About Sarah Callaghan
Named as Time Out’s ‘One to Watch’, Funny Women finalist Sarah Callghan has been widely heralded as an exciting new comedic voice, a status cemented by her Malcolm Hardee Award nomination for ‘Act Most Likely To Earn A Million Quid’.
A frank and fearless performer with four successful shows at the Edinburgh Fringe under her belt, Sarah Callaghan has performed all over Europe in places such as Brussels, Norway, Estonia, and Andorra to name a few. In 2018 she took her latest solo ‘The Ballad of Sarah Callaghan’ to the New Zealand International Comedy Festival to great acclaim; alongside her first stand up debut on TV in the same country.
Elsewhere on screen, comedian Sarah Callaghan has appeared on E4’s Virtually Famous as a guest on Seann Walsh’s team, and has written and performed sketches on @elevenish (ITV2). She continues to take the circuit by storm. With her endearing, raw energy and the no holds barred attitude of a young Kathy Burke or Amy Winehouse, Sarah Callaghan’s working class roots, fierce observations and natural wit give her an attitude and authenticity that’s a pure, comedic breath of fresh air.
WATCH SARAH CALLAGHAN: THE BALLAD OF SARAH CALLAGHAN
Vibrant, salt-of-the-earth comic Sarah Callaghan brings to the stage a powerhouse mash-up of comedy and self penned spoken word poetry about gangs, fitting in and feeling left out. From Piers Morgan and Micheal McIntyre to identity politics and the #MeToo Movement, no stone is left unturned in Sarah’s quest to find out what it means to belong in this upfront, personal and punchy hour.
Reviews and Awards
Sarah Callaghan received nominations in 2015 for Best Show at Brighton Fringe and Malcolm Hardee ‘Act Most Likely To Make A Million Quid’. In 2013 she was winner of Up The Creek One to Watch, and a finalist in the Leicester Square New Act Competition. She was also a Funny Women competition finalist in 2011.
‘The instant she steps on stage you know you’re in the presence of someone new and special’
The Mirror
‘Armed with bags of attitude, she’s a refreshing working-class comedy voice’
The Herald
‘Fiercely impressive and quite stunning’
Scotsman
‘Magnificent…An absolute natural, Callaghan is definitely one to catch’
Fest
‘Callaghan oozes confidence. This supremely talented comic is ready for the next step’
Broadway Baby
‘A powerhouse. She’s an utter natural on stage’
Chortle
Sarah Callaghan Tickets
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Biography
Hailing from a council estate in North London, Sarah Callaghan started out in comedy back in 2010. She was working in a pub ( “If I had a pound for the amount of times a geezer says “tell me a joke” I would be a millionaire.”) when she made her breakthrough a year later as finalist in the prestigious national Funny Women competition. But was stand-up something she’d always wanted to do? Speaking to ComedyBlogedy, her answer to that question is a resounding no:
“…actually, it wasn’t something I used to think about – I used to do improv and acting. I was in a few plays and always got put in the comedy roles. Then I lived in madrid for a while and out there I started writing jokes, when I came home I tried it out – and found I enjoyed it”
Comedian Sarah Callaghan’s working class background is something she references often in her material. Growing up on a council estate, she describes herself as having had “a colourful life” and told nouse.co.uk: “It’s really not hard for me to think of stories and shit…I left school, and went to college, and it was just shit, and I couldn’t imagine me being in a job and so ‘[After completing a TEFL course] I thought right well I’ll go to Madrid. I was so eager to go: I’d just turned 18 and I was just pissed off with my surroundings so I ticked the yes box which meant that I could speak fluent spanish. I couldn’t speak a word…”
It was the longest time she’d been away from home and suddenly finding herself spending a lot of time alone, she channeled that isolation into her comedy writing. Coming back to the UK nearly a year later, she says “I was a bit fucked up, but I look back on that experience and you know I think I love that because it brought me here.”
In 2015 Sarah Callaghan took her critically-acclaimed debut show Elephant to the Edinburgh Fringe. A confessional exploration of escape and ambition, Elephant played to packed houses and received great reviews across the board. Steve Bennet at Chortle praised her clear talent as an exciting new voice on the comedy scene – “Somehow, in just 12 months, Sarah Callaghan has gone from a so-so 45 minutes to a powerhouse hour. She says she’s ambitious and prepared to work to achieve things, and, man, has that paid off.”
That same year Sarah Callaghan achieved a nomination for Best Show at the Brighton Fringe as well as a guest appearance on E4’s Virtually Famous. Her debut show Elephant subsequently toured to the prestigious Soho Theatre for a run of shows in 2016 and then on to the Perth and Sydney Comedy Festivals in Australia.
In 2016 Sarah wrote and performed sketches on @elevenish (ITV2) and returned to the Edinburgh Fringe with her eagerly-awaited follow-up, 24, followed by ‘The Pigeon Dying Under the Bush‘ in 2017 and ‘The Ballad of Sarah Callaghan‘ in 2018 – a show in which she exposes another secret talent, writing performance poetry. An ever evolving act, we can’t wait to see what Sarah Callaghan has up her sleeve next. She told Broadway Baby: “I think the shows get better every year – I love doing an hour and being able to have proper time to tell a story.”
Get More Sarah Callaghan
Want more of Sarah Callaghan? You’re in luck – her full stand-up comedy special is available to watch on NextUp – a digital comedy club where you can stream instantly over 120 comedy specials from some of the exciting names in comedy. Oh, and there’s a 7 day free trial.