Dom Joly

Dominic John Romulus Joly (; born 15 November 1967) is an English comedian and writer. He is best known as the star of '' Trigger Happy TV'' (2000–2003), a hidden camera prank show that was broadcast in over 70 countries worldwide.

Early life

Dominic John Romulus Joly was born in Beirut on 15 November 1967, to British parents John Joly and his second wife, Yvonne. John Joly, a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War, owned banking, insurance, and shipping agency Henry Heald & Co., which was managed, later bought, by Joly's great-grandfather. The family business is now run by Joly's sister. Joly's parents were "quite detached" and he was raised with a nanny; his parents separated when Joly was 18, and for 20 years he had little contact with his father, reconciling in his old age prior to his death in 2011. He has a half-brother and two half-sisters resident in Lebanon and England, to whom he is not close.

Joly attended Brummana High School in Lebanon. He then moved to England, where he was educated at Dragon School in Oxford and Haileybury College near Hertford. He later attended the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He studied for a degree in politics. Joly speaks Arabic, Czech, and French in addition to English.

In 2018 Joly told the '' Sunday People'' that when he was at school in Beirut in the 1970s a fellow pupil brought a severed head to show his class.

Career

After university Joly was a diplomat, based in Prague.

Television

''Trigger Happy TV''

The original series ran for two series on Channel 4 from 2000 to 2003.

In 2003, a new series of ''Trigger Happy TV'' was made for an American audience with an altered format that featured a band of different comedians who performed skits without Joly although he cameoed. Joly was not happy with the US version.

Following the success of ''Trigger Happy TV'' on Channel 4, Joly was secured by the BBC
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