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Jo Brand
Jo Brand at the BBC Magazines Awards for Excellence.
Birth name	Josephine Grace Brand
Born	(1957-07-23) 23 July 1957 (age 54) London, United Kingdom
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	British
Years active	1986–present
Genres	Observational comedy
Subject(s)	Marriage, Politics
Spouse	Bernie Bourke (1997–present)
Notable works and roles	Getting On

Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand (born 23 July 1957)^[1] is a BAFTA winning British comedienne, writer, and actress. Commencing her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand up scene and early performances on Saturday Live, she went on to appearances on The Brain Drain, Channel 4's Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, Getting On and various television appearances including as a regular guest on QI. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Early life[link]

Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957^[2] in Wandsworth, London.^[3] Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers.^[4] When she was about four, the family moved to the village of St Mary's Platt near Sevenoaks in Kent,^[5] and a year later to Benenden.^[5] Brand was educated at Helenswood School, Hastings, Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School^[5] and Bexhill College. She worked as a psychiatric nurse for ten years, at the South London Bethlem, Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea and Maudsley Hospital in South London.^[6][7]

Comedy career[link]

Brand was persuaded by agent Malcolm Hardee to begin a career in stand-up comedy, where she acquired the stage name "The Sea Monster". She was part of the British alternative comedy movement, working in London alternative comedy clubs, and appearing initially on the Saturday Live television show.

Brand's early style involved her delivering jokes in a bored monotone, one line at a time, with pauses in between. It drew heavily from pop culture and the media, with many jokes containing references to well-known celebrities and public figures. With her Doc Marten boots, her large size, and her short hair, her image remained the same for most of the 1980s and 1990s. Her appearance and material led to false rumours that she was a lesbian.^[8]

Jo Brand in 1994 in Belfast

In 1993 she became a resident panellist, along with Tony Hawks, on BBC monologue show The Brain Drain. Her transition into mainstream television continued when she obtained her own series on Channel 4, Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, co-written with comedy writer Jim Miller, who was already her main stand-up writer. She has had several solo television series, and presented shows such as Jo Brand's Commercial Breakdown. She had a cameo appearance in the 1994 episode of Absolutely Fabulous, "New Best Friend", and also appeared on Star Spell, a spin off from Hard Spell in 2004. Her television success continued with guest appearances on shows such as Have I Got News for You and QI. As a fan of Countdown, she achieved an ambition when she was invited to appear in the show's "Dictionary Corner" as the celebrity guest. She later became a friend of the host, Richard Whiteley, and after his death in 2005 attended his memorial service at York Minster. She has since appeared on Countdown several more times.

In 2007, Brand narrated Laughter & Tears: The Les Dawson Story, a documentary tribute to Les Dawson, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in October 2007.

Brand took part in the first celebrity version of Comic Relief does Fame Academy. In 2007, she appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice, again to raise money for Comic Relief. In 2009 she participated in Let's Dance for Comic Relief, another Comic Relief fundraiser, dancing as Britney Spears, reaching the final. She has more recently been a judge on the show.

Brand appeared as a judge in the BBC2 series The Speaker in April 2009. She offered advice, along with John Amaechi and Jeremy Stockwell, in the eight-part series charting the search for "Britain's Best Young Speaker".^[9]

Brand co-wrote and starred in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On alongside Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine, for which she won the 2011 Best TV Comedy Actress BAFTA award. The series was directed by Peter Capaldi and is a gritty and realistic satire on the current state of the NHS, set in an old person's ward.

In 2010, Brand took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.

In 2011, Brand presented Jo Brand's Big Splash, a television programme where she performs a stand-up routine and visits people with a love of water.

She played the Demon Dinner Lady in the 2011 British live-action 3D family comedy film Horrid Henry: The Movie. Jo provided a voiceover for the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre's 2011 Pantomime Aladdin.

Other work[link]

In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2004, Brand appeared in a special episode of What Not to Wear, where fashion gurus Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine gave her a makeover. In March 2006, Jo appeared on Parkinson with Daniel Day-Lewis and Jane Fonda. Brand is known to be a big fan of Crystal Palace Football Club, and has sponsored the match ball for games in the past.^{[citation needed]}

Brand appeared on the 25 March 2007 episode of Play It Again where she was required to learn how to play the organ in just four months. This was in preparation to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for an audience of 8,000 people at London's Royal Albert Hall on the second largest pipe organ in the United Kingdom. In order to practise her performance, she played at a church wedding, and accompanied dancers at Blackpool Tower. Prior to this, her only experiences with musical instruments had been childhood piano and violin lessons.^[10]

Books[link]

Brand has written a number of commercially successful books:

• A Load of Old Balls: Men in History (London: Simon & Schuster, 1994). ISBN 0-671-71385-X
• A Load of Old Ball Crunchers: Women in History (London: Simon & Schuster, 1996). ISBN 0-684-81695-4
• Mental (with Helen Griffin. HTV Sherman Plays series. Cardiff: Drama Association of Wales, 1996). ISBN 1-898740-41-0
• Sorting Out Billie (novel. London: Review, 2004). ISBN 0-7553-2336-X
• It's Different for Girls (novel. London: Headline Review, 2005). ISBN 0-7553-2229-0
• The More You Ignore Me (novel. London: Headline Review, 2009). ISBN 0-7553-2231-2
• Look Back in Hunger. The Autobiography (London: Headline Review, 2009). ISBN 0-7553-5525-3
• Can't Stand Up For Sitting Down. The Autobiography – Part 2 (London: Headline Review, 2010). ISBN 978-0-7553-5526-6

Sorting Out Billie and The More You Ignore Me deal with socially dysfunctional behaviour and draw on her experience in psychiatric nursing. It's Different for Girls looks at growing up in a one-horse seaside town.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Brand married Bernie Bourke, a psychiatric nurse, in 1997^[3] in Shropshire.

Jo Brand at Bonkers Fest 2007

Brand delivered a guest lecture on the subject of psychiatric nursing for the University of Derby Psychology Society in 1997 in return for a donation to Derby Rape Crisis. Also in 1997 she opened, at Lambeth Hospital in South London, the first major exhibition of The Adamson Collection since the death of Edward Adamson, the pioneer of Art Therapy, in 1996.

On July 17, 2007, Brand was awarded an honorary doctorate for her former work as a psychiatric nurse from the University of Glamorgan. Professor Donna Mead, Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Science at the University of Glamorgan who read Brand up for the award commented, “Jo incorporates much of her experience working in the field of mental health into her current work as a comedian. This has increased awareness of the work done by nurses in the mental health field. She has also used her experiences of working with individuals with conditions such as Alzheimer’s to promote awareness of and raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Society.” ^[12]

In February 2009, Brand was among a group of British entertainers who wrote an open letter to The Times of London in support of the Bahá'í leaders then on trial in Iran.^[13]

She is a supporter of the charity ActionAid and has taken part in fundraising events for the organisation.^[14]

Politics[link]

Brand is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party.^[15] She was still a contributor to and supporter of the party in 2010.^[16] She is a patron of International Animal Rescue and the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, as well as the National Self Harm Network, otherwise known as NSHN, and London Nightline. She is the president of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.^[17] Brand introduced and spoke at the celebration of Michael Foot's life at the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 8 November 2010.^[18] She is also a republican. In January 2012 she gave the Annual South Shields annual lecture at Harton Technology College alongside the MP of the town, David Miliband.

Awards and nominations[link]

• British Comedy Award 2011: Best TV Comedy Actress
• BAFTA: Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role.

Stand-up DVDs[link]

• Barely Live (24 November 2003)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jo Brand

• Jo Brand at the Internet Movie Database
• Jo Brand: Me? Singing? I couldn't get arrested? Interview by Jasper Rees, The Telegraph, 30 January 2008.
• Keep on running: Jo Brand Interview by Tarquin Cooper, The Telegraph, 9 April 2005.
• Article about Brand's career for TV show The Speaker, BBC website
• BBC Interview by Matt Stadlen – Five Minutes With: Jo Brand (2009–08–14)

Jason John Manford^[1] (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, television presenter and actor.

Early life[link]

Manford was born to an Irish family^[2] in Salford,^[3] Greater Manchester, a son of Sharon^[1] (née Ryan), who is a Catholic^[4] and Ian Manford.^[2] He grew up in a terraced house in what is known as the "Triangle of Death" area of Manchester notorious for its gang activity and high crime rate.^[5][2] He has three younger brothers: Stephen Sean, Colin Charles and Niall Christopher, and a younger sister, Danielle Leahnora.^[2][3]

When Manford was seventeen, he got a job as a glass collector at a local pub.^[6] While working there, he became interested in comedy after watching the likes of Peter Kay, Eddie Izzard and Johnny Vegas perform at the local comedy club. Kay recommended him to do the Higher National Diploma in media and performance at the University of Salford.^[7] Despite not having the required A Level grades, he was accepted into the programme and eventually upgraded to a full degree. His brother Colin has also followed him into comedy and is also a University of Salford graduate.^[8]

Career[link]

Television and radio[link]

Manford hosted a breakfast show on Xfm Manchester^[9] until May 2008.^[10]

From June 2007 until November 2007, he was Paramount Comedy's continuity announcer and writer.^{[citation needed]} In June 2007, he took over from Dave Spikey as a team captain on 8 out of 10 Cats.^[11]

He presented his own show, Tonightly, which aired every weekday from 1–22 August 2008 and appeared as a celebrity supporter for inventor Kin Kam in a special charity edition of BBC2's Dragons' Den for Sport Relief.

In March 2010, Manford was announced as host of a new comedy show called Comedy Rocks, featuring stand up comedians, as well as musical performances. A pilot was shown on ITV1 on 26 March 2010, and a six-part series began on ITV1 on 14 January 2011. On 26 May 2010, he was announced as the new presenter of BBC One's The One Show from July 2010.^[12] He resigned from the programme in November 2010, following allegations surrounding his private life.^[13][14]

He also makes up one half of the Home Team (with Peter Andre) on the ITV1 game show Odd One In.

In July 2011, Manford presented Show Me The Funny, a reality show on ITV1 involving 10 comedians, in which one is voted off each week.^[15] The live final was filmed in Hammersmith Apollo in August 2011.

Stand-up[link]

After a successful first UK tour,^[16] and high sales of the following DVD, filmed live at the Manchester Apollo, he started his "Turning Into My Dad" tour on 14 July 2010.^[17]

In March 2010, Manford took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March.^{[citation needed]}

During a live appearance in November 2010, Manford announced that he was quitting comedy and touring to concentrate on family matters. His last scheduled gig was to be at the O2 Arena in London in November 2011. He has since confirmed he will be back on tour in 2013.

Acting[link]

Manford performs the voiceover on the Churchill Insurance adverts,^{[citation needed]} and is one of the voices in the BBC comedy sketch show, Walk on the Wild Side. He appeared in Channel 4's Shameless in series four as a security guard that is seduced by Karen Maguire.

Manford has a minor voice acting role in the Xbox 360 video game Fable III, playing a character called 'Jammy' who teaches the player how to use mortars. Pvt. Jammy dies early in the game.^{[citation needed]}

The Laugh Inn[link]

In 2011 Jason became one of the shareholders of the Chester based comedy club, The Laugh Inn. He is actively involved in getting big comedians to appear at the comedy club such as Russell Kane,Sarah Millican, John Bishop and Michael McIntyre. Jason frequently visits the club to watch the shows and support the circuit comedians as well as performing impromptu or unannounced shows.

He is often involved in promoting shows and gives his fans freebies and promotions on a regular basis.

Influences[link]

Manford cites Billy Connolly as his comedy hero,^[18] after seeing him when Manford was 8, and comics such as Tommy Cooper and Peter Kay heavily influenced his comic style.^[6] In 2009 in an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Manford talked about his passion for musicals, expressing an interest in taking a singing and acting role on stage, and giving a short, impromptu performance of "Suddenly Seymour".

Personal life[link]

Manford married actress Catherine in October 2007. On 20 August 2009, his wife gave birth to healthy twin daughters.^[19][20] His wife gave birth to their third daughter in December 2010. The family live in Stockport, Greater Manchester.^[21]

On 18 November 2010, Manford resigned as co-host of The One Show to "concentrate on his family" following his admission to a number of allegations published in tabloid newspapers in regards to exchanging sexually-oriented Twitter messages with fans.^[22][22]

In November 2008, Manford became patron of Savebabies,^[19][23] a charity campaigning for newborn screening.^[24]

According to Would I Lie To You?, he got dumped by a girlfriend when he was sixteen in McDonald's and refused to go to McDonald's for ten years afterwards.

Manford is an outspoken supporter of Manchester City.^[25]

Awards and nominations for stand-up comedy[link]

• Winner of the 1999 North West City Life Comedian of the Year
• Winner of the 2000 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year
• Finalist in the 2000 Channel Four So You Think You're Funny competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Nominated for the 2001 Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Comedy
• Nominated for the 2005 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his debut one-man show Urban Legend
• Winner of the 2005 Writers Guild of Great Britain and The List's Best Comedy Newcomer for his debut Edinburgh show Urban Legend
• Winner 2006 Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act
• Winner of the 2006 North West Comedy Awards category for Best Stand up on the North West Circuit

Notable television credits[link]

• 2000 - The Best Manchester Comedy (BBC)
• 2000 - BBC New Comedy Awards (BBC)
• 2002 - Gloves Off (Channel M)
• 2002 - Interference (Channel M)
• 2005/06 - Richard & Judy (Channel 4)
• 2006 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4)
• 2006 - 100 Greatest Funny Moments (Channel 4)
• 2006 - Modern Worries (E4 pilot)
• 2007 - Shuffle (BBC Three)
• 2007 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team captain
• 2007 - Would I Lie To You? (BBC One)
• 2007 - Premier League All Stars Extra Time
• 2007 - Live at the Apollo (BBC One)
• 2008 - Tonightly (Channel 4)
• 2008 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team captain
• 2008 - Live At The Apollo (BBC One)
• 2009 - Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
• 2009 - Comic Relief (BBC One)
• 2009 - Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow (BBC One)
• 2009 - As Seen on TV (BBC One) Team Captain
• 2009 - Live at the Apollo (BBC One)
• 2010 - 8 out of 10 Cats (Channel 4) Team Captain
• 2010 - Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (BBC One)
• 2010 - Comedy Rocks with Jason Manford (ITV1)
• 2010 - Frank Skinner's Opinionated (BBC Two)
• 2010 - The Graham Norton Show (BBC One)
• 2010 - The One Show (BBC One)
• 2010 - Odd One In (ITV1)
• 2011 - Epic Win (BBC One)
• 2011 - Born To Shine (ITV1)
• 2011 - Show Me The Funny (ITV1)
• 2011 - Chris Moyles' Quiz Night (Channel 4)

Television credits in an acting role[link]

• 2005 - Cutting It – Comic (BBC One)
• 2005 - Gideon's Daughter – Comic (BBC)
• 2005 - Ideal – Jack (BBC Three)
• 2007 - Shameless – Security guard (Channel 4)
• 2009 - Walk on the Wild Side – Multiple voices (BBC One)

Stand-up DVDs[link]

• Live at the Manchester Apollo (16 November 2009)
• Live 2011 (14 November 2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jason Manford Official site
• Jason Manford Comedy CV
• Jason Manford Chortle
• Jason Manford's Urban Legend review Chortle, 2005
• Seven Sundays (Short film) YouTube
• Forum for fans of comedian Jason Manford
• Jason Manford Interview Spoonfed, 22 October 2008
• Jason Manford at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Manford on Twitter