{{Short description|English comedian}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox comedian | name = Ava Vidal | image = Ava Vidal at WOW Festival.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Ava Beverley Vidal | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1976}} | birth_place = {{Nowrap|Lambeth, London, England}} | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | medium = {{flatlist| *Stand–up *television}} | genre = {{flatlist| *Observational comedy *sketch comedy *satire}} | children = 3 | website = }} '''Ava Beverley Vidal''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|v|ə|_|v|ɪ|ˈ|d|ɑ:|l}}; born 1976 in Lambeth, London)<ref name=top>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4learning.com/support/programmenotes/micro/fromthetop/programme1_bg.html|title=Learning - From the Top|publisher=|accessdate=4 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081235/http://www.channel4learning.com/support/programmenotes/micro/fromthetop/programme1_bg.html|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> is an English comedian. She has taken part in E4's ''Kings of Comedy''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/oct/08/broadcasting.realitytv|work=The Guardian|title=Kings of Comedy fail to see the funny side|author=Plunkett, John|date=8 October 2004|access-date=11 October 2017|archive-date=9 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009041620/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/oct/08/broadcasting.realitytv|url-status=live}}</ref> Her career in comedy began on the BBC's ''Urban Sketch Show''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/K/kingsofcomedy/profile6.html/ |title=Explore |publisher=Channel 4 |accessdate=2011-06-28 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050316180916/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/K/kingsofcomedy/profile6.html |archivedate=2005-03-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Life and career== In 1996,<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/aug/18/guardiansocietysupplement|title=Ava Vidal|first=Alison|last=Benjamin|newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 August 2004|publisher=|accessdate=15 January 2019|via=www.theguardian.com|archive-date=15 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115075747/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/aug/18/guardiansocietysupplement|url-status=live}}</ref> Vidal began working as a prison officer at HM Prison Pentonville in Barnsbury, North London.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-22393400/prison-no-holiday-camp-says-ex-officer-ava-vidal|title=Prison 'no holiday camp' says ex-officer|work=BBC News |accessdate=15 January 2019|archive-date=15 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115104439/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-22393400/prison-no-holiday-camp-says-ex-officer-ava-vidal|url-status=live}}</ref> She was inspired to go into the field by her mother, who worked at HM Prison Holloway.<ref name="theguardian"/> Vidal decided to quit the prison profession in 2001 to go to university and study law. Around this time, she also began writing comedy material.<ref name="theguardian"/>
Vidal appeared in ''28 Acts in 28 Minutes'' and ''The Comic Side of 7 Days'' in 2005. She has also been involved in other BBC shows including ''The Last Laugh'', ''The Sack Race'' and ''The Crouches''. Vidal was a housemate in ''Kings of Comedy'' on E4, and Channel 4 made a documentary about her called ''From the Top'', a half-hour show explaining her journey in comedy so far and how she became a comedian.
Vidal was on the line-up of ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' in Swansea that aired on 27 June 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ldgr2 |title=One Programmes - Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Series 1, Swansea |publisher=BBC |date= |access-date=2011-06-28 |archive-date=12 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112231714/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ldgr2 |url-status=live }}</ref> BBC Radio 4's ''The News Quiz'' in February and October 2010, and appeared four times on BBC Two's ''Mock the Week'' between 2011 and 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036mmm6|title=BBC Two - Mock the Week, Series 12, Episode 4|publisher=BBC|access-date=20 August 2015|archive-date=26 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220426210552/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036mmm6|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2012, she appeared on ''Is Football Racist?'' on BBC Three.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ava-vidal-it-is-time-for-the-civil-rights-movement-to-hit-the-football-pitch-7942221.html|title=Ava Vidal: It is time for the Civil Rights Movement to hit the football pitch|last=Vidal|first=Ava|date=13 July 2012|website=The Independent|accessdate=16 November 2019|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116001130/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/ava-vidal-it-is-time-for-the-civil-rights-movement-to-hit-the-football-pitch-7942221.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
On BBC Three's ''Free Speech'', she suggested armed drug dealers should be helped rather than sent to prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSnNZ_SdLcY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/nSnNZ_SdLcY |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Peter Hitchens on Free Speech (24/04/2014)|website=www.youtube.com|date=25 February 2016 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In 2016, along with numerous other celebrities, Vidal toured the UK to support Jeremy Corbyn's bid to become Prime Minister.<ref name="jc4pmtour">{{cite web|url=http://www.jc4pmtour.com/|title=#JC4PM|location=|publisher=jc4pmtour|date=28 July 2015|accessdate=15 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701133711/http://jc4pmtour.com/|archive-date=1 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="telegraph">{{cite news|last=Wilkinson|first=Michael|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12134051/Celebrities-to-tour-Britain-in-Jeremy-Corbyn-For-Prime-Minister-musical-show.html|title=Celebrities to tour Britain in 'Jeremy Corbyn For Prime Minister' musical show|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 February 2016|accessdate=15 July 2017|archive-date=9 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609221909/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12134051/Celebrities-to-tour-Britain-in-Jeremy-Corbyn-For-Prime-Minister-musical-show.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Vidal presents her own YouTube podcast named Black Woman's Hour.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPv7I5fBUUk8aN5Q0jz_Z1g|title=Black Womans Hour Youtube Channel (23/10/2021)|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=23 November 2021|archive-date=23 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123232116/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPv7I5fBUUk8aN5Q0jz_Z1g|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Personal life== Vidal has three children, two daughters and a son. Her eldest daughter, Shaquelle, died in April 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/17/mock-week-panelist-fights-high-court-battle-ex-right-spread/|title=Mock The Week panelist fights High Court battle with ex over right to spread ashes of her daughter|first=Francesca|last=Marshall|newspaper=The Telegraph |date=17 October 2018|publisher=|accessdate=15 January 2019|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|archive-date=15 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115081317/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/17/mock-week-panelist-fights-high-court-battle-ex-right-spread/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20171014171131/http://avavidal.co.uk/|name=Official website (archived)}} *{{IMDb name|1745810|Ava Vidal}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vidal, Ava}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:English people of Sierra Leonean descent Category:English television actresses Category:Black British women comedians Category:English women comedians Category:Black British comedians Category:English television writers Category:English women television writers Category:British prison officers Category:English women screenwriters Category:21st-century English comedians Category:21st-century English screenwriters Category:21st-century English women writers Category:Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:Writers from the London Borough of Lambeth Category:People from Lambeth