She is currently working on several shows, Wasp in a Cardigan, BookTalkBookTalkBook with Ben Moor about writers at an awkward book event, and Stinky McFish and the World’s Worst Wish – a puppet comedy show for young people and their grown ups.
Joanna has appeared in a number of television programmes including hit drama Delicious for Sky (2018), Channel 4’s sitcom Man Down (2017), BBC’s Ideal (2006-2011) and the film Suffragette (2015), as well as the smash hit feature film Darkest Hour (2018) starring Gary Oldman.
BBC Radio 4’s programme The Art Of Now: Inbox (2018) saw Joanna as a presenter for the first time, in which she also curated a selection of submissions from the programme’s listeners. Jo was invited to appear as Celia Jesson, one of her best loved characters on BBC Radio 3’s The Verb in 2017, 2018 and again in 2020.
Joanna is currently touring her show Wife on Earth, and with Ben Moor in his show BookTalkBookTalkBook which is also going to Edinburgh Fringe 2022. Joanna will be doing her comedy show Wasp in a Cardigan at The Stand 4th – 24th August (not 15th) at 12pm.
★ Winner of Fringe Reports Best Character Comedian (female) in 2004
★ Winner of Best Actress Latest Awards Brighton Fringe Festival in 2005
★ Nominated for Best Show at Leicester Comedy Festival in 2016
★ Nominated for Best Newcomer Award at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004
★ Winner of The Golden Waffle in Brighton Fringe Festival in 2018
“Neary is a character actress par excellence; not only are her characters well observed and immaculately performed, but they are well written and, most importantly, funny.”- The Guardian
“It took less than ten seconds to begin smiling, less than thirty to begin laughing, and within a minute of the show, it was difficult not to fall in love with Joanna Neary – such endearing comedy does not come by often. With astounding ease and amazing grace, the Brighton-based comedienne led a character-based song and dance show that made every single joke and gag work, even when they didn’t, melting the usual tension that Fringe comedy shows can carry with them. Truly a triumph of British humour, this is a show that could be enjoyed by anyone who values candour and a good Bjork impression.” – Clearhos Papanicolaou, Three Weeks ★★★★★
“For character comedy that is glorious fun with no underlying point whatsoever, Joanna Neary’s Little Moments would be hard to better. Neary is a fiercely gifted actor and her short monologues are peppered with clever songs and silly dances. The real joy here is the character based on Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter, a pitch-perfect impersonation taken to its logical conclusion. This is a show that leaves you with a huge smile and a renewed sense of delight in daftness.” – Stephanie Merritt, The Observer
“A performer who is one of the most naturally funny stand-ups around.” – Jeremy Austin, The Stage
“A potential winner of this year’s Just Give Her a TV Series and Have Done With It Award, Joanna Neary skips through a whole village of original characters, as well as demonstrating her interpretive dancing, belting out songs, reading out extracts from her teenage diary, and doing impressions (including a dated but wonderful one of Björk pondering the housing market). If someone did give her a TV series, they wouldn’t need to hire any other performers. What’s most striking is the contrast between the big-grinned scatty sweetness she has when she’s being herself, and the surgical precision with which she skewers her characters’ foibles when she’s acting. Imagine French and Saunders, but better.” – Nicholas Barber, Independent on Sunday
“Joanna Neary also has a huge amount of quirk-appeal. She’s been likened to Joyce Grenfell, and again, as with (Josie) Long, there’s a goodness and a goofiness about this elfin entertainer that’s utterly enchanting. Her idea of crossing Celia Johnson’s character from Brief Encounter with a contemporary (trapped) housewife – relaying her diary’s 1940s-styled entries to us throughout the show – is so inspired, and beautifully executed, it deserves its own Radio 4 series.” – Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph
“This snappy series of monologues and songs has a character of its own. And the closing routine, in which Neary dresses in white to give an over literal, Pan’s People-style interpretation of Harry Nilsson’s Without You, may just be the funniest thing in Edinburgh.” – Dominic Maxwell, The Times ★★★★
“Thanks heavens for Joanna Neary whose skewed clowning is gloriously different. Frizzy haired and porcelain cheeked, her forte is superbly off-kilter sketches. One moment she is a sublimely funny Bjork, the next she is a neutered cat sporting a boater and a stoic grin. An immaculate Brief Encounters parody encapsulates a lost age of repressed passion, snobbery and lumpy marmalade. Two skits shunt her onto the must-see list. The Billie Holiday-ish dissection of sexual metaphors in jazz is breathtakingly convincing, while her showstopper is the Pan’s People-esque interpretation of the suicidal lyrics in Harry Nilsson’s Without You.” – Bruce Dessau
“Builds bonfires with the tired preconceptions of female stand ups” – Johnny Vegas
“I love Stewart Lee, Tony Law, Tim Key, Tom Basden and Joanna Neary” – Adam Buxton in The Guardian