| Karen Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 June 1976 Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England |
| Occupation | Actress, comedian |
| Years active | 2001–present |
Karen Taylor (born 29 June 1976;[1] Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria) is an English actress and comedian. She is a former finalist in the prestigious Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award[2] and has fronted her own sketch show on BBC Three, entitled Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor.[3]
Taylor studied Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick 1994-1998, where she got to know other future actors Stephen Merchant and Hannah Waterman.
Taylor was a finalist in the Open Mic Award in 1999, and came further to prominence at the Edinburgh festival in 2000.[2] Her first major television role was as one of the performers in The Sketch Show on ITV, which ran for two series.[4] She has also fronted FAQ U on Channel 4 and appeared performing with Steve Coogan on a Paul Calf DVD.[4]
In 2007 Taylor fronted her first television sketch show, Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor. It was first aired in June 2007 on BBC Three. Its initial reviews were generally positive.[5][6][7] The show's "raunchy" and "lascivious" nature was noted by many of the critics,[7] with almost all of the sketches involving characters whose main interest was 'sex'. Although described as potentially a "one-trick pony",[7] the show was also lauded as "really, really funny" and "more amusing than the last eleventeen sketch shows you can think of".[5] The show returned for a second series in July 2008, but will not be returning for a third.[8] That same month also saw the release of British comedy film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, in which Taylor stars as the mother of the main character Georgia.[9]
On November 11 2011, she appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, answering questions on the specialist subject of Fred Dibnah.