Soon to be seen as a core footballer in the next season of Apple TV’s (long overdue!) excellent award-winning comedy-drama Ted Lasso, Sapphire McIntosh’s eagerly awaited debut hour is a hilarious and sharply observational insight about chasing big dreams from unlikely places. The professional footballer-turned-actress-and-comedian shares her most personal experiences of homelessness, estrangement, ambition, identity and the strange overlap between football, failure and finding your way. As she explores the truth about growing up with a narcissist and the power of chosen family, Sapphire turns pain into play and survival into punchlines in a show that tackles resilience head on. Born and raised working class in Leeds and with a degree in criminology, Sapphire found calm, belonging and the occasional concussion on the pitch as she went on to play for Leeds United and England colleges. She then emerged onto the comedy scene over a decade ago and has not looked back. She has reached the finals in various comedy competitions including the BBC Caroline Aherne Bursary, the Max Turner Comedy Award, BBC New Comedian of the Year and the Funny Women’s Comedy Shorts Award. In 2022 she was part of the prestigious Best in Class that went on to win the DAVE panel prize for the Spirit of the Fringe, has performed with improv group Improbotics and in April this year was invited to join sell-out sketch troupe Gobby Girls at London’s Soho Theatre. She has made films on the growth of far-right groups in the UK, a documentary for Vice on smoking addiction, appeared in Channel 4’s 2021 Comedy Shorts series, gone viral with her Instagram sketches, and has reported for Channel 4 news on various topics including mental health. She can be heard as a voice-over artist and has appeared in several comedy sketch shows.

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