‘The
wildest and wickedest comedian in Britain’ Mirror
Comedian, playwright, actress, television host, magazine editor and now novelist, there isn’t much that Jenny Eclair hasn’t successfully turned her hand to in the last decade.
‘The baroness of bawdiness’ Time Out
Jenny’s career took off in the early 1990s, building her reputation with a string of hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. Following on from Mummy’s Little Boy (1992), Vague (1993) and Bad Behaviour (1994), Jenny deservedly won the prestigious Perrier Award for her 1995 show Prozac and Tantrums - and remains the only female to win this top comedy accolade.
‘Furiously filthy fun for the broad-minded’ Daily Express
From there, Jenny’s career went from strength to strength. Jenny Eclair: Top Bitch - the video of the award winning show - went into the Top Ten of the video chart. She also hit the road with Prozac and Tantrums on a 35 date UK tour in spring 1996. The same year, she teamed up with Julie Balloo and Tom Husinger to write two series of the Radio 4 play On Baby Street, which starred Kathy Burke and Keith Allen. Jenny also became the first woman to guest-edit Britain’s top selling men’s magazine Loaded.
‘Her finest, filthiest flights of fancy elicit gasps of admiration and disgust from the audience’
Independent on Sunday
1997 saw Jenny branching out onto stage and television screen. She made her West End debut in Nell Dunn’s Steaming, and received rave reviews (‘a wonderful performance of husky insouciance’ claimed the Daily Mail). She headlined Channel 5’s stand up show The Comedy Network, and hosted both BBC2’s collection of classic comedy Pick’N’Mix, and her own topical chat show Jenny Eclair Squats on Channel 5.
‘An irresistible original, a foul-mouthed, pencil-thin, bottle-blonde sex maniac’ Daily Telegraph
Edinburgh 1998 saw a double helping of Jenny - her stand up show The Platinum Collection, recorded for transmission on Channel 5, and her play Mrs Nosey Parker, described by the Scotsman as ‘successfully showcasing Eclair’s evolution from brassy stand up comic into a fine character actress’. In 1999, highlights included judging the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award Final, her Radio 4 productions Inconvenience and Just Juliette and her Channel 5 chat show Jenny Eclair’s Private Function.
‘Breathless and breathtaking’ Sunday Times
2000 saw Jenny being invited to perform at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, guest presenting the BBC London Live Radio Breakfast Show, presenting Language Fix on BBC Knowledge, writing a sitcom for Carlton Television and a second series of Just Juliette for Radio 4, and last, (and by no means least) putting the finishing touches to her fine debut novel Camberwell Beauty.
‘She may quite literally bite your balls off’ NME
To read an interview with Jenny, giving some idea of what she's been up to since, click here.
Jenny’s career took off in the early 1990s, building her reputation with a string of hit shows at the Edinburgh Festival. Following on from Mummy’s Little Boy (1992), Vague (1993) and Bad Behaviour (1994), Jenny deservedly won the prestigious Perrier Award for her 1995 show Prozac and Tantrums - and remains the only female to win this top comedy accolade.
‘Furiously filthy fun for the broad-minded’ Daily Express
From there, Jenny’s career went from strength to strength. Jenny Eclair: Top Bitch - the video of the award winning show - went into the Top Ten of the video chart. She also hit the road with Prozac and Tantrums on a 35 date UK tour in spring 1996. The same year, she teamed up with Julie Balloo and Tom Husinger to write two series of the Radio 4 play On Baby Street, which starred Kathy Burke and Keith Allen. Jenny also became the first woman to guest-edit Britain’s top selling men’s magazine Loaded.
‘Her finest, filthiest flights of fancy elicit gasps of admiration and disgust from the audience’
Independent on Sunday
1997 saw Jenny branching out onto stage and television screen. She made her West End debut in Nell Dunn’s Steaming, and received rave reviews (‘a wonderful performance of husky insouciance’ claimed the Daily Mail). She headlined Channel 5’s stand up show The Comedy Network, and hosted both BBC2’s collection of classic comedy Pick’N’Mix, and her own topical chat show Jenny Eclair Squats on Channel 5.
‘An irresistible original, a foul-mouthed, pencil-thin, bottle-blonde sex maniac’ Daily Telegraph
Edinburgh 1998 saw a double helping of Jenny - her stand up show The Platinum Collection, recorded for transmission on Channel 5, and her play Mrs Nosey Parker, described by the Scotsman as ‘successfully showcasing Eclair’s evolution from brassy stand up comic into a fine character actress’. In 1999, highlights included judging the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award Final, her Radio 4 productions Inconvenience and Just Juliette and her Channel 5 chat show Jenny Eclair’s Private Function.
‘Breathless and breathtaking’ Sunday Times
2000 saw Jenny being invited to perform at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, guest presenting the BBC London Live Radio Breakfast Show, presenting Language Fix on BBC Knowledge, writing a sitcom for Carlton Television and a second series of Just Juliette for Radio 4, and last, (and by no means least) putting the finishing touches to her fine debut novel Camberwell Beauty.
‘She may quite literally bite your balls off’ NME
To read an interview with Jenny, giving some idea of what she's been up to since, click here.