Jo Brand
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is an English comedian, writer and actress. Starting 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 appear 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, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You?...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionComedian
Date of Birth3 May 1957
thinking years people
I think my comedy, the put-downs I do to hecklers, are the accumulated bitterness of years of people feeling that it's perfectly acceptable to make a comment on your appearance when they don't even know you.
thinking people purpose
I think some people ramp a side of themselves up for performance purposes.
thinking keys attributes
I think the key attributes for a good speaker are someone that's articulate and someone that puts a fair amount of humour into what they do.
thinking views comedy
There's a general sense that women are more relaxed and less defensive in comedy than they used to be. I think it's easier than it was but underlying it all there is still a pretty sexist view of women on stage, which to me hasn't changed that much.
hate thinking hecklers
There have been some very extreme hecklers in audiences whose bile was so hateful and so meant that it would be a bit frightening to think that all I'm doing is jokes and yet someone hates me that much.
thinking stuff done
I think there's a far more general audience now because I've done more populist stuff on telly.
believe thinking people
There are lots of people who believe that caricature of me the tabloids created, so they think they don't like me.
thinking funny-things fats
The funny thing is, I don't actually think of myself as fat at all. I don't think I am. Not really.
children thinking rude
No one I know is actually so rude as to tell me I've become duller since having children. But I'm sure they think it.
stars thinking comedy
Everyone in comedy thinks if you go to the U.S. you become a global star but, unfortunately, I've always been a bit anti-American - so I never did.
men thinking driving
I've always liked to think I could do anything I wished as well as - if not better than - a man. But I wasn't very good at rally driving.
brother boys thinking
I was always being called upon to be an honorary boy alongside my brothers. I don't think I'd be a comic now if it hadn't been for that.
thinking media people
You don't really see ugly people that are old, or a bit grotty and smelly, in the media. If a Martian came down, they would think we were all tall, thin, attractive and wealthy.
thinking play actors
I think actors go along a continuum from Simon Callow down to kind of Ross Kemp, and I like to think of myself as the Ross Kemp of comedy. He's very good in 'East Enders' because he plays a version of himself. I think I can play a version of myself - that's about all I can do.