After Dinner SpeakersJo Brand is a stand-up comedian, actress and broadcaster.
Since leaving her job as a psychiatric nurse in 1987, Jo Brand has established herself as one of the best female comics in Britain.
Jo began her illustrious career on the London cabaret circuit, under the guise of The Sea Monster, where she earned a cult following.
As ‘Perrier Pick of the Fringe Award‘ nominee at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival and winner of the British Comedy Award for ‘Best Live Performer’ in 1992 and 1995, Jo Brand has been described by critics as “The Best Female Comic in Britain” – Daily Mirror.
Her ‘Through the Cakehole’ Channel 4 series met with great acclaim, as did her 1996 series ‘All the Way to Worcester’.
In 2011 Jo won a BAFTA for ‘Best Female Comedy Performance‘ for ‘Getting On‘ a satirical sitcom based on a geriatric ward in an NHS hospital.
Jo’s diverse appeal is marked by appearances on such eclectic programmes as Question Time to Splash and Countdown to Mock the Week.
Jo’s other recent television appearances include:
- Have I Got News For You
- Absolutely Fabulous
- Would I Lie To You
- 8 Out of 10 Cats
- QI
Jo has showed the nation a whole different side to her talents with her involvement with Comic Relief including competing in ‘Celebrity Fame Academy‘, ‘Comic Relief Does The Apprentice‘ and ‘Let’s Dance for Comic Relief‘.
In 2016, Jo undertook ‘Jo Brand’s Hell of a Walk‘ her BT Sport Relief Challenge. Jo walked an incredible 135 miles from one side of the country to the other, in just seven days.
She has proved herself an un-willing fashion victim on the BBC1 special “What Not To Wear On The Red Carpet”, learnt the organ for BBC’s “Play it Again”, which she then played to a sell-out crowd at the Royal Albert Hall, and she has also taken part in a charity celebrity carol singing choir!
In 2013, Jo started the year by sitting on the judging panel for ITV’s ‘Splash’ and she later put her cooking to the test on ‘The Great Comic Relief Bake Off’. Jo was such a success on this show that she was named as the host of the hugely popular ‘The Great British Bake Off – An Extra Slice’.
Sussed, polemic, deceptively droll, with a razor-sharp perspective on all that is sexist and sizeist, Jo’s popularity is well deserved.
Whilst subjects close to Jo’s heart (feminism, fat people and chocolate) remain a staple of her stand-up shows, there are also the taboos.
Her pet hates include supermodels, sad blokes, politicians and thin people – to name a few!
