Athena Kugblenu

Athena Kugblenu is a stand-up comedian and writer who crafts content across multiple platforms with the aim of using comedy to amplify the unseen as well as things right in front of us that we too often miss.

She was a member of the BBC Comedy Room 2019/20 and 2020’s recipient of the Felix Dexter Bursary from the BBC. A BBC New Comedian of the Year finalist, she leads with intelligent, edgy, thought-provoking jokes. Her debut solo show, "KMT", played the Edinburgh Fringe to 4 and 5-star reviews, as did her 2018 follow-up "Follow the Leader." Both featured in The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph’s best jokes compilations.

She has appeared on "Richard Osman's House of Games" (BBC 2), "Mock the Week" (BBC 2), "Comedy Central Live" (CC) and co-presented "Yesterday, Today and the Day Before" (Comedy Central).

Kugblenu wrote the script for Upswing and Chamäleon Berlin’s co-collaboration circus project "Showdown," which opened in Berlin in February 2024. Her other writing credits include "Horrible Histories," "The Russell Howard Hour," "Crongton," "Late Night Mash, "Dara Ó Briain's Time Masters," "Blankety Blank," "Hypothetical," Radio 4’s "Bameshow," "The Lenny Henry Show," "Dead Ringers," "The News Quiz," "Newsjack," and The Now Show" and she is a lead writer on "Sketchtopia." Kugblenu also contributes to children’s BBC shows "The Amelia Gething Complex," "Crackerjack" and "Swashbuckle."

She is a co-host of the hit children’s mystery podcast Trust or Bust as well as a co-host on BBC Radio 4 Extra’s DM’S Are Open. Kugblenu has completed a stand up special for BBC Radio 4 "Athena Kugblenu: Shaking Her Class," and hosts her own show on Colourful FM and "Athena’s Cancel Culture" (BBC Radio 4), and regularly co-hosts The Guilty Feminist podcast and performed with them on their 2019 tour around the UK. She has her own podcast *Keeping Athena Company." She has appeared on many other Radio 4 shows including "The Museum of Curiosity" and "Loose Ends" as well as "Funny Kind of World" and "Breaking the News" on BBC Radio Scotland and "The Radio Four Extra Comedy Club." Other credits include "The Funny Haha Survival Guide" and "Baby Shower."

Kugblenu is also a trusted commentator and has penned pieces for The Guardian, Time Out and Stylist Magazine, and makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 5 Live and Talk Radio. She is the author of the children's book "History’s Most Epic FIBS," in which she playfully explores how society has been shaped by lies — while advocating for truth as the path forward, and the upcoming "History’s Most Epic FAILS."