Jo Brand facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jo Brand
Brand in the cabaret tent at Glastonbury Festival 2019
Birth name	Josephine Grace Brand
Born	(1957-07-23) 23 July 1957 (age 68) 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 well-known English actress, comedian, TV presenter, and writer. She started her career as a psychiatric nurse before becoming a stand-up comedian. Jo Brand first became famous on TV shows like Saturday Live.

She has appeared on many popular TV programmes, including QI, Have I Got News for You, and Would I Lie to You?. She is also a regular on BBC Radio 4 shows like The News Quiz. Since 2014, she has hosted The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. In 2003, she was named one of the funniest people in British comedy by The Observer newspaper.

Jo Brand's Early Life

Jo Brand was born in Clapham, London. She grew up in Hastings, East Sussex. Her mother was 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 different villages in Kent, including St Mary's Platt and Benenden.

She went to several schools, including St Mary's Platt Primary School and Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School.

Her Career Journey

Starting Out

Before becoming a comedian, Jo Brand worked in different jobs. She worked in a pub and for a charity called Barnardo's. She also worked as a nursing assistant. She then studied at Brunel University to become a psychiatric nurse. She worked as a psychiatric nurse for ten years in hospitals in London and Swansea.

Comedy Career

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

Her early comedy style involved telling jokes in a calm, steady voice, often pausing between lines. Many of her jokes were about pop culture and famous people. Jo Brand has said that her first show was difficult, with people shouting at her.

Jo Brand in 1994 in Belfast

In 2007, Jo Brand narrated a documentary about comedian Les Dawson called Laughter & Tears: The Les Dawson Story. In 2010, she took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a show that raised money for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

She played the Demon Dinner Lady in the British film Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011). She also did a voice-over for the pantomime Aladdin in 2011. In 2015, she helped judge a comedy competition for young people at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Jo Brand also wrote a film based on her novel, The More You Ignore Me, which was released in 2018.

Television Appearances

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

She became a very frequent guest on shows like Have I Got News for You and QI. She has appeared on QI more than any other guest. As a fan of the game show Countdown, she was invited to be a celebrity guest in "Dictionary Corner." She has appeared on Countdown 88 times.

In 2004, Jo Brand had a makeover on a special episode of What Not to Wear. In 2007, she learned to play the organ in just four months for the show Play It Again. She performed a difficult piece by Johann Sebastian Bach at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Jo Brand has also taken part in many charity events for Comic Relief. She was a contestant on 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 took part in a special Comic Relief series of The Great British Bake Off.

From 2009 to 2012, Jo Brand co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On. The show was about a geriatric ward in the NHS. She won a BAFTA award in 2011 for Best TV Comedy Actress for her role.

In 2011, Jo Brand presented Jo Brand's Big Splash, a show where she did stand-up comedy and met people who loved water. From 2013 to 2014, she was a judge on the ITV diving show Splash!.

She presented episodes of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off in 2014 and The Great Comic Relief Bake Off in 2015. Since 2014, she has been the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, a show that discusses the main Bake Off series.

In 2014, Jo Brand co-wrote and starred in a comedy show for Sky Arts called Damned. It was later made into a full series for Channel 4. Since 2017, she has presented the Channel 5 series Jo Brand's Cats & Kittens, which is also available on Netflix as Kitten Rescuers.

In 2019, the BBC show Imagine featured a documentary about Jo Brand's life and career. She also became a contestant on Taskmaster in 2019. In 2023, she appeared on Antique Roadshow: Nursing Special to talk about her time as a psychiatric nurse.

Jo Brand's Personal Life

Brand at Bonkers Fest 2007

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

In 1997, she gave a lecture about psychiatric nursing at the University of Derby. She also opened an exhibition at Lambeth Hospital about Art Therapy.

Charity Work

Brand at the BBC Magazines Awards for Excellence, 2007

Jo Brand supports the charity ActionAid and has helped raise money for them. In 2014, she was part of Gareth Malone's All Star Choir, which released a song to raise money for BBC's Children in Need.

In January 2016, Jo Brand completed a 150-mile walk across Britain for Sport Relief. She walked from the River Humber to the Albert Dock in Liverpool. 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 several other charities, including the National Self Harm Network, International Animal Rescue, and the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association. She is also an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Society.

Political Views

Jo Brand supports the Labour Party. She also supports the idea of the UK having a president instead of a king or queen. In 2014, she was one of 200 public figures who signed a letter against Scottish independence. She also supports the Women's Equality Party.

In 2019, Jo Brand made a joke on a radio show that some people found upsetting. She later apologized for the joke, saying it was "crass and ill-judged." The police looked into the matter but later dropped their investigation.

Awards and Recognition

Jo Brand has received many awards for her comedy and 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
• British Comedy Award 2012: Best female TV comic

She has also received several honorary doctorates from universities. In 2007, the University of Glamorgan gave her an honorary doctorate for her work as a psychiatric nurse. In 2007, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award for making mental health nursing more visible. She received another honorary degree from the University of Suffolk in 2009 and from Canterbury Christ Church University in 2014 for raising awareness about mental health.

Filmography

Television Shows

Films