Dane Baptiste (born 3 September 1984) is a British stand-up comedian, writer and presenter. He was the first Black British act to be nominated for the "Best Newcomer" award at 2014's

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Dave (TV channel), Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival ...

and his comedy series ''Sunny D'' premiered on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

in Spring 2016. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances, and hosts his own podcast ''Dane Baptiste Questions Everything''. In January 2021, Baptiste's comedy pilot ''Bamous'' launched on BBC Three / BBC One.

Early life

Baptiste is from

Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian. Growing extensively with ...

, South East London. He attended

Haberdashers' Hatcham College Haberdashers' Hatcham College (formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College) is a state secondary school with academy status and a music specialism located in New Cross. The school was formerly a grammar school, then a comprehensive City Tec ...

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

, and then achieved a degree in business at

Bradford University The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

. He worked in media sales before becoming a comedian.

Stand up career

Baptiste started performing stand-up comedy in 2012. Baptiste was the first Black Briton to be nominated for the 2014 “Best Newcomer”

Edinburgh Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

. After the success of his debut stand up-show “Citizen Dane”, he completed two sold-out runs at London's

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

(with additional dates added to accommodate demand). He was nominated for a

Chortle Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the ...

award in 2015. His second stand-up show “Reasonable Doubts” sold out and was met with critical acclaim at the 2015

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, with his first nationwide solo tour following in 2016. In 2018, Baptiste set out on a world tour, including Australia and New Zealand, with his smash-hit third stand-up hour ''G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.)'' about the worldwide pursuit of wealth, power and pleasure. In 2021, Baptiste launched a new show and international tour, ''The Chocolate Chip''.

Television career

Baptiste has made various television appearances on ''

Sweat the Small Stuff ''Sweat the Small Stuff'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on BBC Three, presented by Nick Grimshaw and featuring team captains Melvin Odoom and Rochelle Humes. Humes, formerly a regular panellist, replaced Rickie Haywood Williams ...

'', '' Virtually Famous'', ''

Celebrity Squares ''Celebrity Squares'' is a British comedy game show based on the American comedy game show ''The Hollywood Squares, Hollywood Squares''. It first ran from 20 July 1975 to 7 July 1979 and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse, then—also hosted by Mon ...

'', ''

Safeword In BDSM, a safeword is a code word, series of code words or other signal used by a person to communicate their physical or emotional state, typically when approaching, or crossing, a physical, emotional, or moral boundary. Some safewords are used ...

'', '' Live at the Apollo'', ''

Live from the BBC ''Live from the BBC'' is a British stand-up comedy series that has aired on the online BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2 ...

'', '' Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled'', ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', ''Pants of Fire,'' ''Stand Up Sketch Show'',

Pointless ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to ...

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

Roast Battle ''Roast Battle'' is a British roast comedy show that is broadcast on Comedy Central. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr and features comedians facing each other in roast battles. The show was created by American comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses ...

, ''Comedians Giving Lectures'', ''Comedians Solving World Problems'', ''Gagging Order'', ''Elevenish', CelebAbility'', ''Black, British and Funny'', ''Frankie Boyle's New World Order'', and ''Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled.'' He has hosted Live At The Apollo (

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

), Live from the Comedy Store (

) and

Tonight at the London Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End theatre, West End. Originally produced by Associated Television, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network ...

(

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

). In December 2018 he won a week-long series in the BBC's

House of Games ''House of Games'' is a 1987 American neo-noir heist thriller film directed by David Mamet, his directorial debut. He also wrote the screenplay, based on a story he co-wrote with Jonathan Katz. The film's cast includes Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mant ...

. In 2016 Baptiste created, wrote and starred in sitcom Sunny D, which was then purchased for an American remake in 2018 by

Lionsgate Pictures Lionsgate Films (formerly known as Cinépix Film Properties) is an American film production and film distribution studio, headquartered in Santa Monica and founded in Canada, and is the flagship division of Lionsgate Entertainment. It is the larg ...

. During the 2020 lockdown Baptiste performed on

The Big Night In ''The Big Night In'' was a British telethon that was broadcast by BBC One from 7 pm to 10 pm on 23 April 2020 to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first joint initiativ ...

for Children in Need and

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. In January 2021, Baptiste's BBC pilot ''Bamous'' premiered on BBC Three / BBC One.

Writing career

In 2016 Baptiste wrote his first sitcom Sunny D. Baptiste was the first black comedian to write a commissioned pilot for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

that became a series. Baptiste wrote for

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

at the 2018

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Awards. In 2020, Baptiste created and wrote BBC pilot ''Bamous.''

Other work

Baptiste hosts his own podcast ''Dane Baptiste Questions Everything'', is a member of comedy collective ''Quotas Full'' and is currently working on numerous scripted projects for both the UK and US. He has also appeared on other podcasts including ''Evil Genius with

Russell Kane Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has 4 times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for st ...

'', ''West: Word - The Westworld podcast'' for Sky TV, Geoff Lloyd's ''Hometown Glory'' o
Union Jack Radio
''FRANK with Olivia Lee and Maria Shehat'', '' The Gaffer Tapes: Fantasy Football Podcast,''Week 31: Train Baptiste FPL 16/17
The Gaffer Tapes, 6 April 2017 and ''Mo Money, Mo Problems'' with

Mo Gilligan Mosiah Bikila Gilligan (born 19 February 1988) is a British stand-up comedian. He is known for his observational comedy. After several years of uploading comedy clips to social media, he found global success in 2017. He hosted ''The Lateish Show ...

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptiste, Dane 1984 births Living people 21st-century English male actors Black British male actors Black British male comedians English people of Grenadian descent English male actors English stand-up comedians Male actors from London People from the London Borough of Lewisham 21st-century English comedians