Jo Brand

Jo Brand: fat jokes matter

What's a middle-aged female comedian doing jumping off high diving boards on a blokey channel called Dave?

Having children is fab says Jo Brand

Even being mistaken for her children's granny can't wipe the smile off Jo Brand's face.

Jo Brand won't be in US version of Getting On

Jo Brand is happy for her Getting On co-stars to appear in the US version of the show - but she won't be joining them.

Jo Brand interview

Jo Brand on friendships with men, the charm of Jeremy Clarkson, and why she's not going to be Brucie.

Fans of the whimsical quiz show QI can look forward to a long night on the sofa tonight, with a run of four repeated episodes (the first of which is at 9.00pm) sandwiched around this jolly documentary about the making of the series. Featuring clips from the archives as well as interviews with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Jo Brand et al, it goes back to the genesis of the series - which was originally conceived as a radio show - and includes a rare glimpse of the bashful research team affectionately known as the "QI Elves".

Jo Brand plunges into the deep end of comedy

Jo Brand returns to our T.V screens this September, slipping on a custom made swimsuit for "Jo Brand's Big Splash". The new 4-part series combines travelogue and stand up during which the reluctant but intrepid explorer dives from the terrifying heights of Olympic springboards to fish for golf balls.

Watching this series's parade of classic comedy clips, chosen by comedians of today, confirms the theory that some people just have funny bones. It wouldn't matter if Tommy Cooper were clipping his toenails or performing the elaborately shambolic glass bottle trick from 1974 that is replayed here tonight: the fez-wearing comedian induces guffaws just because of who he is. Similarly, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore go wildly off-script in their "Pete and Dud" sketch in the art gallery and start giggling, but they're naturally funny together, as Phill Jupitus and Rhod Gilbert attest here. Funny comes in many packages, and while the American stand-up Joan Rivers, chosen by Graham Norton and Jo Brand as a favourite, is well-known for her shock tactics, her outrageous quips about growing old on The Graham Norton Show appeared to take even Norton aback at the time. Other treats featured are the University Challenge scene from The Young Ones in 1984, co-starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, and the bit in the Monty Python film Life of Brian in which Graham Chapman's Brian Cohen exhorts his followers to think for themselves. It may be a clip show and most of the clips are more than familiar, but it surely contains more laughs per minute than any of the newer comedies on television tonight.

Here's a tricky question: Was it humanly possible to make shambolic Show Me The Funny any worse? Answer: Yes... by adding bagpipes.

For some inexplic­able reason the useless wannabe comedians joined the Scots Guards to see if they were any good at military circuit training. They weren't. Who cares?

With hapless host Jason Manford looking more forlorn by the second, venerable veteran Jo Brand suddenly cropped up from nowhere to inform us: "Either you make people laugh or you don't." Memo to the crap contestants... You don't.

A welcome new addition to the Friday night schedules - some real comedy in among the chat shows masquerading as such. Pitched at the post-pub crowd it's an archive show in which some of today's comics celebrate the great TV moments that inspired them to pursue a career in stand-up, or simply left them doubled over helpless with laughter and admiration.

Jack Dee is up first, recalling the impact that Billy Connolly's debut appearance on Parkinson - when the Big Yin told the infamous bum joke that turned him into a comedy superstar overnight - had on his teenage self back in 1975. Among those piling in to concur, and recall what an enormous influence Connolly was, are Jon Culshaw, Dara O'Briain, Alan Carr and Jo Brand. Then, before it all gets too indulgent, Brand recalls her own favourite - a groundbreaking 1988 sketch from French and Saunders in which the duo play dirty old men watching a beauty pageant. Again, there's praise from the likes of Alan Carr, Joan Rivers, Andi Osho and - a touch bizarrely - Paddy McGuinness, before moving on to the next (Rhod Gilbert on Eddie Izzard's surreal "learning French" routine), and finishing with hymns to Max Miller and Les Dawson. In truth, the old doesn't always mix with the new, and the insights aren't always scintillating, but it's a chance to enjoy again some hilarious moments, and to discover some past flights of genius that may have passed you by.