Susan Murray
Starting her career under the stage name Harpie, Susan Murray was a finalist in the Daily Telegraph Open Mic in 1997 and won the first Jongleurs new act competition the following year.
She first went to Edinburgh in 2000 as part of the Big Value Comedy Show, and returned in 2004 in a two-hander with fellow Brummie comic Karen Bayley. Outside Edinburgh, she has also performed her own solo show, Eternal Optimist, about her search for a partner.
Her writing credits include ITV1's Sketch Show and Radio 4 sketch show In Crowd.
Susan Murray Videos
Reviews
Susan Murray: The Glottal Stops Here

Susan Murray took something of a sabbatical in the last year, having tired, as she says, of playing to drunken stags and hens. This is her attempt to cater for a different market.
A fine aim, butone she can’t help but immediately undermine by mentioning that she’s good at blowjobs and a common gag about predictive text calling someone a ‘complete aunt’. You can take a girl out of Highlight, but…
And for all the mentions of glottal stops and the great vowel shift, at its heart Murray’s Fringe debut is a glorified version of the affectionate regional teasing that you’ll see in clubs everywhere, but using local accents as the jumping-off point.
read more of this review …
She starts with her own Black Country brogue. ‘You don't hear this accent on TV much,’ she complains, conveniently overlooking £6million ITV signing Adrian Chiles (though he makes an appearance later in the show) or even comedy’s own Frank Skinner. But research has shown that people consider anyone with a Brummie twang to be stupid, so she can get the self-deprecation out of the way first.
Thus begins a spin around the accents of Britain: the aggressive Glasgwegian, soft West Country and distinctive Geordie in particular. We get a brief lesson in how the dialects formed, then invited to do them, making her some sort of reverse Henry Higgins.
There’s not a huge amount of depth to anything – Russell Kane has more insight on social linguistics in a five-minute routine in his show than Murray has in an hour – but Murray has an enthusiastic energy and works the small room with great skill. With a rough charm that’s easy to warm to, she’s playful with her subjects and reads the room like a pro.
She’s prone to taking a few easy jokes: mocking street patios of the youth, imagining how shit CSI Birmingham would be or rephrasing an old Essex girl joke to reference an iPhone instead of a computer. But then there are some much sharper lines in here, too.
The finished show might not be bostin, but it’s an assured step away from the club set she has tired of, but making fine use of the audience skills that experience has taught her.
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Susan Murray Dates
Fri 28 Jun 2013
- Glasgow Jongleurs
- 20:30
- From £15
- Susan Murray, Tony Hendriks
Sat 29 Jun 2013
- Glasgow Jongleurs
- 20:30
- From £15
- Susan Murray, Tony Hendriks
Fri 12 Jul 2013
- Bristol Jongleurs
- 21:00
- From £12
- Daliso Chaponda, Mark Olver, Susan Murray
Sat 13 Jul 2013
- Bristol Jongleurs
- 21:00
- From £12
- Daliso Chaponda, Mark Olver, Susan Murray
Fri 16 Aug 2013
- Liverpool Slaughterhouse
- 20:00
- From £15
- Duncan Oakley, Phil Butler, Susan Murray, Chris Cairns (MC)
Sat 17 Aug 2013
- Liverpool Slaughterhouse
- 20:00
- From £15
- Duncan Oakley, Phil Butler, Susan Murray, Chris Cairns (MC)
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Older Comments
Incubus2011 - 05/12/2011
An excellent act. have seen her three or four times and she was good every time, with the last time I saw her (At the Stand??), she ripped it.
June Maguire - 12/12/2010
Saw her at Hereford. I am not surprised that female comedians get such stick, she was crap beyond belief. And the reason that she isn't on telly...she has no talent. She could try auditioning for X Factor.
Marj - 28/11/2010
We saw Susan at Wolverhampton last week doing her "Glottal stops here" show, and we had a great night, she did almost two hours witn a small break and entertained us throughout. We had a tour of Britain with a mixture of accents and anecdotes, very good, very funny, we will definitely see her again.
John - 08/11/2010
We saw Susan Murray at Hereford on Bonfire night and she was absolutely brilliant. She was the compere and had to ad lib from start to finish and she soon had the audience on side and eating out of the palm of her hand. As usual several groups on the tables with different characters and after a few minutes she had them knitted together like a jumper, they loved her. The table next to us agreed that she was the best we had seen in a long time.
Chris Fullwood - 16/09/2010
I saw Susan Murray at the Edinburgh Festival and thought she was brilliant. She was intelligent, innovative and very, very funny. Her show was a rare and nwonderful thing ! Why isn't she on television ?
Russell Burcham - 23/08/2010
My wife and I went to see Susan at The Stand in Edinburgh performing her "The Glottal Stops Here" show. We both thoroughly enjoyed the show as it was funny and at the same time educating. The show explores accents around Britain and where they came from. If you are in Edinburgh over the next few days pop along to the Stand and you won't be disappointed.
Graham Fearon - 06/08/2010
Saw Susan recently at The Walnut Tree Maidstone. I was puzzled, scratched my head for 25 mins totally straightfaced, questioned other bystanders as to whether they thought it was comedy (and none did) then left. Claimed she was trying her fringe material out! Please save your money Susan, go on holiday or something. This was not comedy.
Terry - 01/03/2010
Saw Susan last night in Lancaster, she was first act on and the start was a bit slow, but the act got better as it went on.
Michael Monkhouse - 10/10/2008
Big, brash and downright hilarious. Not one for Mummy and Daddy, but if you want a batter of gloriously rude gags...
Barry Tuft - 02/06/2008
Imagine a Fearne Cotton glove puppet operated by a rancorous perv. Well worth seeing but she'll soil your ears.
Rich - 07/04/2007
Very poor indeed. Saw her at the Comedy Store and she did a routine similar to one that has been done by Rhod Gilbert, the Welshman's version being far superior. She insists she is working class but then every other gag she performs is out to slate working class folk. Avoid at all costs
colin the courtyard king - 18/03/2007
Saw her at Hereford and thought she was poor
Sam - 14/06/2006
Saw her preform at Download festival and though she was brilliant- absolutely hilarious
Dave Darby - 04/06/2006
Susan Murray is the funniest female I've ever seen. Saw her at Jongleurs in Reading and she rocked the place. Loved her gags about the pikies.
Pro Comedy Critic - 03/02/2006
There's a moment of shock when this attractive young lady comes on stage and then floors everyone with the explicitness of her gags. She can quickly grab the audience and appeals to the most base (or de-based) sense of humour but she also throws some clever stuff in there too. She's let down by inconsitent performances, which mean this up and coming comediene may have up and come as far as she's going to. SGenerally speaking we could see her as a headliner in a few years if she can iron out the peaks and troughs in her perfomances and hone the best of her material.
Oxford - 05/10/2005
Saw her at Oxford and she stormed the place, she was on first and was much better than any of the other acts - including the headlining one. If you get a chance to see her then do
Phil - 22/09/2005
I saw this hippy chick a few weeks back at Alexander's in Chester. Good material and excellent delivery. Absolutely thrashed a heckler. Highly recommended
Fat Tony - 12/09/2005
Some great material, and a welcome change to see a female comic (and one who avoids PMT staples). But she didn't want to be in mid-Wales & it showed - "I've driven five hours to be here & can't be f**ked" was a typical response to hecklers. Perhaps getting a bit bored & disillusioned?
S Gruber - 04/08/2005
When she first walked on stage I was so happy to see a woman up there. I was right behind her and cheering her on. What a disappointment. She's everything bad about female comics and then even worse. I watch a lot of comedy and I find that the clever comics don't have to resort to crude remarks, swearing, and references to their bodily functions. Susan Murray is NOT a clever comic. Quite offensive and completely unfunny.
Matt - 18/12/2004
From this page's feedback it seems Susan has varies hugely from superb to really bad - and Balham last night was definitely the latter. Comparing her to last night's other acts, I reckon it's down to the way she controls the audience (or fails to): sure, it's good to be sensitive to audience reaction, but she's got to get more resilient to crowds that take a while to warm up or to some rude, drunk twat at the back shouting 'get off'.
Dook - 30/07/2004
Susan's great. Professional, smooth, cheeky, does inspired accents etc. Very laid back, very chilled, which makes banging her mike on her head all the more hilarious.
Geoff - 19/05/2004
Dire in one word. It's a good time to go for a 'toliet break' while she is on. A Donna McPhail wannabe, but Donna's actually very funny.
Tim Smith - 03/03/2004
Very good, very funny if a bit obvious.
Matt Warner - 02/03/2004
I saw her in East London recently and thought she was the best act of the night. Funny material delivered with superb comic timing. Excellent.
John Click - 26/02/2004
Her recent gig was the funniest thing I've seen a woman do since my wife ran over next door's dog. Lovely hair as well.
Mathew Owen - 10/02/2004
She rocks! Highly recommended.
Joanne Tillbrook - 09/02/2004
Shit! No other word to describe her
Hedley Lammar - 01/02/2004
I hear that some people consider Roy 'Chubby' Brown to be the male version of Susan Murray - go see Susan Murray whilst laughing stocks last.
Lizzie Roper - 29/01/2004
Quite simply Susan Murray rocks the room, I've seen her have the audience in the palm of her hand on numerous occasions and I've always found her thoroughly charming on stage, very tongue in cheek and dare I say it F-ing funny. She's inspirational.
Clockwork - 27/01/2004
I have booked Susan on many occasions and I have never seen her have a bad gig, lots of material, lots of laughs and a lovely lady
Yanna Reuben - 26/01/2004
I usually groan and want to leave when female comics come on, they're all awful. I was beginning to think maybe women just didn't have the knack... and yet she is the funniest woman and one of the funniest comedians I ever saw on stage. I'll be keeping an eye out to see her again.
Bob - 22/12/2003
Not so great.
Mac - 01/12/2003
Oh dear. She's really not very funny at all. Give this as wide a berth as you possibly can.
Matthew Reynolds - 26/11/2003
She started out by insuting Wales, then insulted some members of the audience, then insulted Wolverhampton then rounded it off by insulting Americans and men in general. Only the drunk laughed.
Warren S - 22/09/2003
I've seen Susan on a number of occasions - and she's always stormed it. Highly talented
Lucy Reilly - 30/07/2003
She is shit beyond living belief - an insult to women in comedy and should be banned from ever taking the mic again.
Comedy Spy - 26/01/2003
Very Very funny lady. don't listen to what anyone else says.
Ol - 09/12/2002
Just seen her at Coventry Students Union and thought she was rubbish. Not funny if your from anywhere other than Wolverhampton and even then I can't see it being that good.
Sandra Thwaites - 28/11/2002
I found her quite aggressive towards the audience. I don't see a need for this arrogance.
Bonnie - 06/09/2002
She makes me sick it's all so obvious and unfunny.
Matt - 22/07/2002
Not just the funniest, but also the smartest and the sexiest comic in London. Hope she hits it big soon.
Lee - 18/01/2002
I think Susan Murray is great. Loved the fluffer references.
Keef - 15/01/2002
Highly impressive
Brian Ernard - 09/01/2002
The first time I saw her I pissed myself. And then I shit myself and then I puked. Harpy is so funny eventually I laughed.