Cariad Lloyd

Jo Sargent interview

Cariad Lloyd talks to comedy producer Jo Sargent (in her only ever interview) about nurturing talent.

Cariad Lloyd on Julie Walters

From Mrs Overall to Mrs Weasley, Walters' niceness is in danger of overtaking her immense stagecraft - if I could only be as real as she is.

Austentatious: Making it up as they go along

"It's the Neighbours of Jane Austen," says comedian Cariad Lloyd.

How to produce your own comedy show

Ever had the urge to stand on a crate in a room full of strangers? Cariad Lloyd has everything you need to know.

It's not good news when a programme moves channels before it even airs but that's exactly what happened to sitcom Give Out Girls. Originally planned to be shown on Sky Living it was transferred to Comedy Central which, after watching episode one, was possibly a better fit. Set in the world of promotions Give Out Girls follows the fortunes of four ladies who work for the Hot Staff company. The only character that the sitcom really spends any time with is 29-year-old Marilyn (Kerry Howard); an unreliable schemer who tries her best to do as little work as possible. Thanks to the fantastic performance by the ever-reliable Howard, Marilyn was the only one of Give Out Girls' characters who didn't feel like a cliché. Marilyn's colleagues are the snide beautiful Kiwi Zoe (Mianda Hennessy), fun-loving Welsh girl Poppy (Cariad Lloyd) and the naive Gemma (former X-Factor contestant Diana Vickers). I'm not sure why Hatty Ashdown and Tony MacMurray thought the world of promotions was such a comic minefield because the scenes where the girls were out on the street didn't yield much laughter. In fact the majority of the jokes in Give Out Girls were incredibly tired and included a ridiculous sexual harassment charge as well as Marilyn mistaking a facial mole for an olive. As she proved in Him and Her, Kerry Howard is a fantastic comic actress and I felt she made a potential two-dimensional character into somebody vaguely realistic. Aside from Howard, only Tracey Ann-Oberman as the girls' powersuit wearing boss made an impression. Although Howard and Oberman tried their best, they couldn't save a sitcom that didn't make me laugh once. Based on the evidence in this episode, Kerry Howard deserves much better and I'm hoping her next project is a programme worthy of her considerable comic talent.

Comedian Hatty Ashdown plumbed her years as a promotions girl for the basis of this new sitcom. Him & Her's Kerry Howard is the hapless Marilyn, perpetually in the bad books of ex-EastEnder Tracy-Ann Oberman, playing her mucky boss Debbie. In an identikit town centre, the team - comprising Cariad Lloyd (the odd one), Miranda Hennessy (bitchy) and The X Factor's Diana Vickers (ditzy) - are sampling new booze Nectarino. Whoever does the best wins a job in Spain with Debbie's tragic underling Steve. It's not awful.

Cariad Lloyd's shapeshifting comedy in Edinburgh

From solo shows to improv and double acts ... why Lloyd is the face and the future of the fringe.

Review: Cariad Lloyd and Louise Ford at Latitude

There are some splendidly inventive ideas in Cariad Lloyd and Louise Ford’s character show, getting a 40-minute run-through at Latitude before the polished version hits Edinburgh in a few days’ time.

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Lloyd Langford

Lloyd Langford is one of the leading lights of a resurgent Welsh comedy scene (see Cariad Lloyd, Ellis James, Nadia Kamil, Rhod Gilbert etc), creating a persona of dry, good-hearted naivety.

Cariad Lloyd interview

The comedian on her tap-dancing past, her addiction to reality shows, and her 'affair' with David Bowie.