Clearview North February 2014 - Issue 147 | Page 63
FITPreview
February 2014
This year’s Star
Entertainer... NINA CONTI
‘Nina Conti is one of the most exciting,
original and hilarious acts I have ever seen
– perfect for the FIT Show Gala Dinner!’.
That was the view of FIT Show coorganiser Paul Godwin when he and
the team saw Nina when they were
presented last year with their ‘Launch
Show of the Year’ Award. ‘We saw
Nina and agreed unanimously that
she had to come to the FIT Show
Gala Dinner in June’.
Nina Conti started doing stand-up
ventriloquism in January 2002 and
shot to fame by winning the BBC New
Comedy Award that same year. Famed
for her foul-mouthed ‘sidekick’ Monkey
(Monk), Nina has won numerous
comedy awards for her writing, acting
and ventriloquism.
Nina’s broadcast work includes four
series of BBC Radio 4’s Claire in the
Community, and appearances on the
likes of Comic Relief (BBC1), Ant &
Dec’s Saturday Night Take Away (ITV1),
The Rob Brydon Show (BBC2), and the
BAFTA-winning Black Books (Channel
4), to name a few. Most recently, she
played a lead role in, HBO’s new
comedy series Family Tree, alongside
comedy actor Chris O’Dowd. Nina also
fronted a documentary last year called
Make Me Happy: A Monkey’s Search for
Happiness (BBC 4), as well as directing,
and producing a second documentary
for the same channel, A Ventriloquists
Story: Her Masters Voice, which went
on to be nominated for a BAFTA TV
Award 2013.
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