jo brand

Her mother was a social worker and Brand worked as a psychiatric nurse at the South London Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital until the mid-1980s.^{citation needed]} She was persuaded by agent Malcolm Hardee to begin a career in stand-up comedy, where she acquired the stage name, "The Sea Monster". She was central to the British alternative comedy movement, working London alternative comedy clubs, and appearing initially on the Saturday Live television show. In 1993, her transition into the mainstream was confirmed when she obtained her own series on Channel 4, Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, co-written with comedy writer Jim Miller, who was already her main stand-up writer.

Her early style was to deliver her jokes in a bored monotone, one line at a time, with pauses in between. This worked well comedically^{citation needed]}, but actually came about because she found it easier. With her Doc Marten boots, and her large size and short hair, her image (and comedic material) for most of the 1980s and '90s was inspired at least in part by radicalised feminism. But most of the apparently feminist material was in the set-up of the jokes, and was punctured by the punchline. Also, despite rumours to the contrary,^{citation needed]} she turned out not to be a lesbian. She has previously said however that she was reading in the newspapers that she was a lesbian for so long, she started to believe it. She was for a while romantically involved with Malcolm Hardee, who had initially persuaded her to become a comic. She is now married, with two children.

More recently her humour has softened and she has been a guest on such television shows as Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and QI. She has had several solo television series, and presented shows such as Jo Brand's Commercial Breakdown. She also appeared on Star Spell, a spin off from Hard Spell, during 2004. As a fan of Countdown, she achieved an ambition when she was asked to appear in the show's Dictionary Corner as the celebrity guest. She later became a friend of the host, Richard Whiteley, and after his death in 2005 attended his memorial service at York Minster. She also took part, against her better judgement, in the first celebrity version of Comic Relief does Fame Academy.

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

On Saturday 25 March 2006, Jo appeared on Parkinson with Daniel Day-Lewis and Jane Fonda.

She has also tried her hand at straight acting and has written novels.

Jo is known to be a big fan of Crystal Palace Football Club, and has sponsored the matchball for games in the past.

Jo Brand also delivered a guest lecture on the subject of Psychiatric Nursing for the University of Derby Psychology Society in 1997 in return for a donation to Derby Rape Crisis, a chocolate cake and a couple of pints at the local (the two final offerings being gifts from the students rather than riders).

Quotations

• April 2006, film for BBC1's This Week: Patricia Hewitt heckled by the very mild-mannered RCN. The last time they got that riled was when Florence Nightingale ate all the Jammie Dodgers at the Christmas party. You can heckle all you like, but getting Patricia Hewitt out of her job isn't going to bring a magic cure.^[1]