasional director.-Early life:Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool, England. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Primary School and St Francis Xavier Secondary School...
. The first episode was broadcast on 9 March, 2011.
Awards
Helen Keen is currently Comedian in Residence at the Newcastle Centre for LifeCentre for Life
The Centre for Life is a science centre located in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is an educational charity which aims to promote greater interest and engagement in science as well as supporting scientific research...
Science Village - this is the first time this position has been awarded.
Channel 4 New Comedy Writing Award 2005
Buxton Festival Fringe Best Comedy Performance 2008