47 Facts About Jo Brand

Josephine Grace Brand was born on 23 July 1957 and is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress.

Jo Brand makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 4 in programmes such as The News Quiz and Just a Minute.

In 2003, Jo Brand was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.

Jo Brand was born in Clapham, London, near St Paul's Church in a house which was "a little terraced Victorian place on the Wandsworth Road with an outside toilet", and grew up in Hastings, East Sussex.

Jo Brand's mother was a social worker at Charing Cross Hospital and her father was a structural engineer.

Jo Brand's father suffered from depression from the age of 12, until he was successfully treated with antidepressants in his mid-50s.

Jo Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers.

Jo Brand then worked as a psychiatric nurse for ten years, at the South London Bethlem hospital, Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea and Maudsley Hospital in south London.

When Jo Brand began her career in comedy, she used the stage name the "Sea Monster".

Jo Brand was part of the British alternative comedy movement, working in London alternative comedy clubs in the mid-1980s, and appearing initially on the Saturday Live television show.

Jo Brand shared a flat with fellow comic and comedy club owner Ivor Dembina.

Jo Brand has said that she drank heavily before her first gig, was heckled throughout, and received no applause at the end of the set.

Jo Brand's Doc Marten boots, large size and short hair led to false rumours that she was a lesbian.

In 2010, Jo 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.

Jo Brand played the Demon Dinner Lady in the British live-action film Horrid Henry: The Movie.

Jo Brand provided a voice-over for the Lyric, Hammersmith Theatre's 2011 pantomime Aladdin.

Jo Brand has written a feature-film adaptation of her novel The More You Ignore Me.

In 1993, Jo Brand became a resident panellist, along with Tony Hawks, on BBC monologue show The Brain Drain.

Jo Brand had a cameo appearance in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous entitled "New Best Friend", and appeared on Star Spell, a spin-off from Hard Spell in 2004.

Jo Brand later became a friend of the host, Richard Whiteley, and after his death in 2005 attended his memorial service at York Minster.

Jo Brand has appeared on Countdown as a Dictionary Corner guest 88 times.

In 2004, Jo Brand appeared in a special episode of What Not to Wear, where fashion gurus Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine gave her a makeover.

On 25 March 2007, Jo Brand appeared on Play It Again, where she was required to learn how to play the organ in just four months.

Jo Brand took part in the first celebrity version of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.

In January 2013 Jo Brand took part in a special Comic Relief series of The Great British Bake Off.

Jo Brand has been a fill-in host on The Paul O'Grady Show and The One Show.

Jo Brand co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On opposite Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine, for which she won the 2011 Best TV Comedy Actress BAFTA award.

On 14 January 2014, Jo Brand presented an episode of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off on BBC Two, a charity version of The Great British Bake Off.

Jo Brand is the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, which premiered on 8 August 2014.

In 2014, Jo Brand co-wrote and starred as Rose in a comedy pilot for Sky Arts called Damned.

On 28 January 2019, the BBC television series Imagine, presented by Alan Yentob, documented Jo's life and career, with contributions from many of her comedy peers, in a programme titled Jo Brand: No Holds Barred.

Jo Brand appeared in BBC's Antique Roadshow: Nursing Special talking to Fiona Bruce about her time as a psychiatric nurse.

Jo Brand spoke about her experience working in emergency mental health clinics, as well lighter moments performing in hospital pantos.

Jo Brand married Bernie Bourke, a psychiatric nurse, in 1997 in Shropshire.

Jo Brand is a supporter of the charity ActionAid and has taken part in fundraising events for the organisation.

In November 2014, Jo Brand was a part of Gareth Malone's All Star Choir, who released a cover version of "Wake Me Up" to raise money for the BBC's Children in Need.

On 28 January 2016, Jo Brand completed a 150-mile walk across Britain, in aid of Sport Relief, in Liverpool.

Jo Brand's efforts were shown in a 60-minute documentary, which aired on 17 March 2016, called Jo Brand's Hell of a Walk for Sport Relief.

Jo Brand is a patron of the National Self Harm Network, International Animal Rescue, and the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, as well as London Nightline.

Jo Brand is the president of the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust.

Jo Brand was still a contributor to and supporter of the party in 2012.

Jo Brand introduced and spoke at the celebration of Michael Foot's life at London's Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, on 8 November 2010.

In June 2019, Jo Brand was featured in the BBC Radio 4 comedy show Heresy, after a number of right-wing and far-right European election candidates had been doused with milkshakes during campaign walkabouts the previous month.

On 29 August 2019, the BBC's Executive Complaints Unit partially upheld complaints about the joke, saying: 'Whilst the ECU recognised that the wider message from this episode is an argument for more civility in political discourse, not less, and Ms Jo Brand's contribution is not intended to be taken as face value, the ECU felt that it went beyond what was appropriate for the show.

On 17 July 2007 Jo Brand was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work as a psychiatric nurse from the University of Glamorgan.

Jo Brand has 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.

In January 2014, Jo Brand was awarded a second honorary doctorate from Canterbury Christ Church University, for her work in raising awareness of mental health issues and challenging the stigma surrounding such illnesses.