''Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy'' is a British TV series in which comedian

Dawn French Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian, presenter and writer. French is known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show ''French and Saunders'' with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunde ...

interviews her favourite male comedians about how they came to be comedians. It is a follow-up and

counterpart Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to: Entertainment and literature * "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce * Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival * ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama * ''Counterp ...

to ''

Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy ''Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy'' is an interview series shown on BBC Four, broadcast for one series in 2006. In the series, Dawn French interviewed some of the most prolific comedians of the century from Phyllis Diller to Catherine Tate an ...

''. The full BBC One series consists of three 30-minute programmes with 35 comedians, sewn together as if they were a single discussion. Programme 1 is about how family and early life influenced their careers, programme 2 is about the comedians' early careers, and programme 3 is about the experience of standing on stage in front of an audience. The decision was taken early in the production process to film with three cameras, largely in close up, and with very sparing use of archive material. Each show features five or six archive clips of a variety of other comedians past and present. A spin-off series of six half-hour interviews, called ''Dawn French's More Boys Who Do Comedy'', was transmitted on BBC Four, slightly bizarrely before the main BBC One series transmitted. The featured comedians were

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...

, Graham Norton,

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom ''Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows ''Never Mind the ...

, Rob Brydon,

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

and Ken Dodd.

Comedians

Comics interviewed by Dawn included for the main BBC One series include; *

* Sanjeev Bhaskar *

* Rob Brydon * Jimmy Carr * Frank Carson *

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...

* Jack Dee * Hugh Dennis * Ken Dodd * Omid Djalili * Ben Elton * Noel Fielding * Lenny Henry * Charlie Higson * Eddie Izzard *

Jethro Jethro is a male given name meaning "overflow". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Franklin ...

* Sean Lock * Matt Lucas *

Jackie Mason Jackie Mason (born Yacov Moshe Maza; yi, יעקב משה מזא; June 9, 1928 – July 24, 2021) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His 1986 one-man show ''The World According to Me!'' won a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Cir ...

* David Mitchell * Paul Mooney (Episode 1 only) * Graham Norton * Paul O'Grady * Simon Pegg * Vic Reeves * Paul Rodriguez (Episode 3 only) * Alexei Sayle * Jimmy Tarbuck * David Walliams * Robert Webb * Paul Whitehouse * Robin Williams * Marc Wootton Comedians featured in clips: *Episode 1: Richard Pryor, Frankie Howerd, Harpo Marx, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough, and Ade Edmondson. *Episode 2:

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...

, Woody Allen, Steve Martin,

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

, and Dick Emery. *Episode 3: George Carlin, Lee Evans, and Wilson, Keppel and Betty

References

External links

* {{BBC programme 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings BBC television comedy BBC television talk shows