Nina Conti
| Nina Conti | |
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| Born | 1974 (age 38–39) Hampstead, London, England |
| Medium | Actress, ventriloquist |
| Nationality | British |
| Genres | Ventriloquism, Comedy |
| Spouse | Andrew "Stan" Stanley (2 children) |
| Website | http://www.ninaconti.net |
Nina Conti (born 1974) is an English actress, comedian and ventriloquist. Her primary on-stage puppet sidekick is a depressed monkey named Monk.
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Early life [edit]
Conti was born and raised in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Drummond Wilson.[1] She studied at the University of East Anglia.
Acting [edit]
Conti has worked as an actress since 1996. She appeared in several roles in Daisy and Ken Campbell's 1999 and 2000 productions of The Warp, Neil Oram's 24 hour play cycle, and was a member of the RSC's 2000/2001 company in Stratford and London. Ken Campbell subsequently devised the ventriloquist play Let Me Out!!! for her, which she took to the 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She appeared as half-Afghan camera operator Azadine in Henry Naylor's play Finding Bin Laden at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Conti has appeared in several television shows, including Black Books, Holby City, Single, and, recently, the Australian panel show Spicks and Specks. Her radio performances include characters in Radio 4 comedy Clare in the Community.
Conti and Monk portrayed a morning weather team on the fictional "Wake Up L.A." in Christopher Guest's 2006 film, For Your Consideration.[2]
Conti was awarded joint "Best Performance" in the Maverick Movie Awards for Her Master's Voice, a 2012 film.[3]
In 2013 she plays the part of Bea Chadwick in Christopher Guest's mockumentary Family Tree.
Stand-up comedy [edit]
In 2002, Conti won the BBC New Comedy Awards, came second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year and came third in Laughing Horse New Act of The Year competitions.
Conti regularly headlines at London comedy venues and has appeared at The Comedy Store.
She took her first solo full length show, Complete and Utter Conti, to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2007, she introduced some new characters as well as performing familiar routines. In 2008 she won the Barry Award for this show at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, tying with Kristen Schaal.[4]
At the Melbourne Comedy Festival 2010 she debuted a new puppet, an elderly woman who is her "Granny".
Conti and Granny appeared in episode six of the I series of the BBC comedy quiz show QI in 2011. On that episode, Conti noted that she inherited the Granny puppet from Ken Campbell on Campbell's death.
In 2012, Conti appeared in Russell Howard's Good News with Granny. She also used a mask on an audience member to persuade him to dance. On the series 8 premiere of Live at the Apollo, Conti expanded the act to provide voices for two audience members in masks.
In March 2013, Conti appeared on Let's Dance for Comic Relief with Monk. She danced to "I Like to Move It" by Reel 2 Real.[5]
Characters [edit]
Monk [edit]
Monk is a cynical monkey who is continually insulting Conti and swearing when he does not have his demands fulfilled. He often deliberately shows irritation towards performing on stage, as when Conti responds saying she doesn't know if she has repeated her act on stage, Monk quickly vanishes into the bag and says: You're on your own, bitch!. Monk also often disagrees with Conti and makes Conti laugh at his words.[6] [7]
Granny [edit]
Granny is an elderly Scotswoman to whom Conti refers as someone who is a lot like her own grandmother. Granny often chides Conti for the simplest things Conti has done; for instance, when Conti reveals she has two legs, Granny responds by saying "Oh, two legs? You're spoiling me!" Her main act is to telepathically guess numbers or words, which she always guesses correctly. She also talks about her dead husband, Frank. Granny refers to people with words like "dear", "child" or "my daughter". Granny was retired to Vent Haven Museum in July 2009, in memory of Ken Campbell, from whom Conti received her,[6] but Conti had a replica made which she continues to use in her acts.
Face Mask [edit]
The face mask, rather than an actual puppet with a personality, is a mask that covers the lower half of an audience participants face and can be manipulated by a hand-piece held by Nina to make it look like the participant is talking. Nina often uses this to put the participant in awkward and funny situations, such as making them say that they want nothing more to do than dance in front of the audience, while their body language suggests the opposite.
Radio [edit]
Conti's radio work includes Clare in the Community, Sneakiepeeks and guesting on Parsons and Naylor’s Pull-Out Sections.
References [edit]
- ^ MacInnes, Paul (2008-08-11). "Edinburgh festival rapid review: Nina Conti | Culture | guardian.co.uk". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "Interview: Nina Conti (From Lancashire Telegraph)". Lancashiretelegraph.co.uk. 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2012-06-08.
- ^ http://www.maverickmovieawards.com/features2012.html
- ^ Melissa Kent, Top comics grin and share the main prize. The Age, April 13, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-13.
- ^ "Lets Dance for Comic Relief - Series 5 - Episode 3". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ a b |documentary 'her masters voice'
- ^ Nina Conti: 'I feel it's not in my film how much I miss Ken|Guardian.co.uk'
