The 50 best TV shows of 2021, No 8: Alma’s Not Normal
Sophie Willan’s brave, joyous comedy – which won a Bafta on its pilot alone – invites us to laugh in the face of life’s lemons
September 2021
TV review
Alma’s Not Normal review – TV comedy at its rudest and most fabulous
‘I went to school drunk in a bikini’: how Sophie Willan turned her chaotic life into sitcom gold
August 2020
Lockdown culture
Forecast is funny: the best comedy shows to stream this summer
The Edinburgh fringe may have been cancelled but there are plenty of online gigs to enjoy featuring Dane Baptiste, Ivo Graham, Sarah Millican and more
April 2020
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Breeders, Alma's Not Normal, Tiger King and more
The departing Freeman-Haggard comedy hit dramatic heights
TV review
Alma's Not Normal review – this bleak, brilliant comedy is far from ordinary
The comedian Sophie Willan has turned her award-winning stage hit into a new TV show, via childhood trauma, sex work and ornamental pixies
TV tonight
TV tonight: foul-mouthed Alma's dark, dry and addictive journey
Sophie Willan’s writing and portrayal make this a touching comedy series on mental health. Plus: Jonathan Dimbleby visits the site of Belsen. Here’s what to watch this evening
June 2018
The funniest thing
Sophie Willan: ‘The funniest meal I’ve ever eaten? A leftover blob of MDMA’
The comedian, writer and author on the things that make her laugh the most
January 2018
Sophie Willan: who are you calling a northern working-class comic?
Her childhood in care, her mother’s heroin addiction, her days as a sex worker … Bolton comic Sophie Willan is turning the details of her life into dazzling standup
August 2017
Edinburgh’s double comedy winners mix humour with darker takes on life
Shows about relationship breakdown and homophobia pick up a prize – or two – for John Robins and Hannah Gadsby
Edinburgh comedy awards: the nominees in full
Nine-strong shortlist for the ‘Oscars of live comedy’ includes shows about a breakup, a goodbye and class consciousness
Sophie Willan review – cheery standup skewers lazy labels
In a cracking show, Branded, Willan has an easy rapport with the audience as she interrogates her identity as a northern, female, working-class comedian
April 2017
Sophie Willan review – tales of neglect and addiction told with good cheer
Flashes of tenacious positivity illuminate a gleeful set that ranges over Willan’s troubled early years in care, from teenage delinquency to a run-in with Santa
