at the Perth Festival, Australia. She has organised many charity shows featuring comedians such as Frankie Boyle, Mark Steel, Robin Ince, Jo Brand, Johnny Vegas, Al Murray, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Jeremy Hardy, Lee Mack, Mark Thomas, Rhod Gilbert and Milton Jones. In 2014, her best-selling book WHAT THE **** IS NORMAL?! was published by Random House to critical acclaim. It was nominated for the Chortle Comedy 'Best Book' Award and The Bread And Roses Radical Publishing Award. She was described as one of 'Britain's Five Funniest Women' in The Guardian in November 2014, along with Bridget Christie, Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan and Susan Calman. In 2016, she supported Frankie Boyle on his sell-out UK tour. Television and radio Before becoming a comedian, Martinez appeared in the BBC children's drama series Grange Hill from 1994 to 1998, where she played the first disabled pupil to appear in the fictional school, and has acted in other drama series such as Holby City. In August 2005 she appeared in the BBC sitcom Extras. In April 2008 Martinez made global headlines when (live on Channel 4 News) she became the first Olympic torch bearer to pull out of the London relay in protest over China's treatment of Tibet. In April 2009 she appeared on the BBC Radio 4 stand-up comedy show, 4 Stands Up. In 2015, she opened series 11 of Live At The Apollo, which also featured Alan Carr and Nish Kumar. In October 2012 she made her debut appearance on BBC Radio 4's topical panel show The News Quiz, alongside regulars Jeremy Hardy and Sandi Toksvig. She appeared on The News Quiz again in January and July 2013. Martinez has become a regular face on television, including appearances on The Frank Skinner Show, Russell Howard's Good News (BBC Three), The Jonathan Ross Show, ITV's Loose Women, Free Speech (BBC3), RTÉ's The Saturday Night Show with Brendan O'Connor, Adam Hills Tonight, Spicks and Specks and Question Time on BBC1. She has written scripts for the BBC and Channel 4. In 2018, her debut radio play How We're Loved aired on BBC Radio Four. Campaigning On 8 December 2012, Martinez launched a campaign War on Welfare which pledged to get 100,000 supporters to sign a petition calling for an end to UK government cuts for disability benefits and an independent impact assessment of the government's welfare changes. The petition attracted 5,000 signatures in