{{Short description|British comedian and television executive}} {{Use British English|date=September 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | image = CallyBeaton HalfShotHiRes.jpg | name = Cally Beaton | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1969|3|17}} | honorific_suffix = | caption = | occupation = comedian, podcaster, speaker | partner = | alma_mater = Goldsmiths | other_names = | website = [http://callybeaton.com/ http://callybeaton.com] }}
'''Caroline Beaton''' (born 17 March 1969) is a British stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer and former TV executive.
==Early life== Beaton grew up in Dorset, the daughter of two teachers and was the only girl in an all boys school.{{cn|date=February 2024}} She studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths and is a Master Practitioner in neuro-linguistic programming.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/live/circuit_training/cally_beaton_interview/|title=British Comedy Guide|website=British Comedy Guide |date=17 August 2017}}</ref>
==Career== Beaton worked as a TV executive at MTV and Carlton TV responsible for shows including ''South Park'' and ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and as a senior vice president at Viacom. While working at Comedy Central in 2015 she began performing as a stand-up comedian.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/questionsfor-cally-beaton/|title='It's a show asking if you can be a woman in her forties and have it all': 10 questions for comedian Cally Beaton|first=Paul|last=Coia|date=12 July 2017 }}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.fest-mag.com/edinburgh/comedy/don-t-give-up-the-day-job|title=Edinburgh Festival Guide|date=22 July 2017}}; {{cite web | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2014-10-14/having-great-shows-is-no-longer-enough-beaton | title=Having Great Shows is No Longer Enough: Beaton | website=Bloomberg News }}; {{Cite web|url=https://tbivision.com/2015/06/19/caroline-beaton-why-niche-is-the-new-normal/|title=Why niche is the new normal|last=Beaton|first=Caroline|date=19 June 2015|publisher=Television Business International}}; {{Cite web|url=https://www.my-mip.com/resource-centre/videos/broad-city-power-comedy/|title=Broad City: Power Comedy|date=20 August 2014 |publisher=MyMIP}}</ref> According to her website: {{quote|It was while working for Comedy Central that Cally was nudged into the sphere of performance after a chance conversation with the late, great Joan Rivers, then 81, and so it was that as a 45 year old single parent, Cally first took to the stage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://callybeaton.com/about/ |title= About Cally Beaton|website=callybeaton.com |date= 14 December 2022|accessdate=13 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213220811/https://callybeaton.com/about/ |archive-date=13 February 2024}}</ref>}}
Beaton has appeared as a guest on BBC Two's ''The Apprentice: You're Fired'', a panellist on BBC Two's ''QI'', Richard Osman’s House of Games, BBC NI's ''The Blame Game'' and Live at the Apollo Christmas Special. She has been heard on BBC Radio 4's ''The Museum of Curiosity'', ''The Unbelievable Truth'', Radio 4's ''The Now Show'' and on BBC Radio 6, Times Radio, Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio London.
thumb|Cally Beaton performing at Live at the Apollo Christmas Special
At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016, she gained 4-star reviews, together with comedian Catherine Bohart. For her solo show at the 2017 festival, ''Super Cally Fragile Lipstick'', she gained further 4-star reviews and won the Piccadilly Comedy Club "New Comedian Of The Year" 2017/18.
Her 2019 Edinburgh Fringe solo show ''Invisible'', inspired by the statement by Yann Moix that women over 50 years of age were invisible to him, was listed as unmissable by the Daily Express and received four-star reviews from ''The Scotsman'' and ''Funny Women''. Beaton was on Episode 19 of the 2019 series of Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast. She featured on the ''Daily Mirror''{{'}}s and the ''Evening Standard's'' best jokes lists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://funnywomen.com/2016/08/23/catherine-bohart-cally-beaton-cat-call/|title=Cat Call|date=23 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://one4review.co.uk/2016/08/cat-call-catherine-bohart-cally-beaton-4/|title=Cat Call – Catherine Bohart and Cally Beaton|date=8 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://funnywomen.com/2017/08/20/cally-beaton-super-cally-fragile-lipstick/|title=Cally Beaton: Super Cally Fragile Lipstick|date=20 August 2017}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/comedy/edinburgh-fringe-2017-reviews-tom-allen-cally-beaton-lauren-pattison-trumpageddon-2|title=Edinburgh Fringe 2017 reviews: Tom Allen / Cally Beaton / Lauren Pattison / Trumpageddon|date=15 August 2017|website=theartsdesk.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.beyondthejoke.co.uk/content/5066/piccadilly-comedy-club|title=News: Piccadilly Comedy Club New Comedian Of The Year – Results|date=30 December 2017|work=Beyond the Joke}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/edinburgh-festivals/comedy-review-cally-beaton-invisible-assembly-george-square-studios-edinburgh-1409571|title=Comedy review: Cally Beaton: Invisible, Assembly George Square Studios, Edinburgh|work=The Scotsman|date=23 August 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/36-funniest-one-liner-jokes-18989392|title=36 of the funniest one-liner jokes from Edinburgh Fringe Festival|first=Julie|last=McCaffrey|date=23 August 2019|website=Daily Mirror}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/edinburgh-fringe-festival-2019-best-jokes-funniest-gags-one-liners-a4206931.html|title=The 25 funniest jokes from Edinburgh Fringe 2019|first=Jessie|last=Thompson|date=9 August 2019|website=Evening Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/1156894/Edinburgh-Fringe-2019-tips-comedy-recommendations-theatre-Festival|title=Edinburgh Fringe 2019: 37 unmissable shows at this year's festival|first=Shaun|last=Kitchener|date=23 July 2019|website=Daily Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/07/french-author-yann-moix-sparks-row-with-comments-about-women-over-50|title=French author, 50, says women over 50 are too old to love|newspaper=The Guardian|date=7 January 2019|last=Willsher|first=Kim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://funnywomen.com/2019/08/22/cally-beaton-invisible/|title=Funny Women 22nd August 2019|date=22 August 2019}}</ref>
In Spring 2021, Beaton launched ''Namaste Motherf**kers'', a podcast that mixes the genres of comedy, self-help and business. And in 2025 her debut book of the same name, became a Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Countdown |url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/namaste-motherf-ckers/cally-beaton/9781035420513 |access-date=2026-01-05 |website=Waterstones |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In Spring 2023, Beaton appeared on ''Countdown'' in Dictionary Corner.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Countdown |url=https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/9c28e717-d481-427f-932c-986cc92b69de/countdown-9c28e717-d481-427f-932c-986cc92b69de/episodes/season-2023/episode-110 |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=Sky |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Beaton has also written for ''The Guardian'' and the ''Financial Times''.{{cn|date=January 2023}}
==Personal life== Beaton has a son, who is autistic, and a daughter. Beaton moved to Amsterdam in the 1990s, as her then husband was Dutch. She became fluent in the language<ref name="auto1"/>, and she owns property in Amsterdam and London.
After her divorce, she dated fellow comedian Mark Steel in 2023.
==References== <references />
==External links== * {{official|http://callybeaton.com}} * [https://www.performingartistes.co.uk/artistes/cally-beaton0 Performing Artists - Cally Beaton] * {{imdb name|nm9587868}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, Cally}} Category:1969 births Category:English stand-up comedians Category:British women comedians Category:British television executives Category:21st-century British writers Category:Living people Category:British women podcasters Category:British podcasters Category:Writers from Dorset Category:Comedians from Dorset