London Hughes
Birth nameLondon Dionne Micha Stacey Stephanie Estina Knibbs-Hughes
Born1989 (age 33–34)[1]
Thornton Heath, London, England
MediumTelevision
Years active2010–present

London Hughes[2] (born 1989[1]) is a British comedian, television writer and presenter.[3] She wrote and starred in Laughter Shock, a comedy for the BBC which piloted in 2010.[4]

Early life

London Dionne Micha Stacey Stephanie Estina Knibbs-Hughes was born in Thornton Heath, South London in England.[2][5] Her mother is of Jamaican and Cuban ancestry, while her father is of Puerto Rican, Spanish and Nigerian ancestry.[2] Her great grandfather was Enos Knibbs. When she was younger, she spent most of her spare time working on new routines with a dance crew. Her family moved to Brighton when she was aged 14.[5]

Career

Hughes started her television career presenting daytime shows on adult TV station Babestation, before moving on to presenting the morning show for CBBC for almost two years. In that time she also presented live links on BBC One and BBC Two and made regular appearances on Blue Peter and had a presenter role in children's show All Over the Place alongside Ed Petrie as well as voicing characters for CBBC's comedy, Big Babies.[6] As a comedian, she initially used the stage name "Miss London", changing it to "Miss London Hughes" and eventually to "London Hughes" to avoid confusion with the regional beauty pageant Miss London.[7]

Hughes won the 2009 Funny Women Award at the Comedy Store (London),[5] against competition from Eve Webster and Jo Selby.[8] She has appeared on children's television such as Series 1–5 of CITV's weekend breakfast show, Scrambled! Pre-recorded, Scrambled! is a mixture of chat, games and comedy sketches with the presenters interlinking between shows in the CITV schedule.[6] Hughes departed the show in 2018, and the series proper came to an end in 2021, after 7 years.

Hughes had her first feature film role in comedy It's a Lot, written and directed by Femi Oyeniran, released nationwide in 2013. London improvised a lot of the comedy material for her scenes and choreographed the numerous dance routines used throughout the film.[6]

Hughes made her BBC Radio 4 debut in August 2013 by writing and starring in her own sitcom pilot named 28 Dates Later. Loosely based on her life, the sitcom was about two girls that work in a cinema with a love of romantic comedies, but can't seem to make their own love lives match up to the ones in the movies. She has also featured in comedy entertainment show Life: An Idiot's Guide and satirical sketch show Newsjack, both for BBC Radio 4.[6]

In 2016, she appeared as a sex shop worker in an episode of the first season of Fleabag.

Hughes launched her own YouTube comedy series No Filter in 2016, written by and starring herself based on her real-life experiences in friendship and dating.[6][9]

Hughes has also featured on the Drunk Women Solving Crime podcast with writer/comedian hosts Hannah George, Catie Wilkins and Taylor Glenn,[10] as well as on Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, RHLSTP.[11]

She was a contestant on ITV's All Star Musical 2019 and also appeared on The Stand Up Sketch Show on ITV2 and BBC Two's Mock the Week.[12][13]

In 2018, Hughes was working on developing a comedian travel show that would feature herself and Whoopi Goldberg. However, despite Goldberg having agreed to do the show, no TV channel was interested and the show did not get made.[7][14]

Hughes' first Edinburgh Festival Fringe show was London Hughes: Superstar (it's just nobody's realised it), in 2017.[15] In 2019, she performed London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck to critical acclaim, becoming the first black nominee in the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Comedy Show. The routine was adapted into a 2020 Netflix special.[16][17][18]

Hughes is scheduled to star in an upcoming Perfect Strangers reboot for HBO Max alongside Robin Thede.[19][20][21]

Filmography

Year Title Role
2014 Space Ark Candy
2014–2018 Scrambled! Presenter
2015 I Live with Models Beautician
Venus vs. Mars Tamara
2016 Fleabag Sex Shop Worker
2016–2018 Damned Phone Caller
2017 Celebs Go Dating Regular (as herself)
The Rebel Bank Customer Advisor
2019 All Star Musical Contestant (as herself)
Mock the Week Guest (as herself)
The Stand Up Sketch Show Guest (as herself)
2020 London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck Herself
The Netflix Afterparty Regular Guest
2021 History of Swear Words Herself
The Last Leg Guest (as herself)
2021–2022 To Tell the Truth Herself
2022 The Russell Howard Hour Herself
2023 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Guest (as herself)
Sumotherhood Rowanda

References

  1. 1 2 Sinclair, Leah (29 May 2023). "London Hughes discusses the comedy landscape, her memoir and acceptance". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "London Hughes". Big Zuu's Big Eats. 3 July 2020. Dave.
  3. ↑ "BBC - Comedy - Funny Women Finals 2009 - Miss London". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "Laughter Shock - BBC3 Sketch Show - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 Rhoden-Paul, Andre (20 October 2016). "Meet the up-and-coming TV presenter, actress and comedian from Peacehaven". The Argus. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "London Hughes The British Blacklist". www.thebritishblacklist.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  7. 1 2 "RHLSTP - London Hughes - 209". YouTube. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  8. ↑ Guide, British Comedy (18 April 2016). "Funny Women Awards". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "London Hughes". YouTube. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. ↑ "Drunk Women Solving Crime". acast.com. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  11. ↑ "RHLSTP with Richard Herring - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  12. ↑ Crumlish, Callum (16 March 2019). "All Star Musicals: Kevin Clifton left RED FACED as star flirts with him after performance". express.com. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Mock The Week - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Khan, Coco (22 January 2019). "Comedy travel shows are a huge TV trend. So why can't Whoopi Goldberg get commissioned?". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  15. ↑ Jones, Alice (21 August 2019). "London Hughes: 'If I was a white dude, would I be at the Edinburgh Fringe or would I be selling out arenas?'". i. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Best-reviewed Edinburgh Fringe shows 2019". British Comedy Guide. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "2019 Nominee – London Hughes". Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  18. ↑ Wright, Megh (11 December 2020). "London Hughes Knows Why Male Comedians Are 'Treated Like Gods'". Vulture. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  19. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (14 June 2021). "Robin Thede, London Hughes to Star in 'Perfect Strangers' Reboot for HBO Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  20. ↑ Otterson, Joe (14 June 2021). "'Perfect Strangers' Reboot With Robin Thede, London Hughes in the Works at HBO Max". Variety. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "US sitcom deal for London Hughes". Chortle. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
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