Bethany Black

Bethany Black born 24 December 1978 is an English stand up comedian actor and writer Described as Britains only goth lesbian transsexual comedian Black is known for performing black comedy dealing with controversial subjects As an actor she is the first trans person to play a trans character in a British TV series and also the first openly trans actor in Doctor Who Born in Chorley Lancashire Black had a troubled childhood suffering from depression She attended Manchester Metropolitan University where she got a degree in film television and cultural studies Black had a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide on several occasions She has described her attempts in detail She then came out to her family twice first as a trans woman and then as a lesbian Black underwent sex reassignment surgery and discusses her transition in her standup act Originally she was hesitant about entering standup because she felt that the best comedians were older people However Black changed her mind after seeing Josie Long someone younger than her perform successfully while using material similar to her own At the age of 25 she started her career first as a compere for a music club in Preston called Club Fuzzy where she provided comedy between the music acts After a hostile reaction she then began performing in actual comedy clubs Black adopted a Fairy Gothmother style performing her routines dressed in black with black eye shadow and sometimes wearing fetish clothing Most of her comedy is a combination of observational comedy mixed with innuendo Her career grew when in 2005 she opened the Manchester Pride festival She also became a supporting act for other comedians such as Mick Miller and attracted positive reviews from other comedians such as Brendon Burns9 In 2007 she became a finalist in the Chortle Student Comedy Awards In 2008 Black started performing her show Beth Becomes Her which tells the story of Blacks childhood She had previously resisted performing material about her life story for fear of how her audience would react However the show went down well with most of the audience It was nominated for the award for Best Debut at the Leicester Comedy Festival Black was diagnosed in 2018 with autism ADHD OCD and agoraphobia these diagnoses were prominently referenced in her show Unwinnable at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe later that year