Jo Brand facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jo Brand
Jo Brand at Glastonbury Festival 2019
Birth name	Josephine Grace Brand
Born	(1957-07-23) 23 July 1957 (age 67) Clapham, London, England
Medium	Stand-up television film
Education	Brunel University (BA)
Years active	1986–present
Genres	Observational comedy alternative
Subject(s)	Marriage politics
Spouse	Bernie Bourke ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	2, including Maisi

Josephine Grace Brand (born 23 July 1957) is a famous English actress, comedian, presenter, and writer. She started her career as a psychiatric nurse. Then, she moved into stand-up comedy, becoming part of the alternative comedy scene.

Jo Brand became well-known for her appearances on TV shows like Saturday Live and Jo Brand Through the Cakehole. She is also a regular guest on popular panel shows such as QI, Have I Got News for You, and Would I Lie to You?. Since 2014, she has hosted The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. In 2003, she was named one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy by The Observer.

Early Life and Education

Jo Brand was born in Clapham, London, on 23 July 1957. She grew up in Hastings, East Sussex. Her mother worked as a social worker, and her father was a structural engineer. Jo is the middle child, with two brothers.

When she was young, her family moved to St Mary's Platt in Kent, and later to Benenden. She attended several schools, including Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School.

Before becoming a comedian, Jo worked in a pub and for the charity Barnardo's. She also worked as a nursing assistant. She studied at Brunel University, earning a degree in social science and becoming a registered mental nurse. She then worked as a psychiatric nurse for ten years in hospitals across London and Swansea.

Comedy Career

When Jo Brand first started in comedy, she used the stage name "Sea Monster." She was a key part of the British alternative comedy movement in the mid-1980s. She first appeared on TV on the Saturday Live show.

Her early comedy style involved telling jokes in a calm, almost bored voice. She often made jokes about pop culture and famous people.

In 2010, Jo Brand took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala. This was a special show to raise money for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Jo Brand in 1994 in Belfast

Jo also played the Demon Dinner Lady in the British film Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011). She also did a voice-over for the Aladdin pantomime at the Lyric, Hammersmith in 2011.

In 2015, she helped judge the first-ever Class Clowns competition at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Jo Brand also wrote a film based on her novel, The More You Ignore Me, which came out in 2018.

Television Appearances

In 1993, Jo Brand became a regular on the BBC show The Brain Drain. She then got her own series on Channel 4 called Jo Brand Through the Cakehole. She also hosted shows like Jo Brand's Commercial Breakdown. She even had a small role in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous in 1994.

Jo is a very frequent guest on popular panel shows. She has appeared on Have I Got News for You and QI many times. She is the most frequent guest on QI, appearing in 37 episodes. She is also a big fan of Countdown and has been a celebrity guest in "Dictionary Corner" 88 times.

In 2007, Jo Brand took part in Play It Again. For this show, she had to learn to play the organ in just four months. She then performed a difficult piece by Johann Sebastian Bach for 8,000 people at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Jo has also taken part in many charity versions of popular shows for Comic Relief. She was in Comic Relief Does Fame Academy and Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. In 2009, she danced as Britney Spears for Let's Dance for Comic Relief and reached the final. She has also been a judge on the show. In 2013, she was part of a special Comic Relief series of The Great British Bake Off.

Jo Brand has also been a guest host for shows like The Paul O'Grady Show and The One Show. She helped create, write, and star in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On. This show was about a geriatric ward in the NHS. For her role, she won a BAFTA award in 2011 for Best TV Comedy Actress.

From 2013 to 2014, Jo was a judge on the ITV show Splash!, where celebrities learned to dive.

Since 2014, Jo Brand has been the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. This show talks about the main Great British Bake Off episodes.

In 2014, Jo also co-wrote and starred in a comedy pilot for Sky Arts called Damned. This show was later made into a full series by Channel 4.

Since 2017, she has presented the Channel 5 series Jo Brand's Cats & Kittens. This show is also available on Netflix in the United States as Kitten Rescuers. In 2019, Jo Brand was a contestant on the comedy game show Taskmaster.

Personal Life and Charity Work

Jo Brand married Bernie Bourke, who is also a psychiatric nurse, in 1997. They have two daughters, Maisie and Eliza. Her husband and daughters are vegetarian, but Jo enjoys eating meat when she can.

Jo Brand is a strong supporter of many charities. She supports ActionAid and has helped them raise money.

In 2014, she was part of Gareth Malone's All Star Choir. They released a song called "Wake Me Up" to raise money for BBC's Children in Need.

In 2016, Jo completed a 150-mile walk across Britain for Sport Relief. Her journey was shown in a documentary called Jo Brand's Hell of a Walk for Sport Relief.

She is also a patron (a supporter) of the National Self Harm Network, International Animal Rescue, and the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association. She is also the president of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. Jo Brand is an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society, helping to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease.

Awards and Recognition

Jo Brand has received several awards for her work:

• British Comedy Award 1992: Top comedy club performer
• British Comedy Award 1995: Best stand-up comic
• British Comedy Award 2010: Best female TV comic
• BAFTA 2011: Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role for Getting On
• British Comedy Award 2012: Best female TV comic

She has also received several honorary doctorates from universities. These degrees recognize her work as a psychiatric nurse and her efforts to raise awareness about mental health issues.

Film and Television Roles

Television

Film

Images for kids

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  Jo Brand at Bonkers Fest 2007

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  Jo Brand at the BBC Magazines Awards for Excellence, 2007