Claire Hooper
Claire hit the comedy festival circuit running, scoring a Best Newcomer nomination at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2006 and a place in Scotland on Sunday's top five comedy picks of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Bright new comic Claire Hooper is quickly becoming recognisable to Australian audiences, through an hilarious stint as Paul McDermott’s cheeky sidekick on ABC TV's The Sideshow. You might also have spotted her as a member of the negating team, with Stephen K Amos and Greg Fleet, in the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival's Great Debate, which aired on Network TEN.
2008 sees Claire expand her TV dancecard as she battles it out as a Team Captain on Network TEN's new series of Good News Week.
Claire already has a glowing CV, with Rove Live appearances, time as a presenter on ABC TV and Perth's Nova 937, regular appearances on The Comedy Channel's Stand Up! Australia, and a cast member credit on The Mansion: Australia Day Special under her belt.
Claire's comedy career began in 2004 when she won the Western Australian finals of Triple J's Raw Comedy. In 2005, she was selected to perform in "The Comedy Zone", Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s new acts line-up and won "Best and Fairest" at the National Improvisation Championships in Sydney.
Claire hit the comedy festival circuit running, scoring a Best Newcomer nomination at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2006 and a place in Scotland on Sunday's top five comedy picks of the Edinburgh Fringe. She then followed this up with a brilliant new show Showgirl at the 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
She has also written several comic plays and directed "Hamlet" in a co-production with Perth Theatre Company.
This is one star on the rise.