Joanne McNally

Joanne McNally
McNally in 2024
Born (1983-05-07) 7 May 1983
County Roscommon, Ireland
OccupationsStand-up comedian, writer, actress
Years active2013–present

Joanne McNally (born 7 May 1983) is an Irish stand-up comedian, writer, and actress. McNally was the co-host of Republic of Telly[1] for RTÉ and has also appeared on The Late Late Show, The Afternoon Show, Ireland AM, Two Tube, and The Commute for RTÉ. As well as segments on RTÉ 2fm, McNally co-hosts a podcast called My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams.

Early life

McNally was born in County Roscommon; her biological father left her mother before Joanne's birth. McNally was raised by her adoptive family in Killiney, County Dublin.[2][3]

Early career

McNally was a publicist in her early twenties and worked alongside the influencer James Kavanagh. She had originally intended to go into journalism as she had studied English and sociology for her undergraduate degree at University College Dublin and had looked at studying an MA in journalism noting that "someone was like, 'You need to fucking be prepared to sell your granny for a story.' I was like, 'Well, my granny's dead! I've nothing to sell!' So I ended up going into PR."[4][5][6][7]

She also spent a year in Australia.[8]

Having enjoyed her time as a publicist, the work had left her stressed and unfulfilled and so she pivoted to a role in the charity sector, at a mental health charity.[9] During this period she was dealing with bulimia and would sleep in the charity's office as she couldn't go back to her housemates.[7]

Stand-up career

Stand-up

In 2014, after McNally had received treatment for bulimia and anorexia, director Una McKevitt invited her to perform in her new show, Singlehood, which was about a mixture of seven people discussing their love lives.[10] At the time, McNally was unemployed but agreed to do the stageshow and recalled the joke which first established her as a stand-up comic: "I’ll stop you there – you know you’re bald? This conversation sounds like you think you’ve got a full head of hair."[7]

She performed in Singlehood with comedian PJ Gallagher who suggested to McNally and McKevitt that they should work on a new project together, which became Separated at Birth about their adoptions.[11][12][13] Separated at Birth sold out Vicar Street in May 2015 and went on a national tour around Ireland. The two were guests on The Late Late Show hosted by Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ One in March 2015.

McNally supported Gallagher on his stand up tour Concussion, around Ireland in 2015, and she was then signed by Irish comedy agency Lisa Richards.[14][15]

She reunited with McKevitt to write a one-woman show about her bulimia, called Bite Me.[7] She co-wrote and performed her one-woman show for the Dublin Fringe Festival, directed by Una McKevitt. The show is a dark comedy based on her experience with eating disorders. The show sold out its five night run in Dublin's Project Arts Centre and was nominated for four awards including Best Performance, Best Production and the First Fortnight Award. An excerpt from the show was re-printed in The Irish Times. She appeared as a guest on RTÉ One's The Tommy Tiernan Show in January 2017 where she talked about the show.[16] McNally performed Bite Me at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Assembly Rooms in Scotland August 2017.[17]

She performed her show Wine Tamer with success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and later also at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.[18]

She started touring her show "Prosecco Express" in 2022, in UK and Ireland.[19] which included multiple sold out dates at Vicar Street in Dublin and the London Palladium.

Her tour Pinotphile began in 2025, going across cities in UK and Ireland including Dublin, London and Manchester. Joanne is set to bring Pinotphile to Dublin's 3Arena in 2026, making her the first Irish female comedian to host a solo show on that iconic stage.[20]

The comedian Anne Gildea has been compared with McNally but for menopausal women. [21]

Television

McNally was cast as the new co-host of RTÉ2 satirical comedy sketch TV show Republic of Telly in October 2015, replacing Jennifer Maguire who left to star in the Irish comedy Bridget & Eamon with Bernard O'Shea.[22] McNally quit the comedy show in June 2016.

McNally was a semi finalist in So You Think You're Funny and Funny Women. She has performed at comedy festivals Vodafone Comedy Festival, Cat Laughs, Galway Comedy Carnival, Body & Soul Festival, Jestfest and Bray Comedy Festival.

In April 2022, she appeared in Channel 4's The Big Fat Quiz of Everything and then in 2026 she appeared in Channel 4's The Big Fat Quiz of Telly.[23]

In September 2023, McNally co-presented Joanne & Vogue’s Sex Drive with Vogue Williams; a one-off special shown on E4.[24]

McNally was a contestant on the seventeenth series of the Channel 4 show Taskmaster which premiered in March 2024.[25] She finished in second place.

Podcasts

McNally co-hosts the award winning podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams since April 2021.[26]

Her company, Prosecco Pig Ltd which produces the podcast posted a post-tax profit of €674,823 in 2025.[27]

McNally hosts the Joanne McNally Investigates for BBC Sounds which has had two series, the first was 'Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?"[28] and the second series was 'Did the Furbys Spy on Us?'[29]

Miranda Sawyer of the Guardian reviewed the first series of the podcast: "Initially, I found the constant diversions a little trying, but that’s because I thought this was an investigative show. It’s not. It’s a comedy one."[30] Hollie Richardson also of the Guardian differed: "She’s not even a Lavigne fan, which only adds to the hilarity of her Stacey Dooley-like ambitions."[31] Fiona McCann host of the We Can’t Print This podcast and frequent contributor to the Irish Times said of the podcast: "Who replaced Avril Lavigne? Who cares? It’s McNally, whose bawdy, brazen brand of genuine pulls the listener through a shaky premise on thin scaffolding with the sheer force of her personality, who turns out to be irreplaceable."[32]

Writing

McNally writes a monthly column for Stellar magazine called "Jo's World". Her book of essays, Femme Feral, is scheduled to be published in August 2026.[33]

Personal life

McNally is currently single and uses dating apps. Her personal life also features in her comedy stand-up.[34][35][36]

References

  1. ^ Knox, Kirsty Blake (7 October 2015). "Funnywoman Joanne McNally Set To Replace Jen Maguire On The Republic Of Telly". Irish Independent.
  2. ^ Lynch, Donal (4 March 2019). "Daddy's girl: Why Joanne McNally goes for 'boy-dad' types". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  3. ^ "'Republic of Telly' star Joanne McNally standing up and being counted". Irish Examiner. 4 January 2016. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  4. ^ Keane, Rebecca (21 February 2017). "A Friendly Chat With Joanne McNally". HeadStuff. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Annie MacManus". AnnieMacmanus. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  6. ^ O'Toole, Lucy. "Joanne McNally: "I think comedy should be kept as open and as controversial as it possibly can be..."". Hotpress. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d Aroesti, Rachel (14 April 2022). "'Everyone has one cancellation in them': standup Joanne McNally on her unfiltered comedy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  8. ^ "All aboard the Prosecco Express with Joanne McNally". Time Out Melbourne. Archived from the original on 19 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  9. ^ "Joanne McNally: 'What we called passion, 20-somethings now call toxic'". Metro. 13 August 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  10. ^ entertainment (27 November 2014). "Singlehood". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Separated at Birth". Centre Culturel Irlandais. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  12. ^ "PJ Gallagher on the lighter side of adoption: 'I was shocked when I found out everybody else wasn't adopted'". Irish Independent. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  13. ^ "PJ Gallagher and Joanne McNally – Irish Times podcast". Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  14. ^ Butler, Janice (17 February 2022). "Joanne McNally on her rising career: "I was always aiming big"". RTÉ.
  15. ^ "Joanne McNally". Lisa Richards Agency. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  16. ^ Brady, Sasha (10 February 2017). "Comedian Joanne McNally was inspiring on The Tommy Tiernan Show as she discussed her eating disorder". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  17. ^ Lynch, Donal (2 April 2017). "How comedy saved Joanne McNally's life". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  18. ^ https://thegcadelaide.com.au/2019/joanne-mcnally
  19. ^ Dessau, Bruce (23 July 2021). "Joanne McNally Takes Her Prosecco Express on Tour". Beyond the Joke. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  20. ^ https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2025/1125/1545641-joanne-mcnally-on-fame-friendship-and-the-3arena/
  21. ^ Murphy, Lauren (22 April 2023). "Meet Anne Gildea, the Joanne McNally for menopausal women". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  22. ^ Knox, Kirsty Blake (8 October 2015). "Stand-up queen Joanne McNally to replace Jennifer Maguire on Republic". Herald.ie. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  23. ^ "The Big Fat Quiz of Telly". Retrieved 11 January 2026.
  24. ^ "Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally hit Ibiza to explore their sexual boundaries in new E4 show". Channel 4 (Press release). 6 September 2023. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Taskmaster season 17: Release date, cast and latest news". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  26. ^ https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/my-therapist-ghosted-me-tickets/artist/5386442
  27. ^ Deegan, Gordon. "Joanne McNally firm records post-tax profits of €674,823". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  28. ^ "Off The Kerb - Joanne McNally Investigates launches today on BBC Sounds". www.offthekerb.com. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  29. ^ "BBC - Joanne McNally Investigates - Available now". BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  30. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (16 March 2024). "The week in audio: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates; The Sports Agents; Diving With A Purpose – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  31. ^ Richardson, Hollie; Verdier, Hannah; Aroesti, Rachel (7 March 2024). "Best podcasts of the week: The wannabe sleuths who believe Avril Lavigne was 'replaced' by an imposter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  32. ^ McCann, Fiona. "Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally's deliciously deranged investigation is a must-listen". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  33. ^ "Femme Feral". Penguin Books UK. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  34. ^ Rigney, Catriona; Martin, Megan (8 March 2024). "Comedian Joanne McNally splits from boyfriend after two years together". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2025.
  35. ^ Joanne McNally on Modern Dating: "I'm on Every App…" #comedyshorts. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via www.youtube.com.
  36. ^ Whats My Age Again Podcast (21 April 2025). Joanne McNally: Can You Party, Stay Single & Still Be Biologically Younger?. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via YouTube.
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