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Jess Robinson

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Jess Robinson (born 1 February 1983 in London), is an English comedy actress and impressionist.

Jess started out in theatre and trained at The Arts Educational School, Tring Park as a singer. She played Little Voice in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, by Jim Cartwright, at the Courtyard Theatre. Her role included imitating the voices of Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Julie Andrews. Geraldine McNulty appeared as her mother, Marie Hoff.

Jess then went on to perform in the last two series of Dead Ringers on BBC Two. She occasionally appeared as an impressionist but mostly played characters in various sketches to support the stars; Jan Ravens, Jon Culshaw, Mark Perry, Kevin Connelly, and Phil Cornwell.

In the Dead Ringers CBBC spin off 'Spoof!' (part of the Gina's Laughing Gear comedy pilot season), Jess appeared as Supernanny, Charlotte Church, Konnie Huq and Billie Piper among others. Other appearances include the CBBC talent show The Slammer as part of an impressions double act and as a special guest on Blue Peter.

Jess provided female impressions on Headcases, an animated satirical show similar to Spitting Image, which appeared on ITV from April to June 2008 on Sunday evenings.

In 2009, she appeared as a number of characters in several Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio plays.

Robinson's TV appearances include Scoop! & Comedy Cuts for ITV2 and Gigglebiz.

Robinson appeared in various sketches in the first two series of The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson. In 2010 Director Angie De Chastelai Smith collaborated with producer Charlie Hanson at ITV to make It's Paul Burling! in which Jess co-starred as the main female impressionist. Her impressions included Cheryl Cole, Stacey Solomon and Kerry Katona. The show, which aired in December 2010 to a television audience of 3.7 million viewers, was a one-hour 'Christmas special' on ITV1 following Burling's success on talent show Britain's Got Talent.

On Radio, Jess was part of Newsjack for BBC Radio 7. Robinson has also recorded numerous episodes of 15 Minute Musical, The Castle, The Secret World, and radio sitcom, The Music Teacher.

In late 2012 she reprised the role of Little Voice in the UK touring production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, alongside a cast including Beverly Callard, Joe McGann and Ray Quinn.

In 2013, Jess developed her one-woman show which she performed at Freedom in Soho. This led to her producing and starring in her debut show, Jess Robinson: Mighty Voice, at The Edinburgh Festival 2014. Gaining 4 & 5 star reviews during the run, Jess Robinson: Mighty Voice sold out the Pleasance Ace Dome. During the festival, Jess performed with Rory Bremner, Alex Horne and The Horne Section and appeared on Jack Dee Help Desk and The Stephen K Amos show. She also featured on The Culture Studio.

The show featured live accompaniment from Kirsty Newton, (Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen). The show included a 40 impression finale, Liza Minnelli impression masterclass and impressions of Nicki Minaj, Shirley Bassey, Jessie J, Britney Spears, Björk, Cheryl Cole, Sharon Osborne and many more.

As a voice-over artist, Robinson is the lead voice on Horrible Histories, along with John Culshaw. She has completed 52 episodes of new animation Bat Pat, playing one of the lead roles; Leo as well as many other characters. She has voiced many promotions on Disney Channel and Disney Junior and is represented for her voicework by Rabbit Vocal Management. Robinson has worked on many video games including Anno 1404, Venetica, Risen 2: Dark Waters and Risen 3: Titan Lords in which she played the role of Pirate, Patty Steelbeard. Jess plays popular character of Ivo in Book of Unwritten Tales.

Jess is represented for TV, Radio, Film and Theatre by the talent agent Noel Gay, and for voice-overs by Rabbit Voices.

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