Jo Brand On Her Journey From Nursing To Stand-Up

In this episode, Rob is joined by Comedian Jo Brand who reveals how being a mental health nurse prepared her for comedy.
They also discuss the late Victoria Wood, why Jo loves appearing on panel shows, and the problems with writing comedy for TV.
Listen to the full 44-minute episode free and exclusively on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2epr...
FYI, we had a lot of comments last week about my beard: it is for a new role!​
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Rob Brydon is best known for his work on The Trip, Gavin & Stacey and presenting the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie To You?
Also check out Rob’s other Social Media pages:
👉 / robbrydon
👉 / robbrydon
🎥 Edited by Greg Bernstein
#RobBrydon #JoBrand #StandUpComedy

[@RobBrydon]

Listen to the full 44-minute episode free and exclusively on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2eprZjFOBy2x0UDGWzM42Z

[@angelkotilainen]

Donkey's years ago when I was young I walked in to the Sherman Theatre completely lost but wanting to start the youth theatre group and Jo Brand was sitting at a table with Brian Hibbard from the Flying Pickets and maybe more people sat there too, it was a long time ago. I was so nervous I didn't realize who they were at first as it's dark in there, so I sort of asked their table for help and Jo really warmly and kindly helped me. I was so embarrassed when I realized it was Jo and I'd intruded, but also so so grateful she helped me as I was on the verge of bolting. It meant a lot to me to see a friendly face. I was so cripplingly shy it took a lot to even go in to the theatre never mind ask for help. I did join and was cast in quite a lot of theatre shows and I owe Jo a big thanks for helping a lost kid ♥

[@vickywitton1008]

I love this woman, she is just unashamedly herself and doesn't try to fit a mould. She seems very relaxed which I envy, as I am always anxious!

[@Lones555]

I've never been a huge fan of her comedy but as a person I have the greatest respect for her, seeing the bile directed at her both on stage in the 90s and indeed continues to this day in some of the comments to this video. It's fine to not like the comedy, but there's no real need to be so openly offensive towards the person.

[@edenbreckhouse]

I think anyone who says “I’m thinking why bother with a milkshake when you could get some battery acid.” - deserves some bile directed at her. I'd categorise that as hate speech.

[@christinavuyk7875]

Depends who it’s directed towards tbf 🤔

[@enoz.j3506]

@@edenbreckhouse Totally agree.

[@_Stroda]

@@edenbreckhouse Nah. I don't find Brand particularly funny but the reaction to that joke, given that so much of the outrage was from your typical 'THERE'S NO FREE SPEECH ANY MORE' types who would clearly defend the likes of Jim Davidson (and whilst I don't find him particularly funny, I have no issue with Davidson making the jokes he does) was predictable, hypocritical nonsense.

[@doctorsuave]

@@edenbreckhouse oh grow up with your selective outrage you probably defend Roseanne in the same breath cause she offended the right group for you fragile sensibilities

[@buffster948]

I think one of the best features of Jo's interpretation of comedy is that she is always, unapologetically, herself. Frank and humble to the core. She'd probably hate this comment and see it as some sycophantic brown nosing! 😂 Incredible talent and probably one of the world's toughest and most experienced female comics. I know she's not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it would be hard for anyone to say she hasn't earned her stripes and also served her time - working as a mental health practitioner takes real guts. Being a female comic, especially when she started out... Kudos, Jo. Thanks for being you.

[@andrewb6068]

Used to work with Jo's mum in Ludlow about 28 years ago, lovely person, Jo reminds me of her a lot :-)

[@martinfpavey]

Yeah, Jo's mother wasn't a lovely person, I have no doubt she was AWFUL to live with!

[@OscarsWilde]

Jo Brand, absolute legend in comedy. Love her on panel shows too, got to see more of her personality. 😍

[@markstarmer3677]

Bloody hell, you set the bar low haven’t you. Repulsive woman

[@rossmcleod7983]

“ Getting On” was frikken brilliant and the warmth and strength of Jo in that made me a life long fan.

[@georgiakuchinsky]

Jo is a legitimate punk and an absolute legend. First saw her on taskmaster and I've been seeking her content out ever since

[@chronos5385]

Jo is an absolute legend

[@nartarlyiatremaynne1239]

Jo is a total Rock Star, I find her beyond hysterical. I now have a Hernia from laughter watching her during COVID 19. Her sarcasm slays me. Australia.

[@jonhohensee3258]

She's icky.

[@micheleturley8758]

This is wonderful - Jo Brand makes me laugh until I cry. I love her humour. Thanks again 😘

[@davidockley747]

Jo Brand makes me laugh too, until she introduces her comedy of hatred.

[@charikloangel33]

She needs to know that her sitcom Getting On was superb. So much respect for her working in mental health. I've done it myself and you do develop a thicker skin, plus what she said about having humour in that line of work is spot on. Great interview!

[@heartshapedisle]

Yes. 30 years in mental health gave me respect for finding humour in dark places.

[@TequilaToothpick]

Jo is a true comedy legend and hilarious.

[@pifflepockle]

Her story about the 4 year old still on the teat saying ‘FACK OFF!’ to her as a nurse is something I still tell people about until this day

[@eightiesmusic1984]

She is superb, both as a comic and person. Me and my wife saw her at the Hay Festival ( pretentious navel gazing fest but that is another story), where she was hilarious. The gig brought the house down. Still remember a couple of the gags- she really is very, very, funny.

[@C64_Mat]

I remember watching Jo back in the early nineties on the Channel 4 Comedy Store. Great then, great now!

[@clairefreewheelin1530]

Thanks, Jo is the absolute best!

[@filipberntsson6634]

Thank you both for this, Jo and Rob!

[@lindathomas5500]

She used to live down the road from me in stokey lol…. Became hooked on her humour back in the 90s when I heard her say “you can tell when your diet is working, when you can fit between the radiator and wall…”. She said it with such a stoic face that it made it all the more hilarious!😂

[@eightiesmusic1984]

Most comedians are not that funny but she is hilarious. Great personality, comic lines and timing. A good heart too.

[@Marcus_Ramour]

Thank you for explaining the beard, it saves me having to write a comment about the beard. Not that there's anything wrong with beards but felt compelled to ask. But at least now I don't need to. Brilliant interview as ever by the way.

[@kenlyneham4105]

I love Jo Brand's style of comedy, she is one of the truly very funny women in that field. I understand he desire to being on panel shows because she bounces off others very well. That's really the only format that I have seen her doing, and I think she's very good at it. I love that she doesn't give a shit.

[@vanessaisom8620]

I was waiting for this interview! Jo Brand is so brilliant! Thank you Rob and Jo.

[@jonhohensee3258]

She's awful.

[@spinynormanbest6410]

If you like talking about vaginas and jamrags, yeh

[@Mark_Brooks]

@@jonhohensee3258 Yet, you came here anyway knowing that.

[@jonhohensee3258]

@@Mark_Brooks Awful.

[@Mark_Brooks]

@@jonhohensee3258 Thanks for supporting Rob, it's very nice of you!

[@brinsonopinion]

I first saw Jo Brand on "Absolutely Fabulous" in the 90s & she instantly became one of the standout memories of the entire show for me ("Aw, p!ss off, ya sad tw@t!" LMAO). I love watching her on things like "Taskmaster" now...she's the cool person in the room I want to sit next to, always!

[@C64_Mat]

"Did you pack these bags your self, madam?" "No, I let some bastard in the Middle East do it for me."

[@percyclark8767]

Sorry. I've come late to this, but what a brilliant episode. For a moment there, they exposed their true souls. Good to see.

[@diningbadger953]

Your shows are answering the one question I've asked: Do you all know each other, and do you all get along? To watch the show, WILTY?, it always seems that you all know each other and get along so well that I thought that you all must go out for a pint and hang out all the time. I absolutely love British comedy, more than you know. Thanks!

[@michaelmouse4024]

Jo is a legend.

[@HelloGorgeousnyc]

Love your interviews rob but wish they weren’t so short!!!

[@Mark_Brooks]

THE BEARD IS FOR A ROLE lol

[@colinthompson3111]

Jo Brand is excellent on the programs she appears on.

[@jonhohensee3258]

She was nasty on Taskmaster.

[@layalabi1667]

Thank you! That was absolutely delightful!!!!

[@moominmay]

Could listen to Jo talking all day 😊

[@ingevoysey2411]

I met Jo in 1990, in the comedy club. She was fab!!

[@thinktankboulevard]

Jo is a legend and such a nice personality, I could listen to her for hours

[@etch-a-sketch]

LOVE Joe Brand! ❤

[@Astro_War]

I love Jo, such a nice warm kind person.❤ I saw her at Bristol Hippodrome, many years ago. She came on with huge hair and Doc Martens and was very funny.

[@alfredthegreat9543]

Went to see her do a show back in the mid-90s in Worcester- she was quite frankly brilliant and I'd recommend going to see her unreservedly.

[@NotoriousWhistler]

I'm glad the beard disclaimer came up almost immediately. I had started to wonder already.

[@bk1147]

I saw her years ago at the comedy store and she destroyed some drunken hecklers

[@conchronic]

As a psych nurse fully agree with humour and having a ciggie with a client as a good way to lower barriers and build a working relationship with mutual trust.

[@SpeccyMan]

What if the client doesn't smoke?

[@conchronic]

@@SpeccyMan cup of tea

[@awentimes]

@@SpeccyMan Peer pressure is a good way to gain trust.

[@highdownmartin]

Jo has been on my dinner party list, should I ever be asked by a Sunday supplement , for years. She’s brilliant.

[@peterc2248]

I think Jo is awesome, I think Rob is awesome too. I'd love to see Rob do a travel show

[@conchronic]

The trip is a type of travel show

[@stevecox7075]

Rob, please, please, please interview the brilliant Julia Davis!

[@djones1304]

I’m pleased they clarified the beard situation. I was beginning to worry.

[@emosewasikcin]

Good luck rob with being Hammond’s stunt double!

[@BlackMarketHoney]

Legend!!!

[@sophietucker3163]

Love this channel!

[@leodegas7731]

Wow, great interview. I don't know anything of her except on WILTY because I'm from San Diego and I have never watched shows from the UK until 3 months ago. These interviews are great, because I get to learn a little about the people I love watching on WILTY. Thank you for a great interview. 🤣🤣🤣 I miss read the little caption and thought it said, " This beard is for sale." 😂 Have a blessed day, ✌️🦁

[@Eurobazz]

Another nice episode Rob. I think you should place a circumflex accent over the O. This will enhance your stellar thespianism.

[@suchdevelopments]

😁🥰😍🤩😎🥸🤓Rob, how are you this sunny morning in Goonellabah on North Coast NSW? Jo Brand and you are 💥FANTASTIC. 💥

[@angeladawn805]

Thank you so much for having Jo on your show. She's awesome

[@oneworldfamily]

THE BEARD IS FOR A ROLE

[@ArminGips]

That's what they all say...

[@thatchoirgirl94]

I hoped so. I mean it doesn't look bad at all, but it looks "kinda wrong" when one's used to the beardless face for ages.

[@vjc2270]

I have loved Jo Brand since the late '80s. My first stand-out memory is a sketch she did with Kate Moss that was featured a bunch of Renaissance-era Rubenesque 'super models' paying out on Kate for her appearance. (Can't even find it on KZbin, so it must have been long, long ago!) Laughed my arse off and haven't stopped since. I love her deadpan delivery and authenticity. You can tell she's been a psych nurse - you get the impression that nothing would really faze her. I still get annoyed that she cops so much disrespect from the kind of arseholes that she's always showed up and mocked to perfection... I guess that just means she's awesome at her job. Love, love, love.

[@burtcocain1986]

Love and respect to Jo - I remember watching Through the Cake Hole on VHS when I was about 10. That was a pretty sick VHS shelf - loads of Rik and Ade, Red Dwarf, Rowan Atkinson. Jo Brand held her own on that shelf. She's stuck to her guns.

[@VAPIDISM]

Rob there is no need for the intermittent subtitle referring to Jo as a beard, we accept you for who you are.

[@mayberelevant3237]

😂🤣😂

[@hensonlaura]

Clever boots!

[@VAPIDISM]

@@hensonlaura They go with my fancy pants

[@Trooperdog]

I really enjoy these interviews Rob has been doing. I'm from the U.S. and fell in love with British panel shows. As a result ive come to recognize the talents of people like Jo, Lee Mack, Sean Lock R.I.P. and so many more, yes you too Rob. Seeing the interviews Rob does gives me a better understanding of their background and their personality in general. P.S. don't try to bring panel shows to the U.S., they just get butchered every time! Love to you all from across the pond!

[@sstills951]

The problem with being an American and liking these British panel shows is that nobody I talk to knows of them.

[@3506Dodge]

We have "panel shows" in the US. We call them podcasts.

[@EricaGamet]

@@3506Dodge What podcasts are like British panel shows. I don't think we have anything like panel shows here in the US. I'm also a huge fan of the panel shows and agree that we will keep watching the British ones as we would just mess them up!

[@davidice101artistdavideric7]

I was a comedy fan in the 80s/90s always ending a London day trip with a visit to the comedy store or the fabulous Up The Creek with Malcolm Hardee "RIP" seeing Jo and other budding stars like Harry Hill my best memory of Jo was on a election night special in Leicester Square she was so wicked that night

[@nbell63]

Another lovely chat between friends who share the same profession. I'm not sure if 'still waters run(ning) deep' is entirely the apropos of Jo but each time I've heard her speak I've come away with a greater respect.

[@Pollene13]

I bet she was a great nurse.

[@oldrikky]

love her.

[@davimurph]

It's a shame that Jo wouldn't want to do a travelogue, because when I was watching her and David Baddiel on Taskmaster, I thought they'd be great on a road trip show. They had a hilarious dynamic, and I know (from other interviews) that Jo enjoys driving.

[@TeacherTanyaMeyer]

Love Jo Brand ❤ and didn’t know that “ism” is about power and therefore women cannot be sexist. Of course, I understand that there are exceptions, but living in Mexico, where machismo was invented (things are changing, tho’! Slowly but surely) it was empowering to hear her say that. Thank 🙏🏻 you, Jo Brand! (Can’t refer to her in any other way than by using her full name 😅)

[@SpeccyMan]

Of course women can be sexist. It is merely another form of prejudice and women are perfectly capable of it.

[@TeacherTanyaMeyer]

@@SpeccyMan yes, I know. But it isn’t the norm here

[@vjc2270]

Love your comment. Also love that you poked the misogynist bear. Make the slightest feminist comment on KZbin and you'll get some outraged basement-dwelling male shouting you down. 🥱 (BTW chaps - Feminism is not a dirty word and doesn't mean you hate men - it just means equality for women. Amazing how many men are still threatened by that concept!) I imagine Mexico would be a difficult place to get this concept across, but maybe it's just more out-in-the-open there - sexism is certainly alive and well in Australia. ❤

[@TeacherTanyaMeyer]

@@vjc2270 thank you! ❤And yes, I talk about gender equality here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIatoqeZoLKFj6c It's on the global agenda to bring more balance to the tremendous inequality that is endemic in so many places around the world, so, it's happening, no question about that. If people (men and women alike) only knew what's at stake here, everyone would very quickly agree that women and girls need to be empowered, that education needs to be accessible to everyone, boys and girls alike, and that the world really can be a better place for everyone (men and women alike). Thank you for replying, I appreciate it.

[@nixpuk75]

Love you guys 😅😅

[@richmaniow]

the 80's and 90's was a great era for giving new comedians a platform, not sure they would get the same break today. Maybe the occasional interview with a new comedian would go some way to correct that.

[@joycejohnson7164]

love her story about her days as a visiting nurse--still breast feeding at 5 (!)

[@mrsteel9026]

Jo Brand = Legend.

[@eprohoda]

dued~ so pro ~:))

[@JRLNeal]

Great interview again. Please get bigger mics and get them in full view, in fact just hide behind them.

[@christine6059]

If anyone hasn’t seen her brilliant performance in Getting On, please seek it out.

[@vjc2270]

That show is one of the best comedies I've ever seen. Anyone who has ever worked for less money than they deserve in a thankless job with an arsehole boss, idiot colleagues and difficult clients could definitely relate... I'm still amazed that the Bristol Stool Chart is an actual thing.

[@martinzwaan2721]

The bread is for a roll.

[@julianlineham]

Two of my favorite people

[@janemorrow6672]

Well Jo you may not like writing comedy but I absolutely loved ‘getting on’.

[@marthadunkley6758]

'I've been affacted' LOL, sometimes miss-speaks hit the note.

[@HarshMelon]

I am loving the beard Rob. Somehow it makes you look so much younger!

[@somebloke2238]

The horniman museum is great they're right

[@BobbyLCollins]

Guys, the beard is for a role.

[@longjonwhite]

I thought it said it was for a vole ...

[@EricaGamet]

Wait, is the beard for a role?

[@tonyhoughton6857]

Maybe you could do Gary delaney who is Sarah milligans husband in your next comedy vlog

[@0xyg3n]

Don't bite your nails, Rob. ;)

[@brinsonopinion]

Thank God someone else clocked that lol! I thought "My God man, you're on camera!"

[@joanneturner1486]

Look at you now Rob, you ARE Parkinson ... 💗

[@theham69]

What’s the beard about? Maybe some role or other.

[@maxreece2402]

@Real Aiglon I am going to guess there’s a hint of sarcasm in all these comments about the beard

[@vagabondfeet]

Hi Jo .... Hi Rob

[@ohshitnotanotherknob]

Keep the beard.

[@longjonwhite]

Can ANYONE here explain the beard ??

[@BambooCoffin]

Richard Hammond looks well

[@danmayberry1185]

If only she'd called him a knobhead, for old times sake.

[@edwardsp1916]

Please get a slot on Radio 2 Rob.

[@Joe-944]

What’s with the beard, Rob?

[@alexhumphries4057]

Why the beard, Rob? Always loved Jo. Great content, once again

[@eilidh771]

State Approved Behemoth.

[@bletheringfool]

I actually think you suit the beard, very Richard Hammond. Not many can pull off a goatee. I had one in briefly in the 90s and it was awful.

[@MrOmeyer]

Where can I get those glasses?

[@JessieCori]

Try Diagon Alley.

[@barbarahamme2760]

Rims & Goggles opticians in San Francisco has them.

[@MrOmeyer]

@@barbarahamme2760 Interesting but a bit far from Norway. Terrible website btw.

[@MrOmeyer]

@@JessieCori I've lost my Hogwart membership

[@stueyboyrob5447]

Rob, love your schtick, sometimes you're in my dreams. Why though! Why! Jesus Christ! (Edward Woodward) are your chats so short? I mean you apologetically cut them off when there's golden gem material going down, going downtown for many more minutes to come. Huh!?

[@moragwilliamson1736]

I love Jo Brand.

[@batchint]

she did a short story once that might be a risk area.. about a seven year old with the mother and the nurse… 😮

[@PaulGappyNorris]

A goal without a plan is just a dream…

[@paulcurran6747]

Always liked jo felt sorry for her back in the 90s with all the crap she got off the likes of gary bushell, but she's had a great career, funny woman 😀.

[@ianafloat9250]

Gary Who?😂

[@theChrisCroft]

keep the beard, it suits you

[@oldscousema]

I saw Jo live in the early 90s. Nearly peed myself. Saw her over 10 years ago at the Ilkley Literary Festival and managed to have a brief conversation with her. She was ace. Also - thank you Jo for addressing the power imbalance of isms. Spot on!

[@roundknittles]

Like the beard.

[@jrbergsten]

Clarkson once said that it hurts when he doesn’t write.