Best known for her role as deadpan Eastern-European housekeeper Magda in Jack Dee's sitcom Lead Balloon, Anna Crilly came to comedy after studying performing arts at Middlesex University.

She became a stand-up in the early 2000s, making the finals of the So You Think You're Funny new act competition at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe.

As well as her role in Lead Balloon - which won her a British Comedy Award nomination for best female newcomer in 2008 – she also stars in the BBC children's comedy series, Sorry I've Got No Head.

Crilly is also in a surreal double-act with Katy Wix, originally called Penny Spubb, but now simply Anna and Katy. They have performed at Edinburgh three times, and made a pilot for Radio 2.