Kate McLennan
{{short description|Australian comedian, writer and actor}}
{{Use British English|date= November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= November 2017}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name = Kate McLennan
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name = Katherine McLennan
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1980}}
| birth_place = Mortlake, Victoria, Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| medium = Stand-up comedian, writer, actor
| nationality = Australian
| active =
| genre = observational comedy, character comedy, parody and satire
| subject =
| influences =
| influenced =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| children = 1
| notable_work =
The Katering Show
Get Krack!n
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}
Kate McLennan (born {{circa|1980}}) is an Australian comedian, writer and actor. McLennan has performed in Australia and internationally, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is known in Australia for her work on television and web series such as The Katering Show, Get Krack!n, The Mansion, and Deadloch (2023). She produces most of her work with Kate McCartney, which has led to their being dubbed the Kates.
Early life
Career
McLennan performed in her first sketch comedy show at the age of 21 at the 2001 Melbourne Fringe Festival, and appeared in the Fringe parade.{{cite web| url= http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/about-town/my-melbourne-kate-mclennan-20111215-1owfz.html |last1=Bastow|first1=Clem| date= 30 December 2011| title= My Melbourne: Kate McLennan | website=The Sydney Morning Herald| publisher=Fairfax Media| access-date=14 November 2017}}
She rose to fame writing and performing her solo comedy show The Debutante Diaries, which won her the Best Comedy Award and Best Emerging Artist Award at the Melbourne Fringe in 2006. {{cite web|url= http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/its-the-third-annual-mie-awards-20111121-1nqpg.html| title= It's the third annual M-ie awards |last1=Staff writer|first1=The Age|date=20 November 2011 |website=The Age |accessdate=14 November 2017}}
McLennan co-created the web series Bleak with Kate McCartney in 2010, which in won the Kit Denton Disfellowship for Courage and Excellence in Performance Writing at the 2011 AWGIE Awards, worth {{AUD|30,000}}.{{cite web |url=https://www.if.com.au/awgie-award-winners-announced-2/|title= AWGIE Award Winners Announced |date=26 September 2011|last1=Swift|first1=Brendan |website=IF |accessdate=14 November 2017}}
Since then, "the two Kates" have worked together a lot.{{cite web | last=Gray | first=Lorna | title=Deadloch actor Kate Box on queer representation on Australian TV | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=29 October 2023 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/deadloch-s-kate-box-i-ve-never-been-a-closeted-actor-but-there-was-an-instinct-to-hide-20231016-p5ecow.html | access-date=20 December 2023| url-access=subscription}}{{cite web | last=Buckmaster | first=Luke | title=Get Krack!n review – Katering Show Kates face-plant uproariously into milieu of breakfast TV | website= The Guardian | date=30 August 2017 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/30/get-krackn-review-katering-show-kate-mclennan-kate-mccartney-comedy | access-date=20 December 2023}} McLennan and McCartney formed their production company called Lead Balloon TV. They wrote, produced and starred as an intolerable foodie (McLennan) and a food intolerant (McCartney) in a cooking-based web series called The Katering Show which screened on their YouTube channel in 2014. A second season of The Katering Show was screened on the ABC TV and then on ABC iview in 2016.{{cite web | last=Valentish | first=Jenny | title=Get Krack!n: how The Katering Show's comedic duo are skewering morning TV | website=the Guardian | date=27 August 2017 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/28/get-krackn-how-the-katering-shows-comedic-duo-are-skewering-morning-tv | access-date=20 December 2023}}
In 2017, McLennan and McCartney collaborated on an ABC Television comedy called Get Krack!n, playing exaggerated versions of themselves as breakfast show TV hosts, which screened on ABC iview and in the U.S.{{cite web| url= http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-katering-shows-kates-to-tackle-breakfast-tv-in-new-abc-series-get-krackn-20170215-gue17a.html | title=The Katering Show's Kates to tackle breakfast TV in new ABC series Get Krack!n| last1=Moran | first1=Rob| date=16 February 2017| website= The Sydney Morning Herald| publisher=Fairfax Media | accessdate=16 November 2017}} Get Krack!n ran for two seasons of eight episodes each, with the final episode going to air in April 2019, with Aboriginal actors and writers Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui given the stage to make strong statements about racism in Australia.{{cite web | title=Small screen highlights: THAT episode of Get Krack!n | website=ScreenHub Australia | date=2 April 2019 | url=https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/news/small-screen-highlights-that-episode-of-get-krackn-257662-1426348/ | access-date=27 October 2022}}
In June 2023 an eight-part crime comedy McLennan worked on with McCartney entitled Deadloch and starring Kate Box premiered on Amazon Prime Video.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/the-kates-mystery-opens-with-a-dead-body-but-not-what-you-expect-20230515-p5d8kt.html|website=Sydney Morning Herald|accessdate=May 24, 2023|title=The Kates' mystery opens with a dead body - but not what you expect|first=Kylie|last= Northover|date=May 18, 2023}}{{imdb title|14671678|Deadloch}}{{Cite web|date=6 May 2023|url=https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/lifestyle/fresh-take-deadloch-505300|title= Fresh take: Deadloch|website=Tribune India}}{{Cite web|url=https://if.com.au/deadloch-trailer/|website=if.com.au|access-date=24 May 2023|title= Deadloch' (Trailer)|date=4 May 2023}}{{cite web | title=Deadloch: The Kates are back with 'feminist, noir, crime comedy' | website=The New Daily | date=8 May 2023 | url=https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/2023/05/08/deadloch-kate-mccartney-mclennan | access-date=20 December 2023}}
Personal life
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable"
|+ Screen Writing |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Work ! Result ! Role ! Ref. |
|---|
| 2011
| For Courage and Excellence in Performance Writing | Bleak (web-series) | {{Won}} | Shared with Kate McCartney | {{cite web |url=https://www.if.com.au/awgie-award-winners-announced-2/|title= AWGIE Award Winners Announced |date=26 September 2011|last1=Swift|first1=Brendan |website=IF |accessdate=14 November 2017}}{{cite web |url= https://www.wheelercentre.com/people/kate-mccartney |title= Kate McCartney |last1=Staff writer |first1=The Wheeler Centre |website= The Wheeler Centre |accessdate=14 November 2017}} |
| class="wikitable"
|+ Stand-up Comedy |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Work ! Result ! Role ! Ref. |
|---|
| 2006
| Best Comedy Award | The Debutante Diaries | {{Won}} | Writer, performer |
| 2006
| Best Emerging Artist Award | The Debutante Diaries | {{Won}} | Writer, performer |
| 2007
| SA Theatre Guide | Best Comedy Award | The Debutante Diaries | {{Nom}} | Writer, performer | |
| 2007
| Short and Sweet Festival | Best Actress | All The Way to the Top | {{Nom}} | Writer, performer | |
| 2007
| Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Barry Award for Best Show | The Debutante Diaries | {{Nom}} | Writer, performer |
| 2011
| The Age | M-IE Award for Rising Comedy Star | The Debutante Diaries | {{Won}} | Writer, performer |
| 2013
| Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Golden Gibbo Award for Best Show | Standard Double | {{Nom}} | Writer, performer |
| 2024
| Best Screenplay in Television | Deadloch (Episode 1) | {{won}} | Co-writer |
Stand-up comedy tours
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|+ Tours |
| style="background: #dda0dd;"| Year
! style="background: #dda0dd;" | Title ! style="background: #dda0dd;" | Notes ! style="background: #dda0dd;" | Role |
|---|
| 2002
|The Hindsight Prophecies |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2002
|The Six |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2002
|The 666 |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2003
|Total Entertainments |Melbourne Fringe Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2005
|Henpecked |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2006
|The Wrong Night |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2006
|The Debutante Diaries |Melbourne Fringe Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2007
|The Debutante Diaries |Edinburgh Festival Fringe |Writer/performer |
| 2007
|The Enthusiasts |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2008
|Beaconsfield: the Musical |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2010
|I Coulda Been A Sailor |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2011
|Homeward Bound |Melbourne Fringe Festival |Writer/performer |
| 2012
|Comedy Festival Roadshow |Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow in Australia |Writer/performer |
| 2013
|Standard Double |Melbourne International Comedy Festival |Writer/performer |
Filmography
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|+ Film |
| style="background: #9cf;" | Year
! style="background: #9cf;"| Title ! style="background: #9cf;" | Role ! style="background: #9cf;"| Notes |
|---|
| 2007
|All The Way to the Top |Hayley |Actor |
| 2009
|Four Minutes of Fame |Karla Tutt |Actor |
| 2010
|Kwik Fix |Samara |Actor |
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|+ Television |
| style="background: #9cf;" | Year
! style="background: #9cf;"| Title ! style="background: #9cf;" | Role ! style="background: #9cf;"| Notes |
|---|
| 2003
|Melissa |1 episode |
| 2003
|MDA |Fan |1 episode |
| 2005
|Writer/actor |2 episodes |
| 2007-2011
| Dogstar |Simone (voice) |52 episodes |
| 2008
|Writer/actor |13 episodes |
| 2010
|Café girl |1 episode |
| 2011
|Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth |Actor |3 episodes |
| 2012
|Exchange Student Zero |Charity (voice) |1 episode |
| 2012
|Herself |1 episode |
| 2013
|Jessica |1 episode |
| 2013
|Herself |1 episode |
| 2013
|Writer |13 episodes |
| 2013-2014
|Comedy Up Late |Herself |2 episodes |
| 2014
|Skye |1 episode |
| 2014-2015
|Narelle Thong |26 episodes |
| 2015
|Writer |2 episodes |
| 2015
|Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane |Megan |1 episode |
| 2014-2015
|Kathryn Piper |3 episodes |
| 2015
|Comedy Showroom - Bleak |Writer/ Actor (Anna O’Brien) |1 episode |
| 2015
|Slumber Party |Writer |1 episode |
| 2015
|In The Zone IV |Herself |1 episode |
| 2016
|The Katering Show (season 2) |Writer/ Producer/ Herself |8 episodes |
| 2016
|Dogstar: Christmas in Space |Simone Clark/ Celeste Sharp (voices) |1 episode |
| 2017-2019
|Writer/ Producer/ Herself |16 episodes |
| 2017
|Have You Been Paying Attention? |Herself/ Guest Quiz Master |1 episode |
| 2017
|Herself |1 episode |
| 2010
|Wakkaville |Missy (voice) |26 episodes |
| 2018
|Writer |6 episodes |
| 2018
|Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation |Herself |1 episode |
| 2019
|Herself |1 episode |
| 2019
|Herself |1 episode |
| 2023
|Creator / Writer |8 episodes |
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|+ Web series |
| style="background: #9cf;" | Year
! style="background: #9cf;"| Title ! style="background: #9cf;" | Role ! style="background: #9cf;"| Notes |
|---|
| 2014
|Bleak- The Web Series |Writer/Actor (Anna) |4 episodes |
| 2015
|The Katering Show (season 1) |Writer/ Producer/ Herself |6 episodes |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=1928116|name=Kate McLennan}}
- [http://creativerep.com.au/artists/kate-mclennan/ Kate McLennan's entertainer biography at Creative Representation]
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLennan, Kate}}
Category:Australian women comedians
Category:Australian stand-up comedians
Category:Australian television personalities
Category:Australian women television personalities
Category:21st-century Australian comedians