Desiree Burch | |
|---|---|
Burch at the 2025Edinburgh Festival Fringe | |
| Born | Desiree Lea Burch (1979-01-26)January 26, 1979 (age 46) |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian,actress,television presenter,voice actress |
| Years active | 2005–Present |
| Known for | |
| Notable work | Neo-Futurists |
| Website | desireeburch |
Desiree Lea Burch[1] (born January 26, 1979) is an American comedian, actress, television presenter, and voice actress. Originally fromDiamond Bar, California,[2] Burch has also lived inNew York,[3]Streatham,Croydon andPeckham, having moved to London to live with her boyfriend Samy Ouarkoub in 2014.[4]
She won theFunny Women title in 2015 having completed an arduous series of gigs around the UK.[5] She followed up this success with five-star reviews and aFringe First Award for her one-woman, self-written show,Tar Baby at the 2015Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Burch was born inDiamond Bar, California and attendedYale University where she earned a bachelor's degree majoring inTheatre Studies. After university, she moved toNew York City where she became a founding member of the New YorkNeo-Futurists, and performed regularly as a stand-up comedian and actress on the New York comedy circuit.
In 2014 she moved toLondon, where she achieved wider acclaim in television following her win in the annualFunny Women competition in the following year,[6] and Fringe First Award for her self written, one-woman show,Tar Baby. She later became the founding Artistic Director of Degenerate Fox Theatre withKate Jones.[7]

Burch has appeared onLive at the Apollo,[8]Have I Got News for You,[9]QI,[10]The Mash Report,[11]The Russell Howard Hour,[12]The Fake News Show,[13]Chris Ramsey's Stand Up Central,[14]Frankie Boyle's New World Order,[15]Mock the Week,[16]American Autopsy,[17]Richard Osman's House of Games[18] andWould I Lie to You?.[19] She also plays Pamela Winchell, the former Mayor of Night Vale and current Head of Emergency Press Conferences, inWelcome to Night Vale.[20][21] In 2021, Desiree Burch was set to co-star withArnold Schwarzenegger in the Kartoon Channel seriesSuperhero Kindergarten. Later that same year, she was in the Netflix movieA Castle for Christmas starring Brooke Shields and Cary Elwes.
Burch hostsFlinch, a physical game show onNetflix,[22] alongsideSeann Walsh, andLloyd Griffith,[23] which debuted in May 2019.[3]
Desiree's Coming Early was a 31-date UK tour in October and November 2019 with support from comedianIngrid Dahle.[24][25]
In 2020, she became the narrator forNetflix'sreality televisiondating showToo Hot to Handle.[26]
In May 2020 Burch appeared as a contestant inBBC’sI'll Get This, in which participants play games during dinner to avoid paying the bill. In January 2021 she was a contestant on the BBCBest Home Cook show. Burch appeared on Series 12 of Channel 4'sTaskmaster as a contestant.[27][28]
Burch identifies asbisexual.[29]