Comedian Colin Murphy has become a familiar face to many, through his work on hit comedy shows such as The Blame Game and The Panel. The stand-up is also known for fronting programmes including Colin Murphy’s Panic Room and The Blizzard of Odd, and is an acclaimed writer and stage performer.

Murphy’s career began in the theatre, and after winning the Irish Student Drama Award for improvisation, he began performing with the Sightlines Theatre Company both in Belfast and on tour. Best known today as a stand-up comedian, he regularly hosts comedy nights at Belfast’s The Empire Bar, previously hosted Queen’s Comedy Club at the Mandela Hall, and has toured many times throughout the island of Ireland. He has performed at festivals internationally, including Montreal’s Just For Laughs, the Melbourne Comedy Festival, Kilkenny Cat Laughs and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and with playwright Gary Mitchell he has written two shows for Belfast’s Lyric Theatre.

Since 2005, Murphy has been one of the core panellists on BBC Northern Ireland panel series The Blame Game, alongside Jake O’Kane, Neil Delamere, and host Tim McGarry. He was also a regular on topical RTÉ talk show The Panel alongside the likes of Andrew Maxwell and Ed Byrne, and became one of the show’s presenters after the departure of Dara Ó Briain. Beyond these, he wrote and fronted the half-hour RTÉ Two comedy show The Blizzard of Odd, and the also wrote and presented mockumentary series The Unbelievable Truth for the channel. As an actor, Murphy has featured in the series Eureka Street, I Fought the Law, and the BAFTA-nominated People Like Us, in the BBC television movie Holy Cross, and on the big screen in the award-winning satirical black comedy Divorcing Jack.