# Emma Sidi
**Emma Sidi** is an English actor, writer and comedian known for character comedy on stage and roles in British television sitcoms.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/) She began performing with the Cambridge Footlights while studying French and Spanish at the [University of Cambridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-cambridge), graduating in 2013.[2](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920) • [3](https://www.cambridgefootlights.org/history) Her television credits include *Pls Like*, *W1A*, *King Gary*, *Ghosts*, *Stath Lets Flats*, *Black Ops* and *Don't Hug Me I'm Scared*, and her breakout role came in 2021 as Kate in the [BBC Three](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-three) sitcom *Starstruck*.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) • [5](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-emma-sidi) On stage she has taken four solo character shows to the [Edinburgh Festival Fringe](https://www.edgepedia.org/edinburgh-festival-fringe), most recently *Emma Sidi Is Sue Gray* in 2024.[6](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Profession | English actor, writer and comedian[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/) |
| Education | French and Spanish at Cambridge, graduated 2013; performed with the Footlights[2](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920) |
| Solo Edinburgh shows | Character Breakdown (2015), Telenovela (2016), Faces of Grace (2018), Emma Sidi Is Sue Gray (2024)[6](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review) |
| Breakout TV role | Kate, best friend and flatmate of Rose Matafeo's Jessie in *Starstruck*, BBC Three's biggest new comedy of 2021 with almost 5 million streams[5](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-emma-sidi) |
| Signature character comedy | Her 2024 show portrays Sue Gray, Keir Starmer's former chief of staff, as a gossipy, lowbrow blabbermouth[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) |
| First appearance as herself | Taskmaster, series 18 (2024)[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) |
| Recent casting | Announced in 2026 as part of the initial cast for the UK version of *Saturday Night Live*[6](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review) |
## Early life and education
Sidi grew up in Woking, Surrey, though she was born in the United States, where her father Paul was working in finance; he had played professional rugby for Harlequins and England.[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html) She left Woking to study French and Spanish at Cambridge, graduating in 2013.[2](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920) • [7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html) In interviews she has said that her surname means "sir" in Arabic and comes via her Jewish grandfather.[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html)
At Cambridge the comedy society, the [Footlights](https://www.edgepedia.org/footlights), was what she was "really focused on", with shows every fortnight generating new material; she has described seeing older members go on to comedy careers as the society's biggest privilege, making comedy feel like a legitimate career.[8](https://1883magazine.com/emma-sidi/) The Footlights, which date to 1883, are one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes; Sidi is listed by the society among its recent stand-up comedy alumni, alongside performers such as [Phil Wang](https://www.edgepedia.org/phil-wang) and Ken Cheng.[3](https://www.cambridgefootlights.org/history)
Her time there was not straightforward. In a 2024 interview published by the Telegraph and reported by Varsity, she said the Footlights were not "great for women" when she began at Cambridge: in her first year the annual International Tour Show had an all-male line-up, and when she asked why she had not been given a spot, male students told her she had not "found my comic voice".[2](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920) She noted that the female presence improved during her time there; by her final year she was one of three women among the four tour participants.[2](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920)
## Character comedy
Sidi's live work is character comedy: multi-persona shows built on individual figures rather than stand-up material. She has described her theory that character comedy "is seen as its own genre and is maybe less well regarded" than stand-up, viewed as "kicking about with wigs".[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html)
**Character Breakdown (2015).** Her first solo show, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance Courtyard, featured six different roles, including Brita, a prank-loving character with a distinctive indeterminate accent, and a feminism professor whose lecture was delivered entirely in Spanish.[9](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2015/08/18/30107/emma_sidi%3A_character_breakdown) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/06/emma-sidi-you-can-only-fully-write-a-character-if-you-can-love-them) Chortle's review credited the show's distinctiveness to her off-kilter accents and choreographed interpretive dance transitions between characters.[9](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2015/08/18/30107/emma_sidi%3A_character_breakdown)
**Telenovela (2016).** Her second show centered on a heartbroken, melodramatic Mexican woman in a soap-opera tale of an affair, drug addiction and hallucinations, with Spanish used for comic effect; the show ended with the audience building giant foil wings for her character to fly away.[11](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2016/08/18/30447/emma_sidi%3A_telenovela) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/06/emma-sidi-you-can-only-fully-write-a-character-if-you-can-love-them) The show later became the basis for *La Princesa de Woking*, a Spanish-language short film set in her hometown, developed with the comedy directors Big Red Button and filmed in 2018 with a bilingual cast.[12](https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/fgwg/emma-sidi/)
**Faces of Grace (2018).** Her third show presented five women, all lost in some way and searching for the one thing they want to be defined by, switching between personas under a floral arch with a snap of sound and light.[13](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2018/08/17/40907/emma_sidi%3A_faces_of_grace) The show transferred to Soho Theatre.[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html)
**Emma Sidi Is Sue Gray (2024).** Sidi began impersonating Sue Gray, the civil servant who led the Partygate inquiry and later became [Keir Starmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/keir-starmer)'s chief of staff, on a whim in late 2021; Gray's public profile was high but her personality remained enigmatic, giving Sidi a blank canvas. She deliberately did no extra research and merged the basic facts of Gray's job with the trivial, melodramatic conversational style of her teenage job on the [Bobbi Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobbi-brown) counter at [House of Fraser](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-of-fraser) in Guildford.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) The show, in which Gray is a gossipy blabbermouth crushing on "dripping in rizz" Starmer, had a sell-out Edinburgh run at Pleasance Courtyard and toured the UK.[6](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) Reviewers praised its inventive satire of Whitehall as an ordinary office; The Guardian called the premise "a brilliant idea" and rated the show wickedly silly.[14](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/aug/05/emma-sidi-is-sue-gray-review-pleasance-courtyard-edinburgh)
## Television
Sidi's early TV roles included *W1A*, *Drunk History* and the BBC Three vlogging satire *Pls Like*, a BAFTA-nominated series in which she played [Millipede](https://www.edgepedia.org/millipede), a Zoella-style lifestyle vlogger.[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html) • [15](https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/3721/interview-rarely-asked-questions-emma-sidi) *Pls Like* was written by [Liam Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/liam-williams-comedian), and she has worked repeatedly with an overlapping circle of Footlights-era comedians, including her partner, *Stath Lets Flats* star [Al Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-roberts-comedian), who plays her partner in *Starstruck* and *King Gary*.[16](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/emma-sidi-interview-prince-andrew-musical-starstruck-b2249220.html)
**Starstruck.** Her breakout role came in 2021 as Kate, the highly strung best friend and flatmate of [Rose Matafeo](https://www.edgepedia.org/rose-matafeo)'s Jessie in the BBC Three sitcom *Starstruck*, which drew almost 5 million streams as the channel's biggest new comedy of 2021.[5](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-emma-sidi) Matafeo, a close friend and former flatmate, wrote the series while living with Sidi; Sidi has described Kate as a distillation of herself at her "most annoying".[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) The show was written mostly by women and produced and directed largely by women as well.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview)
**Other roles.** In the Channel 4 Christmas special *Prince Andrew: The Musical* (2022) she played journalist [Emily Maitlis](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-maitlis), drawing on her character-comedy method of mimicking small gestures, in this case Maitlis's "laser eyes".[16](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/emma-sidi-interview-prince-andrew-musical-starstruck-b2249220.html) She had a small part in the Disney+ superhero comedy series *Extraordinary* in January 2023.[16](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/emma-sidi-interview-prince-andrew-musical-starstruck-b2249220.html) In 2024 she appeared on [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4)'s *[Taskmaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/taskmaster-tv-series)* in series 18, her first time appearing on television as herself rather than in a role.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview) Later credits include series 3 of *Big Boys* and the panel show *Just A Minute*.[1](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/) In 2026 she was announced as part of the initial cast for the UK version of *Saturday Night Live*.[6](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review)
## On "quirky" and comedy's treatment of women
Sidi has spoken about sexism in comedy throughout her career. In a 2019 interview she argued that male comedians with silly props get described as "original" or "genius", whereas a woman doing the same work is called "quirky".[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html) She revisited the point in a 2022 interview, describing a review of *Starstruck* that praised her and Matafeo for not looking "like Instagram girls" as patronizing, and noting that line-ups had improved markedly in five years but that commentary on women's appearance persisted.[16](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/emma-sidi-interview-prince-andrew-musical-starstruck-b2249220.html)
## References
1. [Emma Sidi, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/emma_sidi/)
2. [Comedian Emma Sidi opens up about misogyny faced at Footlights, Varsity](https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/27920)
3. [History, Cambridge Footlights](https://www.cambridgefootlights.org/history)
4. ['Oh god I'm Sue Gray': comic Emma Sidi brings the embattled civil servant to the stage, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/18/emma-sidi-sue-gray-taskmaster-interview)
5. [I Talk To Emma Sidi, iTalk Telly](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-emma-sidi)
6. [Emma Sidi, comedian and reviews, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/comics/e/34277/emma_sidi/review)
7. [Emma Sidi interview: 'My theory is that character comedy is less well regarded than stand-up', Evening Standard](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/emma-sidi-interview-comedian-faces-of-grace-a4060031.html)
8. [Emma Sidi, 1883 Magazine](https://1883magazine.com/emma-sidi/)
9. [Emma Sidi: Character Breakdown review, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2015/08/18/30107/emma_sidi%3A_character_breakdown)
10. [Emma Sidi: 'You can only fully write a character if you can love them', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/06/emma-sidi-you-can-only-fully-write-a-character-if-you-can-love-them)
11. [Emma Sidi: Telenovela review, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2016/08/18/30447/emma_sidi%3A_telenovela)
12. [Emma Sidi – First Gig, Worst Gig, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/fgwg/emma-sidi/)
13. [Emma Sidi: Faces Of Grace review, Chortle](https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2018/08/17/40907/emma_sidi%3A_faces_of_grace)
14. [Emma Sidi Is Sue Gray review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/article/2024/aug/05/emma-sidi-is-sue-gray-review-pleasance-courtyard-edinburgh)
15. [Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Emma Sidi, Beyond the Joke](https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/3721/interview-rarely-asked-questions-emma-sidi)
16. [Emma Sidi interview: 'The Netflixisation of the royal family is so interesting to watch', The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/emma-sidi-interview-prince-andrew-musical-starstruck-b2249220.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Stand-up comedy and comedians › Drag and character comedians*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license