Kate McLennan (born ) is an Australian comedian, writer and actor. McLennan has performed in Australia and internationally, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She is known in Australia for her work on television and web series such as The Katering Show, Get Krack!n, The Mansion, and Deadloch (2023). She produces most of her work with Kate McCartney, which has led to their being dubbed the Kates.
Early life McLennan was born around 1980. She moved to Geelong at the age of ten and a decade later she moved to Melbourne.
Career McLennan performed in her first sketch comedy show at the age of 21 at the 2001 Melbourne Fringe Festival, and appeared in the Fringe parade.
She rose to fame writing and performing her solo comedy show The Debutante Diaries, which won her the Best Comedy Award and Best Emerging Artist Award at the Melbourne Fringe in 2006.
McLennan co-created the web series Bleak with Kate McCartney in 2010, which in won the Kit Denton Disfellowship for Courage and Excellence in Performance Writing at the 2011 AWGIE Awards, worth .
Since then, "the two Kates" have worked together a lot. McLennan and McCartney formed their production company called Lead Balloon TV. They wrote, produced and starred as an intolerable foodie (McLennan) and a food intolerant (McCartney) in a cooking-based web series called The Katering Show which screened on their YouTube channel in 2014. A second season of The Katering Show was screened on the ABC TV and then on ABC iview in 2016.
In 2017, McLennan and McCartney collaborated on an ABC Television comedy called Get Krack!n, playing exaggerated versions of themselves as breakfast show TV hosts, which screened on ABC iview and in the U.S. Get Krack!n ran for two seasons of eight episodes each, with the final episode going to air in April 2019, with Aboriginal actors and writers Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui given the stage to make strong statements about racism in Australia.
In June 2023 an eight-part crime comedy McLennan worked on with McCartney entitled Deadloch and starring Kate Box premiered on Amazon Prime Video. The series was a worldwide hit, reaching the top 10 on Prime in over 165 countries, including the UK and the US. The second series, set in the Top End, premiered on Amazon on 20 March 2026.
Personal life McLennan has a daughter.
Awards and nominations
Screenwriting Year Award Category Work Result Role Ref. 2011Kit Denton Disfellowship For Courage and Excellence in Performance Writing Bleak (web-series) Shared with Kate McCartney
Stand-up Comedy Year Award Category Work Result Role Ref. 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Comedy Award The Debutante Diaries Writer, performer 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival Best Emerging Artist Award The Debutante Diaries Writer, performer 2007 SA Theatre Guide Best Comedy Award The Debutante Diaries Writer, performer 2007 Short+Sweet Festival Best Actress All The Way to the Top Writer, performer 2007 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Barry Award for Best Show The Debutante Diaries Writer, performer 2011 The Age M-IE Award for Rising Comedy Star The Debutante Diaries Writer, performer 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Golden Gibbo Award for Best Show Standard Double Writer, performer 2024 13th AACTA Awards Best Screenplay in Television Deadloch (Episode 1) Co-writer
Stand-up comedy tours Year Title Notes Role2002The Hindsight PropheciesMelbourne International Comedy Festival Writer / performerThe Six Writer / performerThe 666 Writer / performer 2003 Total Entertainments Melbourne Fringe Festival Writer / performer 2005 HenpeckedMelbourne International Comedy Festival Writer / performer 2006 The Wrong Night Writer / performer 2006; 2007 The Debutante Diaries Melbourne Fringe Festival / Edinburgh Festival Fringe Writer / performer 2007 The EnthusiastsMelbourne International Comedy Festival Writer / performer 2008 Beaconsfield: the Musical Writer / performer 2010 I Coulda Been a Sailor Writer / performer 2011 Homeward Bound Melbourne Fringe Festival Writer / performer 2012 Comedy Festival RoadshowMelbourne International Comedy Festival Writer / performer 2013 Standard Double Writer / performer
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 2007 All The Way to the Top Hayley Actor 2009 Four Minutes of Fame Karla Tutt Actor 2010 Kwik Fix Samara Actor
Television Year Title Role Notes2003 Stingers Melissa 1 episode MDA Fan 1 episode 2005 Let Loose Live Writer / actor 2 episodes 2007–2011 Dogstar Simone (voice) 52 episodes 2008 The Mansion Writer / actor 13 episodes 2010 Offspring Café girl 1 episode 2011 Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth Actor 3 episodes2012 Exchange Student Zero Charity (voice) 1 episode Live on Bowen Herself 1 episode2013 It's a Date Jessica 1 episode SlideShow Herself 1 episode You're Skitting Me Writer 13 episodes 2013–2014 Comedy Up Late Herself 2 episodes 2014 House Husbands Skye 1 episode2014–2015 The Flamin' Thongs Narelle Thong 26 episodes Winners and Losers Kathryn Piper 3 episodes2015 Little Lunch Writer 2 episodes Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane Megan 1 episode Comedy Showroom – Bleak Anna O’Brien / writer 1 episode Slumber Party Writer 1 episode In The Zone IV Herself 1 episode2016The Katering Show Herself / writer / producer Season 2, 8 episodes Dogstar: Christmas in Space Simone Clark / Celeste Sharp (voices) 1 episode2017 Have You Been Paying Attention? Herself / Guest Quiz Master 1 episode Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell Herself 1 episode 2017–2019 Get Krack!n Herself / writer / producer 16 episodes 2010 Wakkaville Missy (voice) 26 episodes2018 Sando Writer 6 episodes Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation Herself 1 episode2019 Hughesy, We Have a Problem Herself 1 episode Celebrity Name Game Herself 1 episode 2023– Deadloch Creator / writer 16 episodes (as of March 2025)
Web series Year Title Role Notes 2014 Bleak – The Web Series Writer / Actor (Anna) 4 episodes 2015 The Katering Show Writer / Producer / Herself Season 1, 6 episodes
References
External links
Kate McLennan's entertainer biography at Creative Representation